A Christmouse Gift

I've been seeing a lot of really cool painters online recently and it made me want to have a go.  This week I took a morning off from photoshop and dug out my old paintbrushes and some gouache paint, which I've never used.  Using different types of paint is a real learning curve, I'm more used to oils (although I haven't used them in 10 years), but what I did love about gouache is that it dries very quickly.  As someone who smudges everything this is a real advantage.  I also like that you can repaint areas that have gone wrong very easily, which is a must when you're new!  I didn't quite get the thin layers of paint I wanted but this was only my first go and I'll definitely play around with them some more.  The draw of painting for me is the looseness, my book work tends to be very precise and I wanted to move away from that.  All of the finishing details are in pencil because I love the texture of coloured pencils and I can control them far better than a fine brush.

It's only little.

Here are a few of the process shots.  The final image is A6 and I used Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils because I happen to have a box and they're really lovely to draw with.

Sketch and first layer of paint

More paint

That's enough paint!

Details

I seem to have an obsession with drawing mice at Christmas.  I like this one, she's pretty cute.  

Hopefully more adventures in paint will follow.

CKG 2019

I was really thrilled this week to learn that the The Station Mouse has been nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 alongside so many other incredible books so a massive thank you to whoever nominated it.

I'm delighted to see so many friends listed, to see some of my favourites this year being recognised and to discover the books that somehow passed me by.  All picked by children's librarians.  You can see the full list here  and don't forget to check out the CILIP Carnegie Medal nominees too.

What better way to celebrate than with a good book?

Book three

My third book with Andersen Press is publishing next year, but the proofs have already arrived.  I can't show much but I'm sure no-one will mind a tiny sneak peak.

Mo at work

This is Maurice (Maw-reece). He runs the lost property department of a railway station.  His office was inspired by a ticket office I saw at Boat Of Garten railway station in the Highlands, near where I live.

   Isn't it the sweetest?  And perfect for a mouse.

Here's a little close up of the title page.  As you can see, like my first two books,  it is published by those lovely people at Andersen Press.

And finally a little glance at the back cover.  With some exciting bits and bobs I've collected to make some luggage tags of my own.

You'll have to wait a little longer to see the rest.