London based illustrator & animation director - children's books, monsters, cheese based puns etc.
On Friday I visited Newquay Junior Academy where the kids & staff gave me a lovely welcome (& I also met their lovely school dog Nelly!)
During the event I talked to the kids about how I became an illustrator (via roadying for bands among other things!) & introduced our graphic novel Poo Crew Adventures: Journey to Poo-topia, a fast-paced adventure, which brings together clever, funny storytelling with lots of amazing facts and taps into kids’ fascination with all things poo-related & I PROVED that poo is THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT IN THE WORLD!
We also had a game of ‘Poo or True?’
A draw-a-long of the book’s protagonist Ploppy with some great drawings from the kids!
I also gave a behind the scenes look at what goes into illustrating a narrative non-fiction graphic novel, answered some great questions from the children & signed LOTS of books.
On Saturday I took part in The Big Draw Off - A Graphic Novel Showdown Like No Other! with author illustrator Steve Webb which was brilliantly compered by JoJo Silva from Capital Xtra.
We both talked about our work & then were set various drawing challenges getting prompts from audience members & also creating characters based on audience members with hilarious results - a really fun interactive event (& not often you get to shout 'poo!' in a church!)
Big thanks to everyone involved to make it such a brilliant festival! I hope I'll get invited back!
If you'd like me to visit your school or your festival please contact me on info@stevemay,biz
(I read this on BlueSky from https://bsky.app/profile/katyrex.meatjacker.social & loved it so much I thought
"I must draw this!"
I did.
“From sci-fi to science we couldn’t help but chuckle our way through the Poo Crew Adventures, expertly illustrated by comic genius and talented animator Steve May. Featuring panel illustrations throughout, this hilarious dive into the world of poo brilliantly showcases Steve’s exceptional talent for visual storytelling, perfectly tailored to the project’s target audience. His work is endlessly engaging and full of fun, we can’t wait to see what comes next.”
And every time he ventured out, dogs chased him down the street.
This is available as a signed print (or treat yourself to the original artwork!) in my Ko-Fi shop
As an exercise I’ve been drawing automatic 'breakfast comic strips' this week - no preplanning, just seeing what comes out.
I usually have extremely vivid dreams & have been suffering from awful anxiety & dread when I wake up in the mornings so this has just been a way to distract myself & to force myself out of it. No rules, but none of them been allowed to have taken more than about 30 minutes to draw (because I have lots of PROPER work to do!) They're extremely variable in quality but I thought some people would be interested to see them. They probably say a lot about my subconscious & obsessions but I'll leave that for you to work out!
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 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!"
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.'
(pen, ink & wash on A6 300gsm watercolour paper)
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