John Shelley's Blog, page 15
July 9, 2012
Dandelion Summer
Wishing all my friends and readers the best for a Dandy Summer!
July 4, 2012
SCBWI Tokyo Illustration Day: Breathing Life Into Your Pictures
Here are some details of an event I'll be running in Tokyo in August with SCBWI. Please do come along if you're able!
SCBWI Tokyo Illustration Day with John Shelley:
Breathing Life Into Your Pictures
Power up your pictures! Give your illustrations vitality and zest! This SCBWI Tokyo Illustration Day featuring illustrator John Shelley will focus on techniques that children’s illustrators use to create resonance in their work and will explore how visual psychology works to convey mood, emotion, and movement. The Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment to be completed in advance of the workshop provides an opportunity for illustrators to develop their craft through open critiques at the event.
Time: Sunday, August 19, 2012, 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Place: Tokyo Women's Plaza, Audiovisual Room, A & B
5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (by the Children's Castle and United Nations University). For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm
Fees:
Full program: (includes all sessions plus sketch review and open critique of the Action and Emotion Assignment): SCBWI Members 5,000 yen; Non-Members 8,000 yen. Advance registration and advance payment required; email contact (at) scbwi.jp. Advance payment is due by July 1, 2012.
Audit/At the door: (includes all sessions but does not include sketch review or critique of Action and Emotion Assignment) Members 4,000 yen; Non-members 7,000 yen. Reservations required: email contact (at) scbwi.jp.
This event will be in English. Japanese interpretation is available with advance request.
This Illustration Day is made possible in part through an Illustration Grant from SCBWI.
Schedule:
9:00-9:20 Registration
9:20-9:30 Opening Words
9:30-10:30 Drama in Pictures
Using examples from children’s books past and present, this talk will focus on how composition can improve depth and energy, how illustrators use color, texture, space, and lighting to affect mood and create tension and atmosphere in their work.
10:45-11:45 Character Dynamics
Movement of characters is crucial to narrative in children’s books. This session will focus on the use of posture and detail to emphasize character. Using example illustrations, we will consider how gesture, motion and composition can improve narrative flow and energy.
11:45-1:15 Lunch--bring a bento or enjoy lunch at a nearby cafe
1:15-3:00 Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment—Discussion and Open Critiques of Artwork
The Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment will be completed prior to the event—illustrators will illustrate either 1. a book jacket for a middle-grade (readers age 8-12) or early reader book; OR 2. a picture book double-page spread. Sketches will be reviewed in advance by John Shelley via email before illustrators complete the final artwork. Sketches and final artwork will be on display at the event for these open critiques and discussion. To receive the assignment details, please see above about registration and fees, and email contact (at) scbwi.jp before July 1, 2012.
3:15-4:15 Panel Presentation on Promotion and Opportunities for Illustrators featuring illustrators John Shelley, Naomi Kojima and Yoko Yoshizawa
How does evolving technology open up opportunities for artists? How do illustrators survive in a changing market? In a world swamped by digital media how does an illustrator stand out from the crowd? These questions will be discussed by a panel of illustrators including John Shelley, Naomi Kojima and Yoko Yoshizawa.
4:15-4:45 Q&A and Wrap-Up Discussion
Participants and panelists will share final reflections, offer advice, ask questions, and share future goals in illustration.
www.scbwi.jp
SCBWI Tokyo Illustration Day with John Shelley:
Breathing Life Into Your Pictures
Power up your pictures! Give your illustrations vitality and zest! This SCBWI Tokyo Illustration Day featuring illustrator John Shelley will focus on techniques that children’s illustrators use to create resonance in their work and will explore how visual psychology works to convey mood, emotion, and movement. The Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment to be completed in advance of the workshop provides an opportunity for illustrators to develop their craft through open critiques at the event.
Time: Sunday, August 19, 2012, 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Place: Tokyo Women's Plaza, Audiovisual Room, A & B
5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (by the Children's Castle and United Nations University). For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm
Fees:
Full program: (includes all sessions plus sketch review and open critique of the Action and Emotion Assignment): SCBWI Members 5,000 yen; Non-Members 8,000 yen. Advance registration and advance payment required; email contact (at) scbwi.jp. Advance payment is due by July 1, 2012.
Audit/At the door: (includes all sessions but does not include sketch review or critique of Action and Emotion Assignment) Members 4,000 yen; Non-members 7,000 yen. Reservations required: email contact (at) scbwi.jp.
This event will be in English. Japanese interpretation is available with advance request.
This Illustration Day is made possible in part through an Illustration Grant from SCBWI.
Schedule:
9:00-9:20 Registration
9:20-9:30 Opening Words
9:30-10:30 Drama in Pictures
Using examples from children’s books past and present, this talk will focus on how composition can improve depth and energy, how illustrators use color, texture, space, and lighting to affect mood and create tension and atmosphere in their work.
10:45-11:45 Character Dynamics
Movement of characters is crucial to narrative in children’s books. This session will focus on the use of posture and detail to emphasize character. Using example illustrations, we will consider how gesture, motion and composition can improve narrative flow and energy.
11:45-1:15 Lunch--bring a bento or enjoy lunch at a nearby cafe
1:15-3:00 Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment—Discussion and Open Critiques of Artwork
The Action and Emotion Illustration Assignment will be completed prior to the event—illustrators will illustrate either 1. a book jacket for a middle-grade (readers age 8-12) or early reader book; OR 2. a picture book double-page spread. Sketches will be reviewed in advance by John Shelley via email before illustrators complete the final artwork. Sketches and final artwork will be on display at the event for these open critiques and discussion. To receive the assignment details, please see above about registration and fees, and email contact (at) scbwi.jp before July 1, 2012.
3:15-4:15 Panel Presentation on Promotion and Opportunities for Illustrators featuring illustrators John Shelley, Naomi Kojima and Yoko Yoshizawa
How does evolving technology open up opportunities for artists? How do illustrators survive in a changing market? In a world swamped by digital media how does an illustrator stand out from the crowd? These questions will be discussed by a panel of illustrators including John Shelley, Naomi Kojima and Yoko Yoshizawa.
4:15-4:45 Q&A and Wrap-Up Discussion
Participants and panelists will share final reflections, offer advice, ask questions, and share future goals in illustration.
www.scbwi.jp
July 3, 2012
Book release dates revison
I've just learned that the release of Halloween Forest in the US has been pushed back to 1st October, which is a little later than anticipated. I'm sorry for the delay, but rest assured it will be out very soon in time for Halloween. The book can be pre-ordered with Amazon and other retail outlets.
This means that my next book release will be my own re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk「ジャックと豆の木」 (Jack to Mame no Ki) in Japan, which will be on sale from 10th September by Fukuinkan Shoten publishers.
'Jack' is still in production and is not yet listed for pre-order. Even so, it will still be released before Halloween Forest, which predates it in production. It's a funny old business, publishing! I'll post an update as soon as I have more details.
In the meantime here's a couple more images from the book.
This means that my next book release will be my own re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk「ジャックと豆の木」 (Jack to Mame no Ki) in Japan, which will be on sale from 10th September by Fukuinkan Shoten publishers.
'Jack' is still in production and is not yet listed for pre-order. Even so, it will still be released before Halloween Forest, which predates it in production. It's a funny old business, publishing! I'll post an update as soon as I have more details.
In the meantime here's a couple more images from the book.
June 18, 2012
Blue Blankets, Bored Brendas and Fat Bags
It's surprising to think sometimes that the book Fatbag, my first professional (i.e. paid!) job as an illustrator, was 30 years ago this year. I remember creating the drawings like it was yesterday.
Having graduated from Manchester I moved to Norwich, where my parents had decided to re-settle during my absence. Rural Norfolk was a complete contrast to Manchester. I knew nothing about Norwich at all, but there was a burgeoning music and arts scene which I slipped into pretty quickly. With virtually no budget I started anonymously publishing an indies music/arts fanzine The Blue Blanket, through which I interviewed bands, touring and local, ran local event listings, plus there were odd features on the arts, and opinionated flippant essays under various nom-de-plumes. And of course it was fully illustrated with my work. It was fun, made me a bunch of friends very quickly, and invariably sold out. Somewhere along the years of multiple housemoving I lost my own remaining copies, so I've only memories of the magazine now, but recently I did find one piece of artwork in my dad's house.
from The Blue Blanket Issue 4, 1982
Any funds raised were pumped straight back into the production of the magazine, so the print quality and distribution gradually improved, the print run more than doubled over a year. However by then it was becoming a burden to write, illustrate, edit and publish virtually all by myself, the magazine was a full time job, any help I did get was completely volunteer. I had to make a choice - am I going to do this for a living? In which case I'd need to generate some income from it, or take up the reins of freelance illustration, which I'd just spent 4 years studying? It was time to get serious about my career.
After throwing most of my student artwork out of the window on the last day at Manchester Poly (see previous post) I just had a simple portfolio of graduate pieces I wasn't particularly happy with, mostly black and white. So I began looking with fresh eyes at the market for children's illustration. I worked on some story ideas and drew a full colour dummy picture book Bored Brenda, (a modern day twist on The Fisherman's Wife, set in Manchester) plus a couple of other watercolour portfolio pieces, and added drawings from The Blue Blanket to my degree show black and white work.
Bored Brenda at home (original dummy) 1982
Brenda finds the teapot (original dummy) 1982
On a bleak spring day I jumped on a train to London with around 4 or 5 appointments with publishers. It wasn't the first time I'd carted my wares around the streets of the capital, but previous times were as a student, showing college projects. This was different, my portfolio had a purpose, it was much more focused towards getting me employed. It's strange that all this energy had suddenly appeared after I left college, in retrospect, it was a combination of The Blue Blanket and fear of unemployment that cranked me into gear.
A and C Black were the last publisher I saw that day of lugging my portfolio around. It was belting down with rain and I was pretty drenched, I often wonder whether the art director (now Managing Director) Jill Coleman took pity on my bedraggled appearance. But she liked my drawings, and to my surprise and delight offered me a book to illustrate, written by the then largely unknown Jeremy Strong. Suddenly I was in business, the flat fee seemed very reasonable for the time (little did I know Fatbag would still be on the shelves 30 years later and I wouldn't earn a penny from any of the subsequent printings or editions!).
The book is sheer pantomime farce, the story of an evil vacuum cleaner that takes on a life of its own and goes on the rampage. Growing bigger and more powerful the more it slurps, Fatbag trashes the town, chased by the completely ineffective police and fire brigade.
Eventually Fatbag meets his come-uppance thanks to the local school cleaner Elsie Bunce, with the help of a TV curry recipe.
I worked on Fatbag in my bedroom on an old kitchen table once belonging to my grandmother, such was the extent of my first studio, 30 line drawings and cover. Although I'm proud of the book as my first commission, I was clearly finding my way, some of the drawings are inconsistent, and I've always disliked the cover, but it was a start. Fatbag set me on the road, over the next year two more book commissions were to follow (Get Lavinia Goodbody! for the Andersen Press and A Canoe in the Mist for Jonathan Cape). My story Bored Brenda was eventually published (though truncated) in Storyteller magazine (Marshal Cavendish), by which time I'd moved to London. After a year of incubation I joined old Manchester mate Andy Royston to set up Façade Art Studios, from that point there was no looking back.
Having graduated from Manchester I moved to Norwich, where my parents had decided to re-settle during my absence. Rural Norfolk was a complete contrast to Manchester. I knew nothing about Norwich at all, but there was a burgeoning music and arts scene which I slipped into pretty quickly. With virtually no budget I started anonymously publishing an indies music/arts fanzine The Blue Blanket, through which I interviewed bands, touring and local, ran local event listings, plus there were odd features on the arts, and opinionated flippant essays under various nom-de-plumes. And of course it was fully illustrated with my work. It was fun, made me a bunch of friends very quickly, and invariably sold out. Somewhere along the years of multiple housemoving I lost my own remaining copies, so I've only memories of the magazine now, but recently I did find one piece of artwork in my dad's house.
from The Blue Blanket Issue 4, 1982
Any funds raised were pumped straight back into the production of the magazine, so the print quality and distribution gradually improved, the print run more than doubled over a year. However by then it was becoming a burden to write, illustrate, edit and publish virtually all by myself, the magazine was a full time job, any help I did get was completely volunteer. I had to make a choice - am I going to do this for a living? In which case I'd need to generate some income from it, or take up the reins of freelance illustration, which I'd just spent 4 years studying? It was time to get serious about my career.
After throwing most of my student artwork out of the window on the last day at Manchester Poly (see previous post) I just had a simple portfolio of graduate pieces I wasn't particularly happy with, mostly black and white. So I began looking with fresh eyes at the market for children's illustration. I worked on some story ideas and drew a full colour dummy picture book Bored Brenda, (a modern day twist on The Fisherman's Wife, set in Manchester) plus a couple of other watercolour portfolio pieces, and added drawings from The Blue Blanket to my degree show black and white work.
Bored Brenda at home (original dummy) 1982
Brenda finds the teapot (original dummy) 1982
On a bleak spring day I jumped on a train to London with around 4 or 5 appointments with publishers. It wasn't the first time I'd carted my wares around the streets of the capital, but previous times were as a student, showing college projects. This was different, my portfolio had a purpose, it was much more focused towards getting me employed. It's strange that all this energy had suddenly appeared after I left college, in retrospect, it was a combination of The Blue Blanket and fear of unemployment that cranked me into gear.
A and C Black were the last publisher I saw that day of lugging my portfolio around. It was belting down with rain and I was pretty drenched, I often wonder whether the art director (now Managing Director) Jill Coleman took pity on my bedraggled appearance. But she liked my drawings, and to my surprise and delight offered me a book to illustrate, written by the then largely unknown Jeremy Strong. Suddenly I was in business, the flat fee seemed very reasonable for the time (little did I know Fatbag would still be on the shelves 30 years later and I wouldn't earn a penny from any of the subsequent printings or editions!).
The book is sheer pantomime farce, the story of an evil vacuum cleaner that takes on a life of its own and goes on the rampage. Growing bigger and more powerful the more it slurps, Fatbag trashes the town, chased by the completely ineffective police and fire brigade.
Eventually Fatbag meets his come-uppance thanks to the local school cleaner Elsie Bunce, with the help of a TV curry recipe.
I worked on Fatbag in my bedroom on an old kitchen table once belonging to my grandmother, such was the extent of my first studio, 30 line drawings and cover. Although I'm proud of the book as my first commission, I was clearly finding my way, some of the drawings are inconsistent, and I've always disliked the cover, but it was a start. Fatbag set me on the road, over the next year two more book commissions were to follow (Get Lavinia Goodbody! for the Andersen Press and A Canoe in the Mist for Jonathan Cape). My story Bored Brenda was eventually published (though truncated) in Storyteller magazine (Marshal Cavendish), by which time I'd moved to London. After a year of incubation I joined old Manchester mate Andy Royston to set up Façade Art Studios, from that point there was no looking back.
June 16, 2012
Punk rock, Manchester illustration and Nihilism
There are a lot of anniversaries in the UK this year, most significant for me being the 30th year since my first professional illustration job. The commission for Fatbag in 1982 was an important threshold on a journey that had begun years before. Recent programmes on BBC TV and radio celebrating punk and it's legacy have brought back a lot of memories of that time.
First let me say I was never a punk, the revolution was over by the time I cottoned onto it all in 1978. Although the Sex Pistols played a secret gig in Walsall as the Spots, just a few miles from my house, I was blissfully unaware, and wouldn't have been able to go anyway even if I'd heard of the Pistols, which I hadn't. I glided gormlessly through '76 and '77 more interested in folklore
than phlem, my badge of honour was a sketchbook, not safety pins. When the Pistols were in the headlines I was 16, a quiet mouse in suburban Sutton Coldfield, with dreams of following in the footsteps of Golden Age illustrators of 100 years before. No interest in the hippy/heavy metal bars in Birmingham (unlike brother and sister), I spent my spare time miniature wargaming and drawing.
Leaving home for Manchester jolted me out of this cosy world very quickly. Thanks to compatriots on the illustration course I was quickly introduced to the delights of the Russell Club in the grim no man's land of Hulme and Factory Records first major venue in Manchester. One of the first gigs I remember seeing there were the Rezillos, shortly after that the Buzzcocks headlined, supported by The Fall and John Cooper Clarke, after which there was no looking back. I was lucky enough to see nearly every notable band of the era, some of them in their earliest gigs.
The illustration course at Manchester was a curious experience. 11 students, all of widely differing styles and interests, meandered through experiments and projects overseen by tutors under the overall leadership of Tony Ross, but we were never really taught a great deal. It was an oasis from the urban world around us where we could nurture our craft, but to me the energy of Manchester at that time was in music, John Peel became more important than anything within the walls of the Poly. I saw as many gigs as I could afford on my meagre budget, while in the studio my sense of direction and enthusiasm for illustration became sapped as I was told to forget about the long-dead artists that inspired me, "nobody works like that anymore, those kind of conditions don't exist today". It was a hard learning curve, though necessary. As I fumbled through graphic experiments looking for new inspiration I began questioning whether I really wanted to be an artist or join a band. I bought my first guitar for £45 on Oxford Street, a cheap but functional Gibson copy. By the end of the course in 1981 I almost felt had a stronger bond to music than I did to illustration.
Members of the illustration course 1978-1981. Jean Yarwood, Lorraine Formstone, Heather Farr, John Goodwin, myself, Bob Wood, Tammy Wong, Lynn Wakefield.
Three years studying illustration at Manchester Poly were a very powerful experience, I treasure every moment of it. I found my voice, I came out of my shell, and it sparked an attitude of cavalier optimism (some would say stupidity), a disregard for disaster, a determination to give things a go. Nomatter how much or how little support the course tutors were, it was largely the Manchester music scene, my mates (Bob, John and Andy) and experiences outside the course that really made the biggest difference.
The infamous Sans Culottes scam
I even created a band, dubbed the Sans Culottes after the French Revolutionary mobs, had some totally spurious gig reviews printed in the Poly newsletter,
and sent them off to the national press with photos. John Peel mentioned them on his radio programme, looking forward to our upcoming record release. They were interviewed for a fanzine.
But there
was no record, no gigs, in fact no band.
My sense of direction may have meandered, especially in the final year, but there was always a purpose to it all, the energy was there, it just needed some serious focus.
On the last day of the course, 27th July 1981, in a gesture indicative of the time (or my state of mind perhaps) I gathered all my student artwork and threw the lot out of the 6th Floor window, to be scattered like confetti over the streets of Manchester.
the first pile...
...and more...
....cast to the wind....
I considered burning it, but casting it all to the skies seemed somehow more apt. I kept my degree show work and a few other things I really liked, but not much else. The rest littered the roofs of the Poly buildings below, a final statement of nihilistic tomfoolery before leaving the city and starting a new chapter with fresh vision and new work to take on the world. As the words of the song go, "Rip it up and start again". I wasn't ever a punk, nor ever fulfilled my band ambitions. But that came close to the mark.
First let me say I was never a punk, the revolution was over by the time I cottoned onto it all in 1978. Although the Sex Pistols played a secret gig in Walsall as the Spots, just a few miles from my house, I was blissfully unaware, and wouldn't have been able to go anyway even if I'd heard of the Pistols, which I hadn't. I glided gormlessly through '76 and '77 more interested in folklore
than phlem, my badge of honour was a sketchbook, not safety pins. When the Pistols were in the headlines I was 16, a quiet mouse in suburban Sutton Coldfield, with dreams of following in the footsteps of Golden Age illustrators of 100 years before. No interest in the hippy/heavy metal bars in Birmingham (unlike brother and sister), I spent my spare time miniature wargaming and drawing.
Leaving home for Manchester jolted me out of this cosy world very quickly. Thanks to compatriots on the illustration course I was quickly introduced to the delights of the Russell Club in the grim no man's land of Hulme and Factory Records first major venue in Manchester. One of the first gigs I remember seeing there were the Rezillos, shortly after that the Buzzcocks headlined, supported by The Fall and John Cooper Clarke, after which there was no looking back. I was lucky enough to see nearly every notable band of the era, some of them in their earliest gigs.
The illustration course at Manchester was a curious experience. 11 students, all of widely differing styles and interests, meandered through experiments and projects overseen by tutors under the overall leadership of Tony Ross, but we were never really taught a great deal. It was an oasis from the urban world around us where we could nurture our craft, but to me the energy of Manchester at that time was in music, John Peel became more important than anything within the walls of the Poly. I saw as many gigs as I could afford on my meagre budget, while in the studio my sense of direction and enthusiasm for illustration became sapped as I was told to forget about the long-dead artists that inspired me, "nobody works like that anymore, those kind of conditions don't exist today". It was a hard learning curve, though necessary. As I fumbled through graphic experiments looking for new inspiration I began questioning whether I really wanted to be an artist or join a band. I bought my first guitar for £45 on Oxford Street, a cheap but functional Gibson copy. By the end of the course in 1981 I almost felt had a stronger bond to music than I did to illustration.
Members of the illustration course 1978-1981. Jean Yarwood, Lorraine Formstone, Heather Farr, John Goodwin, myself, Bob Wood, Tammy Wong, Lynn Wakefield.
Three years studying illustration at Manchester Poly were a very powerful experience, I treasure every moment of it. I found my voice, I came out of my shell, and it sparked an attitude of cavalier optimism (some would say stupidity), a disregard for disaster, a determination to give things a go. Nomatter how much or how little support the course tutors were, it was largely the Manchester music scene, my mates (Bob, John and Andy) and experiences outside the course that really made the biggest difference.
The infamous Sans Culottes scam
I even created a band, dubbed the Sans Culottes after the French Revolutionary mobs, had some totally spurious gig reviews printed in the Poly newsletter,
and sent them off to the national press with photos. John Peel mentioned them on his radio programme, looking forward to our upcoming record release. They were interviewed for a fanzine.
But there
was no record, no gigs, in fact no band.
My sense of direction may have meandered, especially in the final year, but there was always a purpose to it all, the energy was there, it just needed some serious focus.
On the last day of the course, 27th July 1981, in a gesture indicative of the time (or my state of mind perhaps) I gathered all my student artwork and threw the lot out of the 6th Floor window, to be scattered like confetti over the streets of Manchester.
the first pile...
...and more...
....cast to the wind....
I considered burning it, but casting it all to the skies seemed somehow more apt. I kept my degree show work and a few other things I really liked, but not much else. The rest littered the roofs of the Poly buildings below, a final statement of nihilistic tomfoolery before leaving the city and starting a new chapter with fresh vision and new work to take on the world. As the words of the song go, "Rip it up and start again". I wasn't ever a punk, nor ever fulfilled my band ambitions. But that came close to the mark.
June 4, 2012
Queens and Anniversaries
I like my royalty in fairy tales and history books, but I have to admit I've little enthusiasm for, or interest in the real thing. I've more of a Cromwellian leaning shall we say, more of a disciple of Liberté, égalité, fraternité so to speak.
Just because the venerable lady is old and has been in the job a long time doesn't make her any more attractive to me, the royal family has as much relevance to me as I personally do to the Queen herself. I've absolutely nothing against the Queen or any of her family, they're in a job which they didn't ask for and they do it well enough, I wouldn't want to sweep them aside in revolutionary fervour, they're useful for tourism, a convenient figure-head, so they serve their purpose. But I don't understand all the hysteria, nor why taxpayers should spend millions celebrating it all. She's the one with the cash, she should pay for her own damned party. I wouldn't ask taxpayers to pay for my birthday, or other anniversary. Often I really don't feel very British at all!
I'm told that the country has warmed to the royal family since Diana's death, but I was in Japan when that happened so none of the hysteria reached my corner of the world anyway. Diana was as remote to me as any other member of the royal family. It was sad news to hear, but of no relevance to my life in Tokyo. I've no idea what the royal family has done to re-establish themselves in the hearts of the British people because they were never in mine in the first place. So over this weekend of hysteria I've done my utmost to ignore everything about the Jubilee. I actually didn't even know it was on this past weekend until it was broadcast on the radio on Saturday morning, that's the absolute truth!
I detest idolatry and hierarchy in all it's shape and forms, with an intense dislike of celebrities, fame for it's own sake and so on. People should be respected for their talents and their achievements, so I save my respect for those who have talent and have actually achieved something that others can appreciate. It's difficult to judge what the Queen has achieved or her talents, as it's not as if she had to qualify for her job, we don't have others to compare her performance against. I've yet to see her do anything for her people that warrants her and her family stripping us of our land or our taxes. As Michael Rosen very adequately points out, it's a hierarchy established for so long, over so many generations, that we accept it as normal. But it's not normal, in this day and age I don't believe anyone has the right to privilege as a birth right.
I've actually found the whole Jubilee thing very easy to ignore as I'm overwhelmed with too many things on my plate right now, deadlines, house-hunting etc. I haven't watched TV, no street parties around here that I know of, rain kept us indoors yesterday. I've seen a few union flags around and some merchandise in the local supermarket but that's about it.
Hardback original cover
But wait a minute! I am celebrating an anniversary! 30 years ago this year I completed and saw published my first professional illustration job, the book Fatbag by Jeremy Strong, commissioned by Jill Coleman at A and C Black, (who's still with the company!) for which I drew 30 or so black an white drawings and (admittedly awful) colour cover. It's still on sale in it's Puffin paperback edition, Nick Sharratt re-did the paperback cover, but my interior drawings are still there. My first ever illustration job, still on the shelves!
30 years as a freelance illustrator, and still going! Whahey! Now that's worthy of a celebration. Maybe I should ask the government for some fireworks and a commemorative mug.
Just because the venerable lady is old and has been in the job a long time doesn't make her any more attractive to me, the royal family has as much relevance to me as I personally do to the Queen herself. I've absolutely nothing against the Queen or any of her family, they're in a job which they didn't ask for and they do it well enough, I wouldn't want to sweep them aside in revolutionary fervour, they're useful for tourism, a convenient figure-head, so they serve their purpose. But I don't understand all the hysteria, nor why taxpayers should spend millions celebrating it all. She's the one with the cash, she should pay for her own damned party. I wouldn't ask taxpayers to pay for my birthday, or other anniversary. Often I really don't feel very British at all!
I'm told that the country has warmed to the royal family since Diana's death, but I was in Japan when that happened so none of the hysteria reached my corner of the world anyway. Diana was as remote to me as any other member of the royal family. It was sad news to hear, but of no relevance to my life in Tokyo. I've no idea what the royal family has done to re-establish themselves in the hearts of the British people because they were never in mine in the first place. So over this weekend of hysteria I've done my utmost to ignore everything about the Jubilee. I actually didn't even know it was on this past weekend until it was broadcast on the radio on Saturday morning, that's the absolute truth!
I detest idolatry and hierarchy in all it's shape and forms, with an intense dislike of celebrities, fame for it's own sake and so on. People should be respected for their talents and their achievements, so I save my respect for those who have talent and have actually achieved something that others can appreciate. It's difficult to judge what the Queen has achieved or her talents, as it's not as if she had to qualify for her job, we don't have others to compare her performance against. I've yet to see her do anything for her people that warrants her and her family stripping us of our land or our taxes. As Michael Rosen very adequately points out, it's a hierarchy established for so long, over so many generations, that we accept it as normal. But it's not normal, in this day and age I don't believe anyone has the right to privilege as a birth right.
I've actually found the whole Jubilee thing very easy to ignore as I'm overwhelmed with too many things on my plate right now, deadlines, house-hunting etc. I haven't watched TV, no street parties around here that I know of, rain kept us indoors yesterday. I've seen a few union flags around and some merchandise in the local supermarket but that's about it.
Hardback original cover
But wait a minute! I am celebrating an anniversary! 30 years ago this year I completed and saw published my first professional illustration job, the book Fatbag by Jeremy Strong, commissioned by Jill Coleman at A and C Black, (who's still with the company!) for which I drew 30 or so black an white drawings and (admittedly awful) colour cover. It's still on sale in it's Puffin paperback edition, Nick Sharratt re-did the paperback cover, but my interior drawings are still there. My first ever illustration job, still on the shelves!
30 years as a freelance illustrator, and still going! Whahey! Now that's worthy of a celebration. Maybe I should ask the government for some fireworks and a commemorative mug.
May 17, 2012
Halloween Forest release date
Time for a shameless plug! Halloween Forest, my upcoming book from Holiday House in the US is now available for pre-order online: Amazon USA ; Amazon UK ; The Book Depository... etc.
Written by Marion Dane Bauer in fabulous verse, the book is due for release in July, I'm really looking forward to seeing the printed book. Some of the interior spreads are on my website here. I'll show some more when the book is out.
Written by Marion Dane Bauer in fabulous verse, the book is due for release in July, I'm really looking forward to seeing the printed book. Some of the interior spreads are on my website here. I'll show some more when the book is out.
May 7, 2012
Recent Sketch
Right now I'm getting stuck into another picture book commission, more on which shortly. In the meantime here's a recent sketchbook doodle.
April 18, 2012
Jack and the Beanstalk again
...and here's the first incomplete drawing I posted now it's finished. I'll upload some more spreads from the book after it's been passed by the editor.
Okey, right, onwards and upwards!
Jack and the Beanstalk
The artwork for Jack and the Beanstalk is finished, I'm just waiting for approval from the publisher now. Here's how some of the previously posted line drawings have turned out after painting.
On the whole I've tried to restrain colour to avoid swamping the linework, however the style of illustration led me to quite detailed treatment for some spreads. Based on previous commissions for Fukuinkan, the editorial team were very clear that they wanted me to approach the book in the most detailed 'traditional' aspect of my style. Hopefully this fits the brief!
Jack and the Beanstalk (Japanese title ジャックと豆の木 (Jack to Mame no Ki)) retold by yours truely, will be released in Japan by Fukuinkan Shoten publishers in September.
On the whole I've tried to restrain colour to avoid swamping the linework, however the style of illustration led me to quite detailed treatment for some spreads. Based on previous commissions for Fukuinkan, the editorial team were very clear that they wanted me to approach the book in the most detailed 'traditional' aspect of my style. Hopefully this fits the brief!
Jack and the Beanstalk (Japanese title ジャックと豆の木 (Jack to Mame no Ki)) retold by yours truely, will be released in Japan by Fukuinkan Shoten publishers in September.
