tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61613896726707760642024-03-12T17:29:59.176-07:00 Kate Willis-Crowley IllustrationKate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-63651165771621268932017-09-10T14:21:00.001-07:002017-09-10T14:22:10.652-07:00The Grand Goblin BallThe second in Jenny O'Connor's Goblin Princess series, this was a joy
to illustrate. Dragons, goblins (of course), circus-frogs, fairies and food
fights made for some fun sketching. Scroll down to see a few tasters:<br />
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-17064831911749453812017-09-10T14:13:00.001-07:002017-09-10T14:13:14.329-07:00Rapunzel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-7362901734536039732016-11-25T08:29:00.001-08:002016-11-25T08:29:29.065-08:00Seeing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-75437352433719180622016-11-25T08:28:00.002-08:002016-11-25T08:28:27.124-08:00Cats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-82291396883778798672016-11-18T02:29:00.006-08:002016-11-18T02:29:55.746-08:00War Settles Nothing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-73822358222900946722016-11-18T02:29:00.003-08:002016-11-18T02:29:25.448-08:00Artists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-31252560890454797232016-11-18T02:28:00.001-08:002016-11-18T02:28:28.698-08:00Together<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-86231559650090356522016-11-18T02:24:00.003-08:002016-11-18T02:24:50.421-08:00Imagination<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-10673175188246128252016-11-18T02:23:00.000-08:002016-11-18T02:23:07.254-08:00Be Yourself<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-76188086028615092952015-03-24T13:12:00.001-07:002015-03-24T13:12:31.193-07:00Surrey Schools VisitsLast week I was lucky enough to spend time with kids from St Paul's School and Furzefield School, Surrey, designing characters and discussing story-planning. Two lovely folks from Surrey Libraries escorted me to the schools, fed me, and watched supportively while I jabbered, doodled and signed books (huge thank you to Tom and Jenny!).<br />
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In Miss Booker's Year 4 class at Furzefield, the children played some facial-expression games, before launching into designing their own expressive animal characters. We then pretended to interview the drawings, asking them why they felt so angry/ joyful/ dismal, to spark ideas for stories. Here are a few examples of the kids' fantastic creations...<br />
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Fighting the temptation to get this eagle printed onto a t-shirt! Absolutely love him.</div>
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What a conundrum! Eat your only friend, or starve?!</div>
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Nigel the Bat. A gizmo-obsessed Rambo-type, with a most excellent name.</div>
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"She found something sparkly!" </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Well done, Furzefield. Gorgeous, hilarious, inspiring work!</i></span></div>
<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-61947462183696516002015-01-06T12:55:00.002-08:002015-01-06T12:55:59.320-08:00A Teeny Taste of Book Three...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Things are ticking along for my ginger-tabby queen, and book three's now well underway. I've been playing with cover ideas (pic) and am coming to the end of my first draft. It still seems unbelievable that, later this year, I'll have a three book series under my belt, when it seems I was pondering the first story such a short time ago. Still, there's plenty to be done before I get there, including much KITTEN SKETCHING!!! WOOOOHOOOOOO!!! Oh, how I suffer... <br /><br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-17775185947588027662015-01-06T12:42:00.000-08:002015-01-06T12:42:03.786-08:00Queen Sardine and Princess Persia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Book two is on the shelves! As of this month, the second in my Queen Sardine series is available to buy in paper format and digital. A couple of new characters are thrown into the Kipper Street mix (which - now I write it - sounds like some weird kind of cat food), along with plenty of daftness and cattitude.<br />
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And, hey! There's a word for irritating words like 'cattitude' <i>(sorry - I can't help myself)</i> and <i>(even worse)</i> 'chillax' <i>(yes, that nanky old chestnut)</i>... these are <b>portmanteau</b> words, apparently. 'Portmanteau' as in the suitcase in two halves. Two words schmushed together... kind of makes sense. Anyhow, that's the educational content of this blog covered for the next decade or so. Now, back to drawing cats...<br />
<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-27280127590116226182014-06-10T13:42:00.001-07:002014-06-10T13:42:08.879-07:00The Queen's in the Hive!Kinda.<br />
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Queen Sardine? Queen bee? OK, fine, it was a dubious play on words... What I'm trying to say is a big THANK YOU to <a href="http://www.hive.co.uk/rising-writers" target="_blank">hive.co.uk</a> for choosing me as a 'rising writer' for June. <br />
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Yay!Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-48909175568825033582014-05-14T12:33:00.000-07:002014-05-14T12:37:04.107-07:00A Review From My MuseMy main (human) character, Ivy, went through some tweaks and changes as I worked on developing her character into that of a believable 8 year old. And who better to look to for inspiration than my young friend, Isis (then 8, now 9)?! She helped me remember how wonderfully frenetic kids' thinking can be. Thank you, Isis! And thanks also for your fantastic review...<br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>Queen Sardine: Book Review</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>This book is about friendship and bravery. I was engrossed when I had it
read to me. I loved the main characters, Queen Sardine and Ivy, because
of their personalities. And I felt that little sprout was very cute. Some of the pictures made me laugh. I would like to be friends with Ivy
and I hope in the next book she gets her own back on Fabian (the bully
boy)! - <b>Isis, aged 8</b></i></span><br />
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Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-66155292206368645942014-05-01T09:03:00.000-07:002014-05-01T09:03:26.099-07:00Happy Publication Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welcome to the world at large, Queen Sardine. It's May 1st and Her Majesty is doing her best to greet you with a royal wave (not at all easy when you've got paws). Meanwhile, her creator is celebrating with cups of tea and the final chocolatey crumbs of Easter. Happy times.Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-31152821370525949572014-04-16T06:06:00.002-07:002014-04-16T06:06:53.473-07:00Tabby Times!Well, my pre-publication copies of Queen Sardine have arrived, and poor old George, my geriatric moggy, is unimpressed. However, I just couldn't resist getting<i> </i>a snap of my fictional tabby alongside my <i>real-world</i> tabby (sorry, George... extra nibbles for you, later...)! <br />
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-31266222390664153482014-04-11T02:43:00.002-07:002014-04-11T02:43:49.561-07:00Pre-Publication Reader Reviews for Queen Sardine!<br />
<a href="http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9761/Queen-Sardine-by-Kate-Willis-Crowly.html" target="_blank">http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9761/Queen-Sardine-by-Kate-Willis-Crowly.html</a><br />
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Exciting news for my feisty moggy, Queen Sardine, who seems to already have some fans! Thanks to all who wrote these wonderful reviews. What a lovely surprise to wake up to!Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-49672330194943425322014-03-26T02:31:00.003-07:002014-03-26T02:31:46.360-07:00Queen Sardine and Princess Persia...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Book two plans are already underway, and here's a sneak preview of the (probable) cover image.<br />
Queen Sardine's going to need a few white stripes added, and Princess Persia may not stay quite so purple, but this at least gives a flavour of what's to come.Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-11602568159659633452014-03-24T03:20:00.000-07:002014-04-24T13:31:16.192-07:00May 1st... I Can Hardly Wait!Get that red carpet dusted. Her Majesty is on her way! Queen Sardine is due to descend upon bookshops in just 6 weeks, and is already available for pre-order...<br />
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Me? Excited?!! Well, yes, but only very slightly, I assure you... all this hopping up and down, grinning etc is totally normal 'Kate' behaviour. Honest.<br />
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-78605827806858157692013-10-29T03:45:00.001-07:002013-10-29T03:45:51.946-07:00Dib Dab Dob... Or Something Like That!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been a bit slow posting about this as the sketching of talking cats has pretty much taken over every waking minute of my life. But somewhere along the line I had time to design this Girlguide badge based on the fantastic ideas of The Hampton Guides, and 1st Shorncliffe Gurkha Brownies and Guides. </div>
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The badge was commissioned by arts charity People United. </div>
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<a href="http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/girlguidingbadge.php" target="_blank">See info on People United's website...</a></div>
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Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-16110675630282117432013-03-31T07:08:00.004-07:002013-03-31T07:08:55.426-07:00Relative Space<b>Relative Space: Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, Illustrations and Textiles, at the Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable. 27th March-2nd April.</b><br />
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Having fun, exhibiting alongside Janie and Cliff Grout, and David and Cathy Harvey.<b> </b>I feel honoured to be included in this Grout/Harvey family show. I'm playing at being a long lost cousin! The space is lovely and the company's fantastic. Here are a few pics of the show so far...<br />
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Some of Janie's work... <br />
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Some of mine...<br />
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Some crazy gallery elves...<br />
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-13465586306487905532013-03-13T13:19:00.000-07:002013-03-13T13:19:11.954-07:00World Book Day at Dover Road Primary SchoolSo, last week I nipped to Gravesend for World Book Day for an Illustrator visit at Dover Road Primary. Being that it's a pretty big school, I stayed 2 days (slept in the stock cupboard) and had great fun making puppets with the infants, and getting the juniors to create their own Super Hero characters.<br />
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PS Didn't really sleep in stock cupboard. It smelt too much like mouldy crayons.<br /><br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-67881064116404545412013-02-15T05:15:00.001-08:002013-02-15T05:15:52.638-08:00Looking Back...I doubt I'm the only illustrator to hoard sketches. It's a bad habit. I feel like I'm constantly wading through paper. But it's hard to throw away those first scribbled ideas. Here are a few pics that might be of interest. First, the storyboard... this changed quite a bit before we settled on the final layouts but this was the first version.<br />
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And next, the end papers. End papers are always such a pleasure to produce, and I've added as many stinky, squelchy details as possible.</div>
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Finally, a few poses. Ideas for the title page.</div>
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-35025503396657366272013-02-15T04:53:00.001-08:002013-02-15T04:53:21.862-08:00Mummy's Little Monster has arrived!!Yay! My copies of Mummy's Little Monster are finally here, and <i>my </i>little monster is suitably fascinated. Hope author, Dawn McNiff is as chuffed as I am.<br />
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<br />Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6161389672670776064.post-12344762083927481292012-11-13T03:15:00.003-08:002012-11-13T03:15:52.573-08:00Mummy's Little MonsterI began working on this projects over 2 years ago and it felt like the publication date would never arrive. But here we are, coming to the end of 2012, and Mummy's/Mommy's Little Monster is set to hit the shelves in just a few months... that's if the Gods of Waterstones etc decide to stock it, so I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed.<br />
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<a href="http://doublecluck.com/book/Mummy%27s+Little+Monster+" target="_blank">http://doublecluck.com/book/Mummy%27s+Little+Monster+</a>Kate Willis-Crowleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09579036513490508543noreply@blogger.com0