New book!

My newest book, 'The Gingerbread Man' is now out!
You can grab a copy in time for Xmas by following this link;

http://www.thecepress.com/product/the-gingerbread-man/

NEWS!

Sorry for the scarcity of posts of late - have been extremely busy with lots of exciting new projects - more news to follow.
The big news is that my book 'Little Red Riding Hood...' has been shortlisted for an award! I would really appreciate it if you would consider voting for it.







http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=1437




Many thanks.

new book!

Have just completed the dummy rough for a follow-up to my Little Red Riding Hood book (due out in January!). This one is The Gingerbread Man as, hopefully, you can see. It follows the same concept as LRRH in that the story is told from four different points of view - all on the same page! Fingers crossed that LRRH sells phenomenally well and that the publisher will take up this one.

illo

Coloured in the pic from a couple of posts ago. Decided against a background - think it works quite well without.

 

 

'Playtime'

Ink & pencil crayon on heavyweight paper, A4.

nearly the hols

In Y5 today we made sweet things ready for our breaktime sale tomorrow. Pictured are some of the sugar mice, still looking a little bit like roadkill but this time with liquorice tails.

 

In Y1 we made Easter cards - a simple chick with the children's hands as wings.

And the latest 'boys playing footy' drawing partially completed. Not sure whether this needs a background or not. Would welcome any views/suggestions.

today

In Y2 (6/7 year olds) we collaged our painted (colour-mixed 'flames') and printed (Tudor houses) pieces into mixed media representations of the Great Fire of London.

 

 

Great expressions on this couples faces as their house and belongings go up in flames.

We've also completed our appliqued/embroidered riverscapes in Y6 (10/11 year olds) - here's a  birds-eye view of part of it.

Meanwhile, I managed to find a bit of time to complete another 'boys playing footy' picture. Spread them out a bit this time and placed them against a wall with a 'chalked on' goal.

completed

Finished off the illustration today. Went mad and added a background and everything! The boys are having a playtime kickabout in the school yard. Am slowly warming to it, though if I were to do a similar pic I'd perhaps separate the bunch out a bit more - although if you've ever watched a bunch of young lads playing footy, they all tend to chase the ball almost as one! It must be a nature thing, a bit like birds all flocking and turning/diving together.



 

 

Ink & pencil crayon on heavyweight paper, A4.

unsure

Took a different tack today and tried out a pic of boys playing footy. Not yet finished but also not sure if it 'works'. Tried to portray them with 'stringy' legs and big hobnail boots. Again, if anyone feels like chipping in their twopennorth  I'd be very grateful.

 

"Billy Preston had a real leather football."

 

 

Ink & pencil crayon on heavyweight paper, A4

carried away

Some more footy illos! This time with a 'red' player (Man Utd?) featuring against various opposition teams. All ink & pencil crayon on heavyweight paper, A4.

 

 

Not sure where to go with this style. I've already got some listed in my Folksy shop. Am thinking of giving ebay another try, though I really do baulk at the charges. I have heard of folk selling stuff directly through Facebook with people commenting 'sold' when they wish to purchase an item. Not sure of the 'legalities' of this ref the user agreement that you must have to sign up to (I'm not on Facebook so I don't know). Would welcome any comments or feedback form the good folk out in the blogosphere.

for michael

Saw a tv programme the other day (on BBC4 I think) where Michael Palin talked about his life. He mentioned that he follows both Sheffield footy clubs though really, if push came to shove, supports Sheff Utd. Had a few spare minutes today so did a picture of a derby encounter between the two teams (apologies to the kit purists out there but I went for a stereotypical portrayal from days gone by).

 

Ink & pencil crayon on heavyweight paper, A4.

as the clock ticked down

Jenkins was far enough clear of the chasing defenders (chosen not for their speed and quick-thinking but more for their girth and resultant difficulty to get past) to allow himself a moment of composure. 'Stumpy', the Bartholomew's keeper, was well positioned but, as Jenkins noticed , seemed to be slightly off balance. Jenkins steadied himself and let fly with a tremendous right foot shot. 'Stumpy' had it covered or so he thought but as he pushed off with his right foot to effect what he was sure was going to be a spectacular (but fairly routine and comfortable save) his studs got caught in the roughly mown turf. His flailing dive fell short of the balls trajectory and the shot flew past him into the top corner. A moment of silence was quickly followed by a deafening roar as half of the crowd realised that their team was 1-0 up. Jenkins was immediately swallowed up by a sea of red and white as the referee signalled not only the goal but also half time.

 

 

 

 

Jenkins and his team mates trotted off the pitch to the rapturous acclaim of their supporters whilst the Bartholomew's lot marched away to the changing room muttering darkly under their breath and looking menacingly over their shoulders as 'Stumpy' picked himself off the ground and began the long, lonely walk to join them.

 



 

the match - first half

The eagerly anticipated match got underway. The two teams, resplendent in their newly acquired strips (grudgingly supplied by their respective factory owners after they realised that the match was to be featured by the local press) got to grips straight away. The colours of the strips were, incidentally, decided on after some forceful input by the  owner's wives. Both of them fancied themselves as the last arbiters of good taste hereabouts.

Neither side was dominant in the early stages. Both sets of lads were eager to show off their finely honed break-time skills and some quite promising moves were only just stopped by some ruthless, fearsome, crunching but fair (ish) tackles.

 

 

Ink & pencil crayon on paper

Both sets of supporters loudly cheered on their teams and exhorted them to greater and greater efforts - too much of many a wage packet rested on the final outcome. Most of the action took place in the centre of the pitch and neither goalie was unduly troubled. In fact the Bartholomew's keeper, 'Stumpy' Williams (so-called because of an unfortunate accident with a spindle-whittling machine) took the opportunity to exchange pleasantries with some young ladies behind his goal. All was frenetic in the midfield until Jenkins (junior apprentice spittle mopper-upper, ) broke clear and homed in on the Bartholomew's goal. 'Stumpy' hurriedly, but politely (having a notion of continuing the liaisons later in The Feathers), excused himself from the conversations and faced the onrushing lad.....

the rivals

It seems that the lads from Bartholomew's Widget Company have got wind of the surreptitious practice being undertaken by their rivals and so, have found time for their own pre-match kickabout.

A couple of likely lads playing one on one, egged on by their betters and elders who, so rumour has it, have a few bob on the outcome of the match.



 

 

the apprentices

Three apprentices having a kickabout. No doubt practising for the upcoming fixture against their rivals - the young lads from Bartholomew's Widget Company. It has long been a hotly contested fixture and usually draws quite a crowd. A win is guaranteed to raise your status within the firm to something just above that of the factory cat. 

 

 

 

Ink & pencil crayon on heavyweight paper.

teabreak 2

Another footy pic - two workers enjoying their tea break.

 

 

getting there

Think I'm beginning to get to grips with things. Still having to 'trick' Blogger into uploading my pics but am slowly warming to the idiosyncrasies of Windows 8.

First up today - in y6 we sketched and then painted tonal/aerial/atmospheric (choose according to preference) perspective pictures. They painted straight into their sketchbooks - the ones we use have a lovely heavyweight paper that takes paint quite well.

 

 

Our Globe model is nearing completion. The seating units were glued onto a baseboard and the 'thatching' tidied up to fill in the gaps between them. You can just see the stage taking shape at the bottom. The current plan is to have the back of the stage area open so that puppet-type shows can be performed to an 'audience' whose head and shoulders will be in the central space normally occupied by the 'groundlings'. It will be just like being there - almost.



 

 

 

And finally, I couldn't let you escape without another footy picture. 'Christmas 1914' depicts the first international encounter between England and Germany (unless there are some very knowledgeable soccer historians out there who can name both teams from an obscure pre-war fixture).

Again, ink and pencil crayon on paper, roughly A4 sized.

 

more pics

Here are todays pics. Again all footy ones - sorry, but the style seems suited to the subject matter. All done with ink and pencil crayon on heavy weight paper. The last two will be listed in my Folksy shop (please feel free to click on the link on the right to see all the goodies therin). The last one depicts a couple of workers having a good-natured kickabout during their well earned break.

 

 

success!

Yay! Managed to persuade Blogger to upload my pics by doing it in HTML and then switching to 'compose'. These are the two pictures that I've listed in my Folksy shop. Both done on paper using ink and pencil crayon. They measure about 8" x 11" (20 x 28cm).

 

'It surely must be the best soapbox on the block'

 

 

'He was very closely marked throughout the game'

 

thwarted!

Wanted to post some new pics but Blogger seems to be playing silly beggars and won't let me upload from my own computer files. Will keep trying. I was going to list them in my Folksy shop - wonder if I can do that?
Sorry, forgot to wish folk a Happy New Year!

Update - two of the new illustrations have now been listed in my Folksy shop;

'it must surely be the best soapbox on the block' & 'he was very closely marked throughout the game'.

Please feel free to take a look at them over there. Am still trying to overcome the gremlins with the Blogger uploading process.

more new pics

Some more new illustrations today. Am liking this adaptation of a previous style. Another tussle for the ball.

 

I then had a go at copying a newspaper image rather than conjuring a pose up out of my head. Also tried out a new ball design - it's supposed to represent a more modern one with black and white panels.

 

Then I decided to see if I could do the same, but with a different sport. This image shows Manu Tuilagi (England) trying to outrun an opponent.

And here it is coloured in.

This is probably the last post for this year - have a great Christmas and a very happy New Year - providing we're all still here after tomorrow!