Queen Sardine and Princess Persia...

Book two plans are already underway, and here's a sneak preview of the (probable) cover image.
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.

May 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...

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.

Dib Dab Dob... Or Something Like That!

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. 

The badge was commissioned by arts charity People United.  

See info on People United's website...

Relative Space

Relative Space: Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Photographs, Illustrations and Textiles, at the Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable. 27th March-2nd April.

Having fun, exhibiting alongside Janie and Cliff Grout, and David and Cathy Harvey. 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...

Some of Janie's work...

 Some of mine...

 Some crazy gallery elves...

World Book Day at Dover Road Primary School

So, 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.

PS Didn't really sleep in stock cupboard. It smelt too much like mouldy crayons.

Looking 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.

 

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.

 

Finally, a few poses. Ideas for the title page.

Mummy's Little Monster has arrived!!

Yay! My copies of Mummy's Little Monster are finally here, and my little monster is suitably fascinated. Hope author, Dawn McNiff is as chuffed as I am.