WHAM-BAM-JELLY-AND-JAM! - Cartoon Kid - ZOMBIES!

I just received my copy of the new Jeremy Strong Cartoon Kid book - Cartoon Kid Zombies!
It's got falling trousers, dancing hippos, talking cakes, police elephants (naturally!) toilet paper mummies & lots of other zombie based shenanigans that Casper & his superhero friends encounter - what more do you need?

It's been a lot of hard work & a lot of fun working on these books & this looks like this will be the last in the series which is a shame (especially as I can draw some of the characters in my sleep by now!) & I've grown quite fond of them.
WHAM-BAM-JELLY-AND-JAM! Anybody can be a superhero! (as long as you stick your pants on the outside, I ALWAYS do!)

You can buy a copy from here but I'd suggest getting one from your local PROPER bookshop - who knows what else you might find?

Cat's bum!

Booze, cats, bum references, what else do you need on a Monday morning?

Old men arguing about the size of fish

When I was in New York I drew some old men arguing about...oh you know the rest!

Post-it note crittur

He watches me while I work...

P*ssed off drag queen

An early sketch for Tricity Vogue & Richard Link's 'drag queen action musical' Heels of Glory - you can see the final poster here
It's on this Thursday 10th January buy tickets here

Bear with memento mori toaster & bird.

I like bears, & toast & strange birds. That's all - happy Saturday!

Unwanted gifts (one that got away)

I think I'd sneakily like one of these to be truthful (although the 'Breville home stigmata toaster'™ might be a little beyond the pale...)

Heels of Glory

When a dear friend like Tricity Vogue asks you to draw a poster for a 'Drag Action Musical' you can't really say no!
Been drawing this through a fug of dissipating New Year 'ill' but has definitely cheered me up.
The show's on for ONE NIGHT here's a link 

Elephant in spacesuit

Continuing the Friday space suit theme...

Monkey in spacesuit

Friday is space suit day! Just because.

Inside Housing Magazine

I drew some angry shouting folk (& dog) for Inside Housing Magazine last month, in the 'Advent of Unwanted Gifts' frenzy pre Xmas I didn't get round to posting it. I've posted it now. Happy New Year everybody*!

*Yes, you too!

Advent of unwanted gifts #23

Bottle of 'Nan-booze'.

Snowball?!? Everybody knows Advocaat is mainly composed of phlegm (probably) & eggs - We can mainly blame the Belgians for that!

Advent of unwanted gifts #22

'Budget' electrical goods.

Advent of unwanted gifts #21

Wall calendar. (Mayan)

Advent of unwanted gifts #20

Unfortunately timed fancy dress costume*

*& one in the eye for all you smug 'I ALWAYS buy my Xmas presents early to avoid the rush' types!

Advent of unwanted gifts #19

Ill-advised gift voucher.

Advent of unwanted gifts #18

 Inappropriate jigsaw puzzle*.


* I always hated jigsaws as a kid, they're even worse if you're without discernible limbs.

Advent of unwanted gifts #17

Hideous bling.

Advent of unwanted gifts #16

Fluffy anthropomorphic footwear.

Advent of unwanted gifts #15

Unfortunate pop culture genre-fail.

Advent of unwanted gifts #14

Anti-hypo-allergenic make up kit.*


*not tested on nice animals (or even nasty ones)

Advent of unwanted gifts #13

Over-fussy 'coffee experience delivery system'™ - destined to be used on precisely 4 occasions before thinking 'f*** this, where's that jar of Gold Blend'*

* see also; juicers, the Breville pie-maker, anything kitchen-shaped to do with George Foreman etc.

Advent of unwanted gifts #12

Dual purpose novelty Donald Trump / One Direction hairpiece.

Advent of unwanted gifts #11

Spurious kitchen gadget.

NB I have NOT made this up

Advent of unwanted gifts #10

Idiot mittens.

NB whilst finishing this the other day I sudden realised I'd unconsciously nicked the basic idea from another illustration so in fairness here's a link to that - let's call it 'homage' rather than theft huh?

Advent of unwanted gifts #9

Niche electrical goods.

Advent of unwanted gifts #8

Tangerine.*

* qv "in my day we just got a tangerine & a few nuts"(© everybody's nan.)
       

Advent of unwanted gifts #7

Well meaning charity goat gift card.

(& you wanted a f***ing iPad!)

Advent of unwanted gifts # 6

Crappy TV tie-in annual.*

*Recipe - quickly re-hash old TV scripts together add a few photos then season with a healthy dollop of contempt for the buying public.

Advent of unwanted gifts # 5

Offensive confectionery.

(shhhh...don't shoot me but I always liked coffee creams etc. - the ones everyone hates!)

Advent of unwanted gifts #4

Unfortunate socks.

(my sister & I always dreaded the 'soft parcel' at Christmas)

Advent of unwanted gifts #3

New aftershave.

Advent of unwanted gifts #2

Nice tie.

Advent of unwanted gifts #1

Xmas jumper

Reading Agency 10th birthday party

My agent Tamlyn Francis & I were lucky enough to be invited to the Reading Agency's 10th birthday celebrations at the British Library after working on illustrations for this year's Summer Reading Challenge.
Jeanette Winterson made a very impressive speech about the importance of British Libraries & what a precious resource they are. You can read more here http://readingagency.org.uk/news/blog/happy-birthday-to-us.html

(Photograph copyright Robin Mayes)

Happy 49th birthday Doctor Who!

#Geekfact: The first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast on Saturday November 23rd 1963 (even though he's supposed to be about 900-ish or something really)

Compendium of Useful Things #2 Cheese Hat™

Yep, that gnawing, yawning emptiness you feel inside will be easily dissipated by this cheese based millinery treat!*

*although there is a chance that your life IS completely empty & futile & even cheese can't help you... have a nice day!

Compendium of Useful Things #1 Cat Pants™

Cat Pants™for the more prudish pet owner

BOOO!

Happy Halloween folks! (& yes guitar geeks, she's playing a Vox Phantom of course! ; )

Hurricane catcher beastie

Beastie with ACME hurricane net™ - drawn for all my friends in NYC - that'll stop Sandy... probably...

Purple beastie

A beast with a purpose...

Fish-y

Some shark pics on a Monday morning

Pumpkins, the disappointment...

Pumpkins were always one of my big childhood disappointments. '70s Hastings seemed to be fairly bereft of them, the only ones impinging on my existence being in American picture books. Therefore I had imagined from their beautiful rich orange colour that they'd taste like an incredible magical mélange of peach, tangerine & melon or somesuch. Of course the reality was far duller...

Noir bar

Noir bar - with disembodied gangster & moll.

Posing with my Gold award

Me posing with my Gold award at the Association of Illustrators' Images 36 exhibition opening at Somerset House, October 2nd.

You can watch my winning entry here if you so wish.

(photograph by Robert Chadwick)

Monster town!

Suited & booted for a good night out!

(to be sung to the tune of Lips Inc.'s 'Funky Town' of course!)

Mouse.

Wine, women & song...

Inspired by my friend Lisa's cats Norman & Stanley during my stay in New York last week

'Anger' wins AOI Images 36 Gold award!

I was at Somerset House last night to collect the Gold New Media award at The Association of Illustrators' Images 36 awards showcasing the 'Best of British Illustration 2012' for my short film Anger a short animation I designed & directed at Picasso Pictures commissioned by Reach Out, an American

charity that supports young people with challenging issues such as anger management, drugs, bullying and teenage pregnancy. You can see the whole film here 

Very exciting to have won my second gold award - the previous was in Images 34 in 2010 for my film 'Rabbits'

The Images 36 exhibition runs from 3rd-28th October at Somerset House - free entrance - click here for  details

(big thanks to Picasso Pictures & producer Melissa Venet, the Association of Illustrators & my agents Arena Illustration)