.Update.

Latest finished piece in my fairy tale drawings.

My latest ventures in to the unknown creative realms of my mind, involve sketching up plans for the pages of my next kids book. The story for the book was entered in to a compertition and got in to the top 300 out of thousands of stories and I got a a 'well done' from the big guys.

While the planning commences slowly i will carry on with the digital fairy tale images and also a little side project of 'ninja bunny' t-shirt designs.

.So.Far.I've.

Just a quick post to let you all know what I've been up to.
Recently been woke up at unspeakable times with a flood of ideas for various children's books, they've all been written down and saved for a day when I'm not busy. Also a few other projects have popped up, not paid work yet but all something for me to work on and possibly gain a few pennies from.

To make things easier 'kids book wise' I've logged back on to LuLu.com (speak of the devil, they've just emailed to say my order has shipped) and downsized all my currently for sale books so they will be cheaper to buy and still look good.

I've been researching like crazy in to children's book publishers in the UK and across the waters, with the help of Children's writers and artist yearbook I've made a lot of progress over a short time. I've already sent a few manuscripts out to a few publishers (6) and got 3 back so far, fingers crossed for the rest. I've ordered a batch of my downsized books to send off as dummy books to publishers and also to show to nurseries in hope to gain public interest. (yey)

... and thats about it so far. Watch this space! ..it's quiet nice to look at.

.Actual.Touchable.Book.

Yey! my copy of Timmy & The Magic Bean arrived :D next thing to do is research in to publishers and send out letters asking sweetly and nicely if they will publish my book for me ha ha.

.Timmy.book.finished.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/timmy-the-magic-bean/15671649

Timmy book is FINALLY finished :) and I'm really happy about it. It's taken me forever to draw, make and upload as a certain format for different websites. Above is the lulu.com link so if you want a copy click the link above, i've ordered mine!

.Book.Almost.Done.

Working like mad to get this book finished, all the images are done and arranged on the pages, I've typed up the text now all i have to do is apply the text to the pages and place the pages in the book making program, :)

Next I'm gonna read up on sending work out to publishers and see if I can get anywhere with it apart from just selling it on blurb and lulu.

Below is a preview of the front and back cover.

.Mini.Project.

Setting myself project is one thing. Sticking to it is a whole new story!

So I've set myself a project which I will be forced to stick to as it will be in my face everyday and inexcusable. I've hand made another mini sketch book which I have labeled 'A Doodle A Day' you get the idea of the project from the title. Starting from February 1st 2011 I will be doodling one thing a day in this book until it's complete, not matter how good or bad the doodle may be I will do it.

This book is only small so it won't seem like a big task every time I doodle, also it will keep me drawing everyday and possible lead to ideas for other drawings.

.slowly.back.on.track.

So lately I've been focusing more on the book I'm making, it's taking a lot of organising and sorting out as well as putting together and adding information but I'll keep you all updated as it progresses.

In the meantime I've been occasionally having a break from it and adding more and more to a painting I'm doing. It's quiet a big image and will have a lot of detail but I'm only going to give you a small peek of the progress.

...Sparks, Plans and Fire...

Still the days drag on when I have nobody prodding me in the back with a big stick and telling me to get on with stuff. It's very much my own fault for not prodding myself with the big stick, but if I did how would I draw with a hand full of tree?

As my doodles lessen and my blogs become less frequent, I have been thinking over plans that I sparked to life a long while back but are not yet on fire. The end of the year draws closer and I am going to stick by my saying of 'Starting Fresh' on new years day, all the 2010 and before illustrations and work are going on to hard drive never to be seen again unless I am in dire illustration starvation.

One of the bigger plans I am kindling is an almost biographical book of all the illustrations/art I have done before and up to 2010. All sorted in order by date and accompanied on pages by descriptions, explanations and comments of each piece. Once this book is complete (which will take a long time) I will purchase only one which I can then take around and show people as I need to, and make available to anyone who wants a copy.

Then a blank canvas, new page, fresh coat of paint and a mesmerizing, dazzling plain shimmers of new ideas will come flooding in and create a new, better and more productive me in 2011!

Wish me luck in my search for fire!!!!!

.Slow.Progress.

The last few days I have been struggling with ideas to put in my 'This is not a sketchbook' sketchbook. Along with continuing to colour the image of 'cyanide slippers' nothing much has been happening in an art sense. These are the latest doodles in the book, very simple and I have yet to do more with them, they are a work in progress as are many other doodles in the book which all need to be coloured or something.

.Pages.

Working on more pages in my 'This is not a sketch book' so far it's just been drawing straight in to the book but soon I'm going to start filling in stuff off the page and sticking bits in.

Book Marks

Just a few book mark idea made for selling, if they are popular I will be making more, my details will be on the back so it's sorta like a business card at the same time. These are all based on pics and characters I've done in the past, a lot more can be done in a wide range but these were done in a short time.

Now Available.

Little Book of Big Heads now available to purchase online

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/little-book-of-big-heads/8526520

Little Book of Big Heads

As a personal project I'm creating a Little Book of Big Heads, which are my own character designs dressed as various things and doing different stuff. The are very simple characters but fit well in to most situations and are simple to draw, coloured with watercolour paint, outline with fine liner some areas washed down to get the ink running to make the shadows. I'm currently uploading to lulu.com to be made in to a proper bound and printed book, as the book it is now is all hand painted and stitched together by me. :)