Diary of Dennis The Menace - The Great Escape published TODAY!

It's publication day for the 6th Diary of Dennis the Menace book - The Great Escape written by Steven Butler with illustrations by me.

In this story, Dennis the Menace - Prankmaster General and feared enemy of softies everywhere - has been sent to Posh Street, an elite boarding school run by the terrifying Mrs Snoot. Help! Dennis is surrounded by bookish boffins, can't hang out with the Bash Street Kids and is nearly starving as the school dining room only serves super-healthy food. What he needs is a plan. With a little help from his menacing buddies on the outside, some fart pellets and Gran on a Charley Davison bike, it's time for Dennis to make his great escape . . .

Very sadly I recently found out that this is going to be the last Dennis the Menace book I'll be drawing. It's been a huge amount of fun & I've absolutely loved the chance to be able to reinterpret a childhood hero of mine in the books. I've also thoroughly enjoyed working with the lovely Steven Butler (any author who can make me laugh out loud with the manuscript is ALWAYS a good sign!) & lots of thanks to all the people at Puffin & The Beano.

Kimono Dragon (slight return)

A return to the  'kimono dragon' from an original pun by a friend & drawn as a birthday present for another.

Demonic Kittys

Some demon cat hybrids I've been sketching recently

Felix Frost - Time Detective - Ghost Plane - published today!

Ghost Plane, the second in the series of Eleanor Hawken's Felix Frost books I've illustrated is published today (14th January)

While illustrating the interiors & cover I got to become familiar with the details of several WW II planes (in particular the Mustang P51 he says knowledgeably!), some '40s hairstyles & managed a few pictures of Winston Churchill in the meantime.
(Because of another job I actually ended up drawing likenesses of Winston Churchill & MC Hammer on the same day! Not many illustrators can claim that but that's a story for another day...)

It's published by Quercus books & you can buy it online but I'd urge you to seek out your nearest independent book shop & give them the trade if you can - you never know what else you'll find or what people you might meet!*

(*ok, Winston Churchill's out, but there's an outside chance of MC Hammer...)

'As every respectable scientist knows, messing with the space-time continuum is more trouble than it's worth.

That's why Felix Frost, secret child genius, has locked up his time machine for good. Yes, sir.

But, when your best friend is an adventure-loving bossy pants and you've got a history project to do. Well, that changes things.

When Missy and Felix visit Bill Hudson, Missy's great grandfather, to ask him about his years as a pilot in WW2, he tells them the story of the ghost plane: a fighter jet that went out on a routine mission, and when it came back, its pilot had vanished.

Join Felix, Missy and Einstein as they dust off the time machine to travel back to England, 1943. Can they solve the mystery of the ghost plane without getting caught out as time travellers? Or worse, spies!'

A glimpse of summer...

Well, with January shaping up to be pretty horrible all round here's a glimpse of summer from some newly arrived run ons from my agents Arena Illustration's 2016 calendar where I get to be Mr August! There's dinosaurs & ice cream in it- what's not to like?

Here's the original from way back when...

Whales, wine, spacehoppers & unicorns...

Some images I produced for an animation pitch recently - I rather liked them...

...they didn't call back.

(am guessing they didn't like them)

This is very often the way.

Then there were six!

I've illustrated six Diary of Dennis the Menace so far - nice to see them all lined up together!

You can't do that sort of thing any more!

A Compendium of Unwise Pursuits. 

NB Smoking & fighting is NOT big or clever kids!

(part of the 'Steve May rather hinders his career as a children's illustrator by drawing fighting & smoking' series - I may be a bit of an idiot! ; )

The Fine British Art of Queuing.

Dennis & friends demonstrating the fine British art of queuing.

From the latest Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage written by Steven Butler & published by Puffin

(see also 'passive aggressive tutting' & Britishness)

©DC Thomson and Co. Ltd

Menace it Yourself!

Thought I'd share some brand new Illustrations from the new Diary of Dennis the Menace - Menace Yourself Scribble Journal published by Puffin - there's some skateboarding action & a glimpse of the Dennis & the Dinmakers - Dennis' rock band

(I'm wanting to know where I can get a 'Menace' amplifier for myself!)

The Haunted Lunchbox

The Haunted Lunchbox or... when good foodstuffs go BAD!
With a little nod to Wagon Wheels (which even as a kid I thought were foul) & Um Bongo, which according to legend they drink in the DRC - except this doesn't rhyme / scan in quite the way it did in the slightly naive / racist  '80s commercials!

I'm thinking this would be a great book title, I just haven't come up with the story yet, so here's the cover while you wait...

Lapsed deities

The God of Hell-Fire on an off day

Hastings Independent Artist Profile

I was extremely flattered (& blushing) by Kate Renwick's lovely artist's profile which was featured in issue 25 of the Hastings Independent.
As some of you might know, I was born in Hastings & spent my childhood & teenage years there & the article was published immediately prior to my band Das Fluff's incredibly enjoyable gig in Hastings on the 20th March.
It was the first time I've played back in Hastings for many years (we'll draw a veil over how many!) so was a particularly special gig to me.

Tidal beard.

Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage cover

Sneak preview of the cover for 'Canine Carnage' the fifth in the very funny Diary of Dennis the Menace series written by Steven Butler & illustrated by me.
Publication date 2nd July 2015

(Wondering if I can swing a free Flying V or Explorer guitar from Gibson for my product placement...hmmm...)

Ding-dong!

I overheard a man in a café in Soho the other day referring to a 'ding-dong', not a phrase I'd heard in a long time & what with the word 'fracas' being rather prevalent in the news recently it got me thinking...

(nobody was hurt during the drawing of this sketchbook page)

Thursday monster time!

In a long tradition going back at least since I just drew this here's your Thursday monster!

Like monsters? Like facts? Go to here NOW!

World Menace (Book) Day 2015

I've been pleased to illustrate a special edition of Diary of Dennis the Menace written by the very funny Steven Butler especially for World Book Day (or World Menace Day as Dennis has decided to rebrand it!) 

A few weeks ago I also took part in a Puffin Virtually Live event where the audience got two Stevens for the price of one, (myself & Mr Butler!) tips on dressing up as Dennis for school on World Book Day itself & I explain how to draw your very own Gnasher! Lots of fun! 

Here's a sneak preview of Dennis' Blobzilla costume I drew for World Book (I mean Menace) Day...

(design by Mandy Norman)

Fat Tuesday...

Fat Tuesday - mind that lard!

The Economist Feb 7th - An Investor Calls

 I was commissioned to produce these illustrations for The Economist for an article called 'An Investor Calls' about the impact of certain hedge fund activists on businesses - you can read this far more eloquently in the original article
My idea of 'activist' was rather different to what the article was actually speaking about but once I'd been put onto the right track (no V for Vendetta masks et al!)  I had decided to make the activist female in the original roughs but was informed that all the activists the journalist had researched & spoken to were men so this was duly amended in the final illustration - here's a before / after for your edification