The Sun Has Got Its Hat On!

Drawn during a spurt of late summer optimism a couple of weeks back when it felt like the summer had come back with a vengeance - feels rather bittersweet right now. I still love the sound of an ice cream van.
Here's the original sketchbook piece drawn on a beautiful September afternoon on a table outside The Nag's Head in Walthamstow, one of my local pubs. I feel like the cold beer & sunglasses rather add to the whole vibe!

 

Two Terrible Vikings!

It was rather exciting to receive the proof of 'Two Terrible Vikings' my collaboration with the brilliant Francesca Simon which is due to be published in February 2021 by Faber Children's.

I'm extremely excited about these books, they were a real joy to draw & prompted many laugh out loud moments while I was working which is always a great sign.
I've become rather fond of the terrible Viking twins Hack & Wack, along with Bitey Bitey their pet wolf cub & their other friends & can't wait to be able to share more with you all!

(& yes, I'm afraid aesthetics won over historic accuracy in regard to the horns on the helmets - my fault! ; )

COVER REVEAL! Albert Johnson & the Buns of Steel

 Here's the cover for my third collaboration with the brilliant Phil Earle Albert Johnson & the Buns of Steel* which is published by Barrington Stoke in January.
I had great fun illustrating this, it's a big colourful action-packed riot, allowing me to reference '50s B-movie posters, 2000ad comic, numerous baked goods & sneaky Half Man Half Biscuit references to boot!

*The title actually came from Phil's eldest son betting him that he couldn't turn a daft title of his choice into a published book & here it is!

Wrestlemania (slight return)

 It's FAR too hot today for wrestling but I've drawn some other people doing it so YOU DON'T HAVE TO! 

(this is originally a pen, ink & wash drawing from my sketchbook which has been coloured & adjusted in Photoshop but I'm never sure who is interested in this bit. I've been having a lot of fun drawing these & adding the special guests in the audience. There's more wrestling here if you want it grapple fans!)

Monkey Tank Museum.

What could possibly go wrong...

Leopard-Shaming.

Leopard-shaming, NB this is an extremely unrealistic leopard, this is why the other rather unrealistic animals are looking on disapprovingly. Say no to (jungle) bullying

The Wrestling

A friend mentioned the wrestling to me the other day - not ANY wrestling but the '70s 'World of Sport' style wrestling which ALWAYS uses the definite article. For some reason it was never just wrestling. It was THE wrestling!
Always reminds me of rainy Saturday afternoons as a child so these memories were whirling through my head when I drew it in my sketchbook. I *might* have taken a little bit of artistic licence (see who you can spot in the crowd!)

I've posted the original sketchbook piece below to give you a little peek behind the whole process. I drew it with a couple of Rotring art pens & a bit of strategic Sharpie. I've added some extra characters in the background digitally but most of the original pen work is still there then the colour was added in Photoshop.

(If you're fascinated by the whole era The Wrestling by Simon Garfield is really worth a read!)

Bath Elephant!

Flying things!

Pigs / monkeys /cheese might fly!

Wear A Mask LIke A SUPERHERO!

'Hipster Cat-shamed After Ill-judged Arm-Elongation Process'

That feeling when you've been cat-shamed...

Long Cat

Does what it says on the can.

Cats & cassocks.

After seeing this viral clip the question is, where does Leo the cat go... here's my guess...

Lockdown Bestiary - The Furlough

The Furlough - a mainly interior dwelling creature with a hefty Netflix habit & increasingly elastic grasp of what day it is...

Shark Super Powers

Shark Super Powers by Jillian Morris & Duncan Brake was a really unusual & interesting illustration job for me & I ended up learning lots about these fascinating creatures. It's published by Uclan Publishing & you can order it from here

Boo! (with apologies to Kitten Kong)

'Walkies'

Villains are always the best fun to draw...

Overstretched

I drew this just before getting on my first bit of public transport for over 3 months. I spent so much time making myself small over lockdown, I'm a bit nervous how I'll manage to return to normal size...

Gareth P. Jones and Steve May introduce Pet Defenders

Author Gareth P Jones & I recently teamed up to talk about our Pet Defenders series of books

(warning contains living cheese, scary beards & an exploding illustrator!)

Beserker Cats of the Fjords!

Sparked off from a tweet from the QI Elves about Vikings taking their cats on raids & having just drawn a rather lovely book about Vikings by bestselling Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon for Faber (no cats in there, but a rather lovely baby wolf!) I seem to have embarked on a whole series of pictures featuring 'Beserker Cats of the Fjords'.

I figured I'd put them all together in one place for your perusal.

I like Vikings AND cats so it's a bit of a win win

(Of course, the innate difficulties planning anything involving feline input led to the Old Norse phrase describing any difficult task which literally translates as "blöody hëll, this is like raiding with cats!")

Laugh Out Lobster!

I just drew this rather tickled Laugh-Out-Lobster logo for

A WRITE LAUGH!
A funny writing competition for kids with

@GuyBassBooks

@authorfy

and

@theweekjunior

Go to http://littletiger.co.uk/a-write-laugh to find out how to enter. Visit http://authorfy.com/masterclasses/awritelaugh… for tips from lots of brilliant funny authors.

Top Quality Nonsense!

Steve May - purveyor of TOP QUALITY NONSENSE™ at your service for all your illustrative & animation needs! You can see more work here & here & for animation go here

Draw the Coronavirus

Here's my three attempts at cartoonist Martin Rowson's Draw The Coronavirus competition on Twitter to in conjunction with #MuseumFromHome to support the amazing

Cartoon Museum in London - you can donate here

St George's Day (behind the scenes)

Here's a little behind the scenes clip from my St George's Day picture of George & the Dragon enjoying a nice cuppa & a Jammie Dodger™

Happy Saint George's Day!

On St Georges Day we celebrate the thoroughly English knight Saint George who did the proper English thing & had a nice chat & an English cuppa & a Jammie Dodger™ with the dragon. (before biffing him when he wasn't looking & nicking his biscuits!)

* NB 'Biffing', for ALL of you home schooling right now is actual Old English for 'hitting a reptile with a blunt object' deriving from the Anglo Saxon 'byffinge'

(not to be confused with 'byffing ye worme' which is an Anglo Saxon euphemism for self-abuse!)

The Bookmark project

Here's this years offering for Sharon Hattersley's Bookmark Project which runs every year to raise as much money as possible for Katiyo Primary School in Zimbabwe! This year I thought 'Who doesn't LOVE an acrobatic farting dacshshund?'

National Tea Day

Of course on #National Tea Day the ONLY question being asked is which is the best dunking biscuit?*

*obviously a jammy dodger is a stupid choice but what do you expect from a cat?

(Anyway, what's a cat doing drinking a cup of tea you FREAKS?!?!) 

New Viking series with Francesca Simon!

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be teaming up with best-selling 'Horrid Henry' author Francesca Simon for a new series for Faber & Faber which "features a marauding band of terrible Vikings, led by terror twins Hack and Whack, who are adored by their parents for being the worst Vikings in the village" 

I'm very excited to be working with Francesca, I've already caught myself laughing out loud at the text which is ALWAYS the best sign and I'm relishing the chance of bringing Hack and Whack's terrible exploits to life. (Getting to draw a baby wolf called Bitey Bitey is also a magnificent bonus too!)

Here's a link the the article at The Bookseller

Pancake Day!

On #shrovetuesday do you EVER think about pancakes with vertigo? No - because it’s ALL about you isn’t it?!?

Publication Day for Anna Gain & The Same Sixty Seconds!

Anna Gain & The Same Sixty Seconds by Guy Bass & illustrated by me is our 4th collaboration for Barrington Stoke & is published today! 

There's time travel, chaos (& the occasional dog's bum - what MORE can you want?!?)

"Ever-punctual Anna Gain is never late, and she's certainly never late for the school bus. Every day she catches it in perfect time. But not today. After a series of absurd events cause Anna to miss the bus, she's transported one minute back in time - only to be stuck re-living the same sixty seconds again ... and again ... and again ... Is fate trying to teach Anna a lesson? And will she ever escape? A laugh-out-loud and punny take on 'Groundhog Day' from a top-notch author-illustrator pairing, particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+"

Krampus says...

Krampus is a mythological creature or demon, particular to parts of eastern and northern Europe, especially Austria and Hungary. It is believed that Krampus accompanies Saint Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children (in contrast to St. Nick, who gives gifts to good children). Due to German and Austrian influence, the myth of Krampus is also prevalent in Croatia, (Czecho)Slovakia, Slovenia and northern Italy.

The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word for claw (Krampen). Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December (St Nicholas' Eve, known in German as 'Krampusnacht'), and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition also includes birching - corporal punishment with a birch rod – by Krampus, especially of young girls.

Images of Krampus usually show him with a basket on his back used to carry away bad children and dump them into the pits of Hell. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Yule Cat says "BÖO!"

Jólakötturin, the Icelandic Yule Cat is 'a vicious cat who lurks about the snowy countryside during Christmas time and eats people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.'(!)

Praying you ALL get new socks this year!