Opening Spread

When I get a new project to work on, I don't generally work through the spreads in order, but start at the bit that interests me most. Then I come back to the opening spread later. This is handy: I've had a chance to get to know the characters and their space by then, and the opening is of course an especially important spread.

Bears on the Stairs only actually mentions the bears and the child at this stage, but I thought it important for both Mum and Dad to be there, so we are set up.

I wanted the child to look reluctant and a little anxious, but not too frightened for this opener:

I've tried to make the room 'real', so casual and slightly messy, but not the total chaos that I know reigns in the houses of many of my friends with littluns, as we don't want to detract from the main thrust.

You might think I've decided not to draw the bears yet, but if you look closely, the foot of the little bear is just visible through the open door:



I thought that would amuse the readers, as they can spot that he's there before anyone else!

Drawing a Picture Book: Bribery Doesn't Always Work...

The child in Bears on the Stairs finds he can get past the little bear at the bottom of the stairs, by bribing him with a biscuit:

The middle one will take a glass of milk, but the big one is a problem. He says: "NO. Even if you give me a drink and a biscuit and a whole bar of chocolate you CANNOT come upstairs."

I liked this pose immediately, but it has proved a bit tricky fitting it into the layout. The problem is that he needs to stand quite tall but also on the top step, which makes it hard to get room for anything below him and creates a lot of empty space either side. I think I have managed it in the end though:

In order to get the family gallery down the stairs, I've played about with the text layout, which was originally in just two lines. I think it looks quite fun and adds to the point of all the bribes he won't take, but the Designer gets the final say - we'll see!

An Afternoon with Quentin Blake

OK, that's a half-truth - I didn't meet him in person, but visited the new exhibition of his work with Roald Dahl: Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

I went with Maria Knudson, the curator of Giddy Goats and Dippy Dinosaurs, to gather last minute inspiration for our show. We travelled down separately, so I did more people sketching on the train, as you can see from the drawings above and below.

Apart from a couple of pages of original manuscript, poor Roald didn't didn't much of a look-in: Quentin Blake's wonderful drawings dominated.

I am always awe-struck by his ability to capture the essence of a character so simply, and his expert use of body language.


But the real magic is the way he retains a free, sketchy quality, through to the final artwork.

Interestingly, I also realised how how much his drawing style reminds me of Ronald Searle (right). Searle was a massive childhood influence on me, along with the great Ralph Steadman (below). I just love the scratchy, anarchic pen and ink work.

I liked the way Blake's drawings were surface mounted, so you could see little notes in corners, where the paper was torn or thumbed, bits of masking tape etc.

My only criticism of the show, was that it wasn't that good for kids. Given how small the drawings are, work was framed too high on the walls, and there was lots of empty space that could have been more interactive. A big stuffed BFG was striking, but not much good to play with.

The museum's regular collection was fascinating. It was a baking hot day and we were melting, but couldn't tear ourselves away from the most extraordinary collection of dolls houses you ever saw...

Afterwards, with a couple of hours to kill, I pottered round Covent Garden and treated myself to a new dress and these shocking pink pumps. I sketched them on the train home when everyone else got off at Nottingham, and I was all there was left to draw!

Who Say Builders Can't Be Artists Too?

We have builders at the house at the moment, paving our drive. This is the strange sculpture they leave in our back garden every night, comprising of their various bits of gear, piled together. I thought I'd have a go at capturing it for posterity:


I still don't seem to be able to get my images to enlarge when clicked - loading them bigger didn't work, as Blogger just resized them automatically! Any help would be appreciated...

Illustration Friday: Worn

This week's Illustration Friday topic is 'worn'.

What is old age, but a gradual wearing out of all our bits and pieces? I didn't want it to be a negative image though...

Cat-Sitting and Cat Drawing

Remember my friends' Czech wedding recently, where I nearly set fire to myself? Well, they are on honeymoon now in Italy and, bravely, have entrusted Maddy, their cat, into our safe keeping.

We have looked after Maddy before, so she knows us, and makes herself thoroughly at home. She keeps me company while I draw, which is great, but she particularly likes sitting on my warm graphics tablet and gets quite indignant when I throw her off.

As you can see, she is very cute, although into everything, so I do have to be careful in the studio. It's a good job I'm working on roughs and not my pastel artwork: I don't want any more cat disasters!

Fortunately Maddy is better behaved than Clyde, a lovely big black and white cat we looked after for several weeks once, while a friend moved house. I did this drawing of Clyde as a joke for my husband:

Guess what the problem with Clyde was?

I like making cards for my husband's birthday based on of our relationship with various cats. Smudge (below) was our own puss, sadly no longer with us. Despite the fluffy exterior, she had a fiery disposition, hence this design for a claw-proof suit for hubby:

This is Maddy sleeping on the chair beside my drawing desk yesterday, on a pink cushion, pulled carefully into the sunshine - spoilt or what?

We have to keep her in, like you do when you move house, but she keeps trying to escape. With all this hot weather, I've had the veluxes open and on Tuesday she jumped out onto the roof! I thought she was a gonner, as it's incredibly steeply pitched roof and very, very high, as you can see from a drawing I did out the window.

Luckily I managed to grab her, and got stabbed in the ear for my trouble!

De-Scaryfying!

I'm still working on Bears on the Stairs. The bears have evolved further, as I knew they would, especially the biggest one. Remember my first sketch:


I want all 3 to appear very distinct from each another, so I've decided to make Big Bear more like a real bear. The body shape is actually nothing like a teddy:

I like their flat feet, that make me think of Dr Seuss (a childhood favourite). I also love the long thin claws that are so bear-like, but I'm wary of the Freddy Kruger thing kicking in. And, though it specifically mentions his teeth, I think I can only get away with them if the rest is less menacing, so I've done away with the pose above and gone for this instead:

Far less scary, but still has an edge to him I hope. Idly playing with the child's toy reminded me of the mock-playful thing I've seen in gangster films, right before something nasty happens! The pose works well with the text too (see below) as he is now more obviously blocking the bedroom door.

I have fitted him into the relevant layout, so now need to fill the left hand side - I'm thinking loud wallpaper and family portraits down the wall (a good device for showing reassuringly happy family life too).

I'm hoping the last couple of pics should enlarge more if you click them (I'm trying stuff which might or might not work!)

Jumping Out of a Cake!

No, not really. That was a lie, but I was won as a prize, so perhaps I should have done (the kids would have loved it).

As you can tell from the drawing above, on Monday I broke off from my bears for a day, to travel to Pewithall Primary School in Runcorn. I had to get up at 5am though (EEEEEEEEEK) for a 5.45 taxi to the station (the connections from Sheffield were dreadful and I had to change twice).

This was me waiting on Stockport station for my first connection (I tinted the drawings later, in Photoshop):

And this is the 2nd leg of my morning, probably my favourite sketch of the day, particularly as I was sitting a row in front, and so had to draw him by bending backwards and peering between the seats!!

I wish I had time to tint my sketches more often - I'm really pleased with how they've come out. John's been off gallivanting again on a boy's night out this evening, so I've been playing Molly-No-Mates, spending the evening on the computer.

This hairy chappy was my last victim of the morning as, finally, I was on the train into Runcorn:


It was worth the pain, as we had a lovely day. I never tire of working with kids, and Pewithall Primary were a smashing bunch. They won me in a prize draw, set up by The Travelling Book Company (a book supplier, who also act as an agent to get people like me into schools).


I'm back on my way home again now - Runcorn to Crewe (he's looking very smart for the back end of the day, don't you think?). Putting them all together like this makes me realise how prolific a journey it was.

I've changed my mind: this next is my fave.


He was so extraordinary looking, with the wide brim over the black died hair, wearing a heavy wool, plaid coat (when most people were in shirt sleeves), drainpipes and red leather shoes. And that Adam's apple...

One thing let him down though: he was carrying a Clinton Cards carrier bag. Not very cool!

Trip to the Hairdresser

I had my highlights done again recently (Vanity, thy name is Chapman...). I have to sit for 40 mins, waiting for the colour to take, and prefer to spurn the usual gossip magazines pushed at you on such occasions.

You may remember that last time I took my travelling watercolour set and painted a self portrait (which I'm told makes me look like a little old lady!):

This time I was less committed, but still did some sketching, with pen and ink. This was the salon's new assistant, Cassie, getting a go at a blow dry (I tinted it later at home):

I like the complete change you get, by simply changing medium. Next to me was this elderly lady, Irene, who spent the whole time detailing her various ailments for the poor hairdresser, who was very patient (well done Sue!):

Edinburgh Festival

Some good news - the programme for the Edinburgh Festival is finally published, so I can tell you what I'm up to, without getting my knuckles rapped!

I'm really excited, as I've not been invited to Edinburgh for several years and then suddenly I'm asked to do 3 different events at once!

I start on Weds August 19th at 10am, with a re-run of Hay's A Lark in the Ark storytelling, with Peter Bently in our snazzy T-shirts.

After lunch it's another joint event, with author Julia Jarman, reading Class Three All at Sea and Class Two at the Zoo, at 1.30pm. We did a similar event a while ago in Lichfield, which was hilarious. You can see some photos in the Picture Gallery.

I have the rest of that day free to visit other events. I rather fancy a talk by Neil Gaiman, as I love his wonderfully dark work, and Gerald Scarfe is a must.

Next morning, on Thursday 20th at 10am, I am doing a storytelling on my own (though I will be kept company by Stinky! the baby warthog and his swarm of flies). There will of course be all the usual silliness, plus smelly songs and pongy drawings.

All my events are suitable for 4 - 8 yrs and cost £4. Tickets go on sale today. If you want to book a place visit the festival site or call 0845 373 5888.

By happy coincidence, my good friend Lydia Monks, also based in Sheffield, is doing events on the same days, reading her new book Eeeek, Mouse! (sequel to the wonderful Aaaarrggh, Spider!), so we will be able to travel together.

Koala Bully

I tried out John's idea on the fat, medium-sized bear. The koala seemed to fit so well, I didn't bother with the panda. My editor has stressed that she sees this as quite a young book, so I have to be very careful. With that in mind, I was going for that slightly dim, bullying kid at school, rather than him being truly scary...

What do you reckon? I can see now that there's something not right about his legs, but the principle seems to work.

I'm still working on the others as well. Show you soon!

A Boy or a Girl?

The hero of Bears on the Stairs is a small child, who is of course the one who's dreamt up the bears.

I've been unsure whether to do a boy or girl, as Julia doesn't specify. My first thought was a little girl, as they are so cute to draw.

However, there is an interesting issue to bear in mind: whilst girls will read books with boys or girls as heroes, boys can be reluctant to read stories about girls. It's not a problem I've had to consider much before, because animals are usefully unisex!

In the end, to maximise appeal in these difficult times, I am going with a boy and I'm please that he is still coming out pretty cute.

My wonderful (sometimes!) hubby has just given me a great idea - why not try one of the bears as a koala or a panda? Off to try it out on the fat one in the t-shirt...

Illustration Friday - Drifting

I've not done Illustration Friday for a while, and I must confess that this time I didn't do a fresh image especially (a bit of a cheat - sorry, just too busy with my bears). I thought this one fitted rather well though. I like the idea of drifting off with a good book, into the cosmos...

Plus it's quite silly of course - always a bonus for me!

Getting the Pencil Warmed Up!

I've had a nice chat about the blog with my Editor at Anderson Press. I worried that there might be issues with me showing work in progress, and bits of text from the new book, at this early stage. But great news: she thinks it's a wonderful idea and says I can show you anything I like - hurrah!

Julia's story is called Bear on the Stairs (about being scared to go to bed). I started getting my head into gear by thinking about the main characters, and filling a sketchbook page with research images, drawn from the Internet.

There are 3 bears in the story: a little fierce one, a medium-sized fat one, and a massive one with big teeth. I think some of my first characterisations were a bit too scary:

It is tricky, as they have to be mean and nasty, but not so scary they give the reader nightmares. It will help to make them as funny as possible, and they are evolving, getting funnier each time I draw them. These are my first sketches for medium-sized bear:

As you can see, I have decided to accessorize them, to diffuse matters further. At the moment, the little one wears stripy trousers, the fat one is squeezed into a too-tight t-shirt, and the big one wears a baseball cap (ignore the text - it's because I'm drawing directly onto those layout sheets):

I expect our furry friends will continue to evolve, but I am feeling much better about them now. What do you think?

A Spot of Time Travel...

I have been going through my Mum's archives recently, sorting out some images of me as a child to use as part of my exhibition. This photo, age 7, is probably the first time I posed with Giddy Goat (or perhaps Giddy's grandad). The little boys are my twin baby brothers. We were in London Zoo I believe.


I thought children visitors to the exhibition might like to see what I was like as a child, and also some drawings I did when I was little. My Mum is great - she's saved so many of the drawings I did, that I had a treasure trove to choose from. I thought you might like to see some too:

The man above was done when I was 3, the dancing cat a year later. This is a photo of me at that time, age 4:


I thought this one was rather cute - it's from my school news book, age 5. It was only my 2nd term of school (what an extraordinary thought!).


And this hilariously goofy photo is my first school photo, taken in the same year:


On my 40th birthday, this photo somehow escaped, and one of my friends printed T-shirts from it. How embarrassing.

At least some of these images are going to form part of a big introduction board at the beginning of my exhibition, giving background about me and my work. Like the fact that I actually trained as a textile designer not an illustrator at all! This is a very, very old sketchbook from those textiles days:

A courier came yesterday and took all my exhibition artwork away to Tameside, to be framed. It's all starting to feel real, and I'm getting all giddy again!