Frances McKay Illustration

Shakespeare Day

To help celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death The Guardian published my 'How to make a dip pen' in XI acts. It appears in the Children's book section on their site and adds to their burgeoning 'How to' range which is always worth checking out each week to see what's new.

These "How to's" are usually linked to exciting new children's books, and these quill based inkings of mine are linked to the marvelous new story by Tony Bradman 'The Boy and the Globe'. You can see some of the illustrations from the book and photo's of Tony and me on tour (I'm even wearing my favourite dress) in this blog. Published by Barrington Stoke 'The Boy and the Globe' is a corking read celebrating Shakespeare's London, his life and his playwriting woes and all told through the adventures of an orphan, Toby, who gets embroiled in pickpocketing, meets Shakespeare and ends up inspiring him. It really is a terrific read and a great introduction to Shakespeare's world for readers ages 7-10. I was chuffed to be asked to work with Tony on this. 

 

At the back of the book are 'Funne Activities for Boyes and Girls' including a make your own 'players', to add to the fun you can download and make your own globe and there's a mini Tempest script too. To encourage such behaviour this blog by Barrington stoke even includes a little vid of me scratching away.   

 

Here are the first Guardian acts up until the interval, you can see the whole 'How to' on the Guardian site here. They even sell the book at a discount if you were to be conceivably interested in such things. 

 

 

 

I was in my inky element with these 'How to' illustrations, which included dedicated research of spilling my ink everywhere. I hope you enjoy the inky mess, at least as much as I enjoyed myself  when I made it, and that you get a chance to get inky yourself!

 

 

Tom Morgan-Jones

 

 

 

 

 

How to Draw Norm in the Guardian

Ever wondered how Donough O' Malley draws Jonathan Meres' 'The World of Norm'? Well now is your chance to find out over at the Guardian newspaper's website. 'How to draw..' is a regular feature where artists and illustrators give step by step guides on how to create your favourite kid's book characters. Donough was very chuffed when he was asked by the paper to provide a guide to drawing the main character from this award winning, best selling series. Which just so happens to have a new book out too!

So get you pens ready, click here, and start drawing Norm for yourself!

Critter Challenge

 

A pangolin

 

Jane Eccles tackles some tricky customers, and comes out on top.

I have set myself a challenge. In between jobs and whenever I get the urge I am sitting at my desk with a piece of Bristol board and drawing the animals which I've never attempted or been asked to draw before, using only black ink and grey ProMarker. Here are the results so far:

A numbat

 

And a baby capybara.

Jiggy McCue and the toilet of doom

How unlucky can a young lad get? By having a toilet of doom and some evil underpants! FMI illustrator Donough O' Malley shows us some of his artwork for the re-editions of the hugely popular and funny Jiggy McCue series by Michael Lawrence.

Every young lad can get the notion that the world is against him, and sometimes they can be right. Especially if you are Jiggy and his friends who have all sorts of mishaps fall upon them. From body swapping shenanigans to evil y-fronts with a mind of their own, Jiggy has a lot on his plate.

The Toilet of Doom and The Killer Underpants were re-released last month by Orchard books, and they were great fun to illustrate. Getting to use a loose and scratchy ink line, the scenarios were wide and varied with the only stipulation that the reader never gets to see Jiggy's face.

The series of books, created by Michael Lawrence, has been phenomenally successful with these two just the latest version in reprints. I had previously worked on a book for Michael with Barrington Stoke, so I knew his style of writing, which I love. Imaginative and just a little bit bonkers. Just what I like.

I'm hoping to see more of Jiggy in the future, not just because they are great stories(check out the reviews) but are really fun to work on!

Screaming Sand's Battle of the beach Freaks

Tom Morgan Jones has the latest news for us on the 'Screaming Sands' book series.

Hotdogs and Dinosnores

What do dogs eat at the cinema? Pup-corn! Jane Eccles has some new work to share with us, which will have kids laughing (or groaning) in their seats.

100 Years Later

James de la Rue will soon finish work illustrating a short series of First World War adventures written by Terry Deary, of Horrible Histories fame.

Mission: Explore John Muir

Tom Morgan-Jones shares with us a recent project he has been working on.