Frances McKay Illustration

Jack and Jill

 
Having completed my first book while pregnant, eight weeks after Alfie was born it was time to tackle book number two, 'Jack and Jill'. I'm not sure how I managed to do this. My candle was thoroughly burnt at both ends, but somehow a little waxy blob of sanity survived to pull everything together; nappies were changed and spreads were painted. I connect the imagery in this book with my late (and lovely) mother in law, Pat, who must have spent hundreds of hours walking her dog on Clapham Common; she had recently died and was often in my thoughts as I worked. It's dedicated to her memory; hope she'd have liked it.

 

Kate Willis-Crowley

 

Jack and Jill is published by Hodder Children's Books. 

Mary had a Little Lamb

 
 
I was working as a teaching assistant in a reception class when the idea struck me to make this book. The kids I worked with were a real racial mix, so when we started looking at nursery rhymes the traditional characters didn't feel particularly representative. I started sketching the kids while they ran around like loons at playtime, and eventually came up with my Mary character.

Grim Tales

Sorting through my portfolio I've just rediscovered these: a couple of book covers I made a few years ago. Firstly, 'The Collector', which has to be one of the eeriest books ever written. For anyone who is familiar with John Fowles' more famous title, 'The French Lietenuant's Woman', this is in my opinion equally impressive (however it's likely to haunt your dreams for a while so consider yourselves warned). This cover is less hand crafted than usual for me and was pretty fun to make. Fun, when I was able to separate myself from the creepiness of the story anyway.

Snuffler Says......

..........Happy Birthday Kate!!!  We hope you have a wonderful day! With best wishes from all of us at FMI XX

'Snuffler' Illustrated by Kate Willis-Crowley.

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Tickle the Moon

This is from a picture book idea I've been playing with, called Tickle the Moon. It's about a girl and her cat who are on a mission to cheer up the moon who is all lonely in the night sky. I'm still playing with the story and characters but I do feel that there's a decent picture book lurking in there somewhere. This illustration is largely pen and ink with water colour, but there's also a bit of gouache in there give the colour a bit more body. It's painted on heavy grade water colour paper and has managed not to buckle, however I'm regretting not having used my usual water colour board as I reckon the finer details would have benefited from a smoother surface; anyhow I'll remember that for next time!

Kate Willis-Crowley

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Featured in the beautiful Ballad Of blog. Many thanks Lindsey & Claire!

Dancing Bear

I really have no idea quite how this picture came about. All I know is I sat down one afternoon with a box of new Winsor and Newton paints and started playing; always 50/50 as to whether this process will throw up anything worth hanging onto, but something about these characters reallyappeals to me.

I might play around with some story ideas for these two; maybe it's a teddy bear she imagines to be real... maybe that's a bit too much like Calvin and Hobbs. Also, there's that gorgeous Raymond Briggs book called The Bear which I'll have to avoid imitating.

Kate Willis-Crowley

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Amelia

I started this as a Christmas present for my sister, Amelia, and ended up using it as an opportunity to splash around some ink and loosen up my drawing style for a change... ok, so it's not MUCH looser but still! It's currently in my portfolio for a bit of variation (what a mean sister) and might have to be her prezzie next year instead. The girl actually looks a bit like her, with lots of jet black hair; not intentional but I've no doubt that having Amelia at the back of my mind influenced the drawing a fair bit. I think I added the fairy so as not to make the picture too dark and menacing for children's book publishers.

Kate Willis-Crowley

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Alice in Wonderland

This is something for the portfolio. Alice in Wonderland; always a good'n for a bit of inspiration! I've used 0.5mm and 0.005mm thick graphics pens on heavy duty water colour paper for this illustration to vary the feel of the line... when did I become so pernickety?

Somehow this image feels a little more decorative and serious than I'm used to. Anyhow, I'm hoping that a few decent black and white images will help me to find a bit of work illustrating young fiction; fingers crossed! 

Kate Willis-Crowley

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