Dec
22
Merry Christmas
Joyful cheer and festive felicitations to all my friends and readers!
3
Dec
14
Salon du Livre
The SCBWI Conference coincided with the children's book fair Salon du Livre et de la Presse Jeunesse, running from 1st-6th December in the Parisian suburb of Montreuil.
This was my debut at this fair. Though I'm perhaps a bit of a Bologna Veteran now, this was something else altogether. I found it an incredibly rewarding, though exhausting experience.
This was my debut at this fair. Though I'm perhaps a bit of a Bologna Veteran now, this was something else altogether. I found it an incredibly rewarding, though exhausting experience.
Dec
11
Paris Conference From Idea To Book
Recently I was in Paris to run a workshop at the SCBWI France Conference and attend the Salon du Livre Jeunesse (Children's Book Fair) in Montreuil.
It was actually touch and go whether I'd get there at all, as services on both sides of the English Channel were crippled by severe winter weather. My Eurostar train was cancelled, passengers for all journeys were left in a first-come-first served queue that stretched almost outside St.Pancras Station.
It was actually touch and go whether I'd get there at all, as services on both sides of the English Channel were crippled by severe winter weather. My Eurostar train was cancelled, passengers for all journeys were left in a first-come-first served queue that stretched almost outside St.Pancras Station.
Nov
27
Sketch Crawl
Yesterday was the first British SCBWI Sketch Crawl event in London.
A group of ardent children's book scribblers descended on the Natural History Museum, and later moved on to the Victoria & Albert Museum. A report will be on the SCBWI Illustrator's blog shortly, but here are all the drawings I came up with.
As the organiser I was prepared for people turning up without drawing equipment, so I lugged a lot more materials than I would normally have needed. Here's what I carried for my own use.
A group of ardent children's book scribblers descended on the Natural History Museum, and later moved on to the Victoria & Albert Museum. A report will be on the SCBWI Illustrator's blog shortly, but here are all the drawings I came up with.
As the organiser I was prepared for people turning up without drawing equipment, so I lugged a lot more materials than I would normally have needed. Here's what I carried for my own use.
Oct
11
Vultures Pick my Bones
I wouldn't say I love them, but I've no problem with vultures, they're a crucial part of the eco-system, their talent for waste disposal is unparalleled, without them we'd be in big trouble. In India the catastrophic decline of the vulture population has led to epidemics and streets filled with rabid feral dogs.
To my knowledge there are no vultures in Queen's Park, not that I've seen anyway, though I have my suspicions about some locals.
To my knowledge there are no vultures in Queen's Park, not that I've seen anyway, though I have my suspicions about some locals.
Sep
30
Flying High
Here are some simple cuts from a regular series for ANA's inflight magazine Wingspan. The feature runs in alternative issues every 2 months on their international flights.
Each image is to illustrate an unusual festival celebrated in different parts of the world. Here are three: Man versus Horse Marathon (UK), Tanabata (Japan), and the Chonburi Water Buffalo race (Thailand).
Apart from being a fun series to work on, these stand-alone simple images give me a chance to experiment with texture.
Each image is to illustrate an unusual festival celebrated in different parts of the world. Here are three: Man versus Horse Marathon (UK), Tanabata (Japan), and the Chonburi Water Buffalo race (Thailand).
Apart from being a fun series to work on, these stand-alone simple images give me a chance to experiment with texture.
Sep
12
Fear of the Wolf
Earlier this spring French children's publisher Bayard commissioned me to illustrate a feature for the magazine Les Belle Histoires entitled J'ai peur du loup ! (I Fear the Wolf!).
This was a short conversational monologue by a small boy at bedtime, who fears wolves in the night. I was asked to illustrate the boys words with a series of very simple vignette images. "J'ai peur du loup, caché dessous..... J'ai peur du loup, trop grand debout.....
This was a short conversational monologue by a small boy at bedtime, who fears wolves in the night. I was asked to illustrate the boys words with a series of very simple vignette images. "J'ai peur du loup, caché dessous..... J'ai peur du loup, trop grand debout.....
Aug
9
new sketches
While I'm soaking up the atmosphere in Tokyo here are some more recent sketchbook doodles....
Aug
7
Tokyo Summer
I'm back in Tokyo for the summer, catching up with things here, seeing family, friends and colleagues etc. It's been a strange experience. 18 months have passed since my last visit to these shores, the longest I've ever been away from Japan, so it took a while to get back in the swing of things. At first everything felt completely surreal, it's a city I know so well yet somehow felt detached from.
Jul
24
Summer in the City
Summer greetings to one and all!
London has been comfortably warm, but daughter and I are shortly off to the sweltering heat of Tokyo for a month, where by all accounts temperature records are being broken. Undaunted, we'll be staying in the shade as much as possible. I've work to do after I arrive, so, pens, paper and laptop in hand, heat or no it's business as usual.
London has been comfortably warm, but daughter and I are shortly off to the sweltering heat of Tokyo for a month, where by all accounts temperature records are being broken. Undaunted, we'll be staying in the shade as much as possible. I've work to do after I arrive, so, pens, paper and laptop in hand, heat or no it's business as usual.
