Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I've been listening to an audiobook of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll today so here's my White Rabbit.

and Alice falling 'down, down, down...'

and the sleepy dormouse, who's my favourite character in the whole book.

Nana

A little picture of Nana from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.   I drew it a while back but I've only just got round to colouring it in.  I was interested to read that she was a Newfoundland.  My friend has a black Newfoundland called Hamish who is a whopping great dog and a big softie.  So I've borrowed him for my Nana.

The Wizard of Oz

Finally, after months of working on it and keeping quiet, I can reveal that I've illustrated a new picture book version of The Wizard of Oz adapted by Sam Hay and publishing with Egmont in September.

It's more than a little intimidating to reimagine a classic like this but I hope that for young readers it'll be a fun introduction to the land of Oz.

You can read a little about it  here on the Egmont blog

My art director, Abi, and I spent a long time working on cover ideas but in the end we wanted something that really showcased the characters.  Here's a sneak peek...

#illo_advent 2017

This December I decided to take part in #illo_advent again, where you draw a different festive illustration everyday.  If you follow the hashtag on twitter you can see many different illustrators taking part.  It can become quite time-consuming so this year I decided to limit my colour palette in an effort to keep them simple and save time.  Here are this year's batch.

Here's a closer look

Week one

Week two

Week three

I gave up on day 21 as I'd just finished the artwork for a new book and as much as I wanted to complete my advent set I was eager to begin my holiday.  I did do one final image for the 25th though.  We have a Christmas day birthday in our household so I try make a card that covers both occasions.

Shop

Just a little reminder that Santa is coming and my shop is full of screen prints and Christmas cards for those, like me, who leave it to the last minute.  I will be panic buying very soon.  

My shop is here.

Happy holidays!

CKG 2018

I was thrilled to find out this week that Pigeon P.I. has been nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 alongside so many truly fantastic books.  There were 116 nominated this year as well as a whopping 121 for the Carnegie Medal, all chosen by children's librarians.

You can read all about the awards HERE and follow the conversation on twitter with the hashtag #CKG18 

Thank you to whoever nominated my book, it really was a lovely surprise.

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.