A HOPPY ENDING

Remember Fluffy from a few posts ago, trapped in the woods and surrounded by monsters?

Remember I said he was doomed?

Well I was wrong- he lives to hop another day, kids.

CHARLOTTE DEWAR AND THE REVOLVERTRON

Think where man's glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.

WB YEATS (1865-1939)

I was at Camberwell College of Art in the mid-90's with some talented people but none more brilliant than my friend Charlotte Dewar (nee Mallaby). We designed and made this stunning little piece of crap one afternoon for fun and it only took about four or five minutes. Possibly twenty. Certainly no longer than the whole afternoon.

Charlotte helped me find my inner sisu and was responsible for making me blow more bogey bubbles per minute than anyone else from '93-'95. I always smile when I think about the stupid, jerky motion the bulb made when it rotated although I'm not sure what its function was other than to make us laugh.

Now The Revolvertron is safely stored in some box in some loft somewhere waiting patiently to be rediscovered.

Lovely and completely off her chump, Charlotte deservedly left college with a 1st Class Honours Degree and is now the Creative Director at People Brands.

I did considerably worse at college although I reckon I might of made it big in the sciences were I not an illustrator. Erm, probably would have designed rockets or something.

I THOUGHT I SEWER MONSTER IN THERE!

Apologies about the title, my friends. More children in mortal peril here but this time they're in the sewers which, as everyone knows, is a favourite stomping ground for monsters. I don't know why the children would be in the sewage system in the first place and I expect they'll be in for a telling off if they make it back home.

I love drawing monsters and I think I might do some more...

Further drawings can be found via my other blog here, or you visit my website.

FROM LOCH NESS TO THE AMAZON VIA THE No. 36 BUS

What freak of nature wouldn't want there to be monsters lurking in some forgotten corner of the world? I long for there to be monsters and I know I'm not alone. There are people who set up camp on the shores of Loch Ness hoping to cop a brief glimpse of something wonderful.

And when I was a boy there was a local bus driver who spent 6 months of every year driving the no. 36 on its route, saving up his wages and spending the other six months of the year exploring the Amazon hunting for dinosaurs. I don't know if he ever had any luck but I do know that one year he never returned. I like to think he was eaten.

But as much as I hanker after monsters I wouldn't want to be eaten by them and I fear for the children in the picture above. Hopefully they'll escape but I'm pretty sure Fluffy's doomed.

iraVEAL A NEW GARGOYLE

Happy Easter, kids!

As a little Easter treat I'm posting a picture of Ira, a new Gargoyle from book 3, Gargoylz and the Midnight Feast. At least I think he makes his first appearance in book 3- me brain's so befuddled, your guess is as good as mine.

Like all the little stone Gargoylz he has a special power, but you'll have to read the book to find out what it is.

THE BOLOGNA BOOK FAIR, 2009

Hello friends, we haven't spoken in a while and I'm so tired I can't even afford the time to think up a rubbish title for this post.

Duncan, my agent, has been on his travels and sent me these pics which are promoting the Gargoylz from this year's Bologna Book Fair. I didn't do the covers which might explain why they're so striking. But what I have been doing is the insides and that's a lot of work too for a fella of limited drawing ability.

Each book has around 100 b/w illustrations which each need scanning and emailing and the scanning and emailing alone takes hours for someone of limited technical ability. I've been up all night scanning and sending 32 corrections for book 3 of the Gargoylz and I'm not sure I have the time to steal just a few hours Egyptian PT as there's plenty more work that needs my attention.

I just didn't want you thinking I'd died or anything but many thanks to all those who thought I had and sent flowers.

TONY HART (1925-2009)

I woke up this morning to the sad news that Tony Hart has died at the age of 83. I grew up watching his art programmes and was always impressed and inspired with his speed and skill at using anything he had to hand to create a picture.

I'm sure watching Tony Hart and Morph for half an hour a week contributed to the art education of many children of a certain age, myself included and I thank him for it.

Rest in Peace Tony, at least Mr Bennett will stop pestering you now.

PICKING UP THE SCRAPS

This is a brand new drawing of Stewie Scraps who's now available to buy in his own book series. A bit of a loner, Stewie makes top inventions out of junk before having mad adventures with what he's made.

Stewie Scraps was created and written by the brilliant Sheila Blackburn and published by Brilliant Publications (who are also brilliant, funnily enough).

ELF PORTRAIT

From this self portrait you'd be forgiven for thinking I'm just a highfaluting fashion model, the sort you read about in the papers. But you'd be mistaken- I only do that part time. The rest of the time, as you know, is spent drawing. I've just finished a book where I've been asked to supply a picture of myself and a sort of mini-biography. Not much of any interest has happened in my life so even a mini biography sounds like a big ask.

I've been putting all this off for weeks as I'd assumed they'd want a photograph but my agent says that if I don't have a photo of myself that doesn't show me to be too short or tubby or unkempt (I honestly don't have the time to be kempt) or without oddly shaped, elfin ears, I can supply a drawing instead! Erm, thanks Duncan, good man...I think.

So this is my self portrait and it's as flattering as my vanity would allow after it had a big scrap with my integrity. I've left out the really bad parts so you can imagine (though please don't try, you'll wake up screaming) what the photo would have looked like.

Sadly, I've been told the biography ought to be grounded in some kind of reality.

WATER WAY TO SURF UP ANOTHER PICTURE

Oh will the puns ever stop? Not on my watch, mister!

This was a messy picture to do and I reckon drawings like this which involve water benefit by using water as much as possible. It's a bit rough and raw and there were times I worried for my safety. The loss of control and the uneasy feeling of making it up as I go along always makes the victory sweeter and I'm very happy with the way this drawing turned out.