you been going through changes

I'm happy with this one. I hope you like it, too.
You have to click on this drawing to view it. Stick your beaks right in and have a proper rummage around.

blink and you'll miss it

Hey, guys and dolls. I am drawing. Really I am. Here's the proof. It's just that I've suddenly taken to drawing on A3 paper, and I don't own an A3 scanner. I'm loving this bigger paper, though. Just what I needed, double the size paper to fill with the tiniest most intricate of details.

Also, I now have to go to the print shop to get my drawings scanned. I'll have to post photos until I do that. Or, until I (can afford to) invest in an A3 scanner.

Something else I love is making life more complicated for myself.

like some kind of magic

Well, guys, I'm going to shut up shop for a week. I had been hoping to squeeze a cheeky one in(drawing, that is) before leaving for the Bologna Chilren's Book Fair, but that isn't going to happen. In fact I don't think I've drawn since finding out I'd been selected! I'm so excited about this trip. In fact, I feel really excited about things in general right now. It feels like something is happening, I don't know what. Some kind of shift.

My very favourite illustrated children's book is called The Red Tree by Shaun Tan. I've bought so many copies of this book for people (never for a child, though!) over the years. There cannot be another person on this planet who has bought as many copies of this book than me. It's beautiful and perfect. I can't recommend it enough.

Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this because when I was perusing the list of selected illustrators for Bologna 2009, for the millionth time, whose name do you think I found? Yeah. Shaun Tan. Only Shaun Tan. Me and Shaun Tan on the same list. My life is complete.

Some years ago, before I began blogging and drawing daily, I entered a drawing into a competition at the Sheffield Book Festival. You had to draw a character from a children's book. I won the competition, and amongst the prizes was a signed Quentin Blake book. The book is called Angel Pavement and is about a drawing competition! The book ends with this line, that never ever fails to make me feel totally utterly warm and fuzzy inside;

You can't though, can you?

Bye, folks. I'll try and post some photos from Bologna over the next week. And, maybe, I'll draw soon, too. Cheerio, my ducks.

all the weaving of my dreams

Well, sorry to leave you hanging like that. I've been a little busy. And, I've been struggling with this drawing. It's been a love hate relationship. I've given up on it a couple of times, then I've given in and worked on it some more, then finally, after a couple of weeks, I finished it. It's another drawing from, erm, 'my book' (!). Which is another reason I've been away for so long - getting ready for Bologna. Yikes, folks, it's getting close.

So, click on the drawing to get a better view. Go on, stick your beaks in.

climb onto your seahorse

Click on image to view.

The obsessional part of me knows no bounds. I first did a drawing like this for the MoleyX project. Those little Japanese Moleskines are so tiny, I knew I wanted to revisit this subject because I needed more room to put the notes in. I felt I needed to explain where granny had gotten her jewellery from. So, revisit I did, both in a brand new Moley and on an A4 sketchbook. I abandoned the sketchbook halfway through and kept going with this. I now realise what this drawing actually needs. And, that's an A3 page. So, yeah, one day, in the future, I'll be revisiting it again. On A3!

I hope you can read the notes, they are very tiny. It's almost like a mouse has written them.

dawn gives me a shadow i know to be taller

Well, folks. Sorry there's no new drawing this week (I've got one on the go) but I wanted to re post these and to share something with you, too. Yesterday I found out that I have been selected to exhibit at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Anyone who's involved in children's books will know that Bologna is THE event of the calender. I am so excited, I still can't believe it. I keep checking the website to see if that really is my name. This has been a dream of mine for at least a decade. These are two of the drawings that I submitted.

Also, I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who visits my blog. I wouldn't have realised this dream if it hadn't been for all the support and encouragement you give me on a daily basis.

Just one more thing, my email has been acting really screwy recently. For anyone who has tried to contact me and hasn't received a reply 'sorry'. I try to get back to everyone within a week, so if I haven't done it's my stupid email account not getting messages through to me. Either, leave a comment here or send me a Flickr mail and I will try and get back to you via my new account.