Hippy Dude Chases Taxi Through the Streets

This week has been another busy one...

I started it by spending all weekend locked up in the studio with my nose to the computer, working on my Baby Can Bounce scans in Photoshop, cutting out vignettes and then tinkering with the digital images, to help them 'bed in' with the coloured backgrounds we have dropped behind:

So, as you can imagine, I was already feeling a little jaded on Monday morning, when I had to drag myself out of my warm, cosy bed at 5.15am (!!!) to make a 6.30 train to Durham. 

Now, this wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't still recovering from particularly late night on Saturday. It was my good friend (and fellow illustrator) Lydia Monks's birthday, so a group of us donned fancy dress and went to a 1970's themed party. Arriving home in the wee small hours, we staggered from the taxi, went to let ourselves in, then realised... I had left my handbag in the back of the cab, whose tail lights were just rounding the corner.

John made chase (in full 70's gear, including a wig), but to no avail. So: no door key, no mobile, no way in. Once we'd finished swearing, John scaled the fence and broke a window at the back of the house. The tale did have a happy ending: once indoors, I phoned my mobile and the taxi driver answered. His next fare had found my bag and handed it in, so the cabbie drove straight back to us and returned it.   

But I digress...

The reason for the early morning trip to Durham was to spend the day at Annfield Plain Junior School, helping with their project on superheroes. It was a small school, so after a PowerPoint talk to everyone, I was able to work my way through all the classes, helping the children to add life and movement to their superhero characters.

I now always use a conte stick to 'sketch' on the flipchart during illustration workshops, rather than the felt pen I use in storytellings: 

I have realised that it is important to show children how to use a pencil to sketch in simple shapes beneath their drawings, which encourages them to draw more naturally and helps them to get by without the constant use of rubbers.

It was a lovely day. I was feeling quite droopy though by the end, so didn't have the energy for that many sketches on the train home. I finally fell into the sofa at 7pm and then vegged with telly for the rest of the evening.