Frances McKay Illustration

Donough and The World of Norm

Who remembers what it was like to be a young lad? Well maybe if you are of the Lady persuasion it might be a stretch to do so, but if you are a man/boy like me(and we are many) it can all seem far far too close to recall. Someone else who seems to have a perfect insight into the world of the pre-teen boy is the writer, comedian, actor and all round creative type Jonathan Meres.

Spindlewood Tales UK Tour

 
Well, I’ve been on my travels again publicising SPINDLEWOOD TALES.

Pip and the Twilight Seekers is the second instalment in the series and so, assisted by Victoria Roberts from Publicity we took to the road in the Spindlewood Carriage and headed for our first stop.

Pip and the Wood Witch Curse

 
This writing and illustrating malarkey seems to be sending me hopping around the globe these days. I was lucky enough to be asked to go to Istanbul at the end of January and it was an opportunity I could not have missed. A week in a bi-lingual school doing presentations and workshops to Turkish children learning English as a second language.

BARKULA, the Vampire Dog

 
A Bite Sized Introduction

The full moon gawped at a landscape sparkling in the frost. All was calm, all was bright, all was silent…….UNTIL……

 

“Aarroooooo ! Aarroooooo !”

Witchy Magic

 
Here's Bee Willey's entry to Illustration Rally Halloween, with many thanks to illustrator Natsuki Otani.

Happy Halloween from Bee, and all of us!

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More Pirates Ahoy!!

Well my first blog here and similar to John's blog before me it is a pirate theme, so more nautical naughtiness abounds for yee salt crusted sea-dogs! I illustrated this book, Young Blackbeard by Michael Lawrence and published by Barrington Stoke at the beginning of the year. It's my first junior fiction book so a step away from my own work which is usually big ridiculous colour spreads. It tells the tale of how Blackbeard became, well, Blackbeard and involves heartless fiends, spooky islands, buried treasure and lashings of rum.
When I was first commissioned to do it I gave a hearty laugh, as I'm apparently of pirate stock myself, the pirate queen Grace O' Malley knocking about somewhere in the O' Malley clan history. A quick google of her name and you'll see what a wily lady she was, once even being invited to Queen Elizabeth's court to parley. Irony struck again when I was recently on a trip to her home castle on Clare Island in the Atlantic ocean. I hated every second on the ferry out there. In fact I hate boats of every kind.

Donough O'Malley

Donough's Website

Buy Young Blackbeard

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Roman About

Here are some working drawings for another trio of Gladiator Boy editions (13-15), written by David Grimstone. Decimus and his beleaguered friends just can’t leave evil to do its thing, as they embark on another hideously dangerous journey, battling blood imbibed doppelgangers, effete psychopaths, ogrish subterraneans and an amputee who doesn’t let what’s lacking get in the way of a violent streak wider than the Tiber. These are currently due for release 1st July 2010.

www.jamesdelarue.co.uk

Hangman’s Hollow

As we fly headlong into the new year I am developing the artwork for a new (yet to be titled) series. I took the decision to try and put some strip artwork in there. I wanted to integrate text and words a little bit more and play with layout. It’s taking some doing but I think it will be worth it in the end.

The story is set in a place called Hangman’s Hollow. Far from anywhere else in a frozen landscape where thick woods grow up around a walled city. The city is at war with the forest. Things emerge onto the streets at night. The forest people want to claim the city as their own and children are outlawed in these parts. But one small boy manages to smuggle himself in there one winter’s night without knowing what awaits him and the series is all about his dark adventures as he desperately makes his way to safety.

I’ll be keeping you posted on how the series is progressing but in the meantime here is a taster of some of that artwork.

Chris Mould

www.somethingwickedlyweird.com