Chocolate Tuesday

We've had Easter Sunday, Easter Monday & today's 'Chocolate Tuesday' - when Jesus & the disciples scoured all the supermarkets for discounted eggs!

#Easter #ChocolateTuesday

PUBLICATION DAY - Sammy & the Stolen Paintings

I just received my copy of Sammy & the Stolen Paintings - the second book in the series of the warm and brilliantly funny family comedy told from the perspective of Sammy the sniffer dog – perfect for younger readers aged 7 and up by Charlie P Brooks which was published yesterday January 2nd by Harper Collins Childrens.

'When Sammy uncovers a FAKE forged painting and is dognapped by villain Monsieur de Noir, she needs Best Human Friend, Beanie, Robin the sheepdog and Mogpuss the cat to help her out.

Together the friends must launch a rescue mission to find Sammy in Paris, and recover the REAL painting before it’s too late.'

I had a lot of fun drawing the adventures of Sammy & her friends in these books including some cat / bonnet action*, fiendish villains* & some fun with sheep dip* into the bargain!

*(fun with sheep dip)

 

*'Cat / bonnet action'

*(fiendish villains)

POO-BLICATION DAY! Poo Crew Adventures - Journey to Pootopia

I'm FLUSHED with excitement to announce that 'Poo Crew Adventures - Journey to Pootopia' by James Turner & me is published today by Harper Collins Childrens

It's a funny, fast-paced graphic novel aimed at 7-11 year olds filled with facts about the human body, digestion & various animal poo facts (did you KNOW that wombats do square poos*?!?)

My initial thoughts were "you want me to draw a book about WHAT?!?!" but I thoroughly enjoyed bringing the educational & anarchic together in this book - it's not every day you get to draw fatbergs the size of large bungalows, poo car hybrids & bacterial hamsters* amongst MANY other things!

James' text is so funny & challenging to illustrate & I really enjoyed the collaboration between us, not to underestimate the contribution of Liam Drane & Melissa Fairley (senior graphic designer & publishing director repectively) Also a big heads up to Caroline Thomson my agent at Arena for keeping me sane! 

The authors as poos.

"The hilarious new graphic novel series packed with facts – perfect for fans of A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu and You, Bunny Vs Monkey, Dog Man and InvestiGators! "Poo is the most interesting and important substance in the entire universe!" – Professor Poo In an ordinary toilet, on an ordinary day, a small poo called Ploppy lands with a splash. Just an ordinary poo about to be flushed . . . But Ploppy is anything but ordinary. He's a TALKING POO! And he's about to go on the mission of a lifetime . . . Join Ploppy and his fearless guide, Professor Poo, as they boldly venture into the Secret Intestines of the Universe to discover answers to the most important Digestion Questions . . . Why do we chew? Why do we fart? Why do cows have so many stomachs? And . . . what will happen to Ploppy AFTER he's been flushed?! If you've ever used the toilet, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!"

Fatberg & poo-car!

Prehistoric poo-ing.

*I TOLD you wombats do square poos!

Three large elephants!

EVERYONE thinks farts are funny!

(*Aforementioned bacterial hamster)

Skater Dogs!

 Skater Dogs!!!! Available NOW as a an artprint on my Ko-Fi

#SkaterDogs #Dogs #DogsOnSkateboards

Caterpillar Soup and Flying Frogs

This came out a couple of months back & was a rather nice job to illustrate & I was given a great amount of freedom to draw some weird & wonderful stuff for a non-fiction book!

Caterpillar Soup and Flying Frogs by JD Savage from Oxford University Press, shows 7-8-year-olds some of the weird and wonderful changes animals go through and the utterly odd things they have to do first - from dwelling underground for 17 years sucking tree roots, to partially turning into living soup with a memory.

'The Readerful imprint is designed to motivate children to read more, choose a book to read by themselves, boost their vocabulary and develop their knowledge of the world around them - including, I hope, a sense of wonder and curiosity about the nature marvels all around them.'

Affirma-Hound™ says 'You got it!'

 

Pipe Smoker of the Month - August 2023

 (dip pen & wash on A5 300gsm watercolour paper)

Crocodile Dodgem Car.

 No deliberate bumping (or biting!)

Gorilla in a Dodgem Car

 

The Cat's Pyjamas

Is this the BEST drawing on the internet? I think it must be!
 

The Elephant In The Room

 (sometimes I can be rather literal...)

Eek, Sheep!

 SUPER BAAAAAAAAD! My new collaboration with the MIGHTY Danny Pearson, 'Eek Sheep!' is out NOW! Expect wooly mayhem, seaside adventure & plenty of jelly!

'A community is thrown into chaos as a flock of hungry sheep take over the local town and cause mayhem! All the people want to do is live in peace once again, but who will be brave enough to stand up to this wacky woolly army?'

You can order a copy here!

(I TOLD you there'd be plenty of jelly!)

 

(You might just find a certain illustrator lurking on the cover too if you look carefully!)

Year of the Tiger!

 

Year of the Tiger (A6 ink & wash on watercolour paper)

Murder of Soggy Crows!

 Recent commission based on the view from my kitchen window (pen, ink & wash on 300gsm watercolour paper)

(based on an original digital drawing)

How to draw Bitey Bitey the baby wolf!

Here's a video I did for the Booktrust where you can see how I draw Bitey Bitey the baby wolf who belongs to Hack & Wack the 'Two Terrible Vikings' from the new book by best selling author Francesca Simon & me! Hope you enjoy it & no biting! 

You can order SIGNED copies for the nice people at Daunts here

 

Say NO to bullying!

 

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!