Learning How To Make Books

My next goal for enhancing my real life portfolio is to add some dummy books: last year several children's publishers admired the contents of my portfolio, and said that they would like to see demonstrated how my illustrations could work in a book!   I also want to follow Viviane Schwarz's example, and make my own sketchbooks specifically for some characters I am in the process of dreaming up.

 In fact, I began experimenting with making books early in 2011, then put the construction phase on hold because of breaking my finger and damaging the tendons.  Every week I notice new improvements to my hand, and am delighted this week to be able to do the necessary cutting, marking and stitching to complete the making of this pink sketchbook:

I've also finally sewn together these:

which were being held together with loops of ribbon. It makes such a difference to be able to turn the pages like a real book!

When funds and time permit, I'd like to treat myself to a course in bookbinding at the fabulous Shepherds Falkiners -  my rudimentary skills, mostly gleaned from watching videos and experimenting, could be vastly improved with some practical guidance!

Happy New Year of the Dragon

Here is Fiery Fred the young dragon who had not fully learned to control his fire: I painted him early last year, but he seems very apt for today! Happy chinese new year of the dragon.

 I've been very quiet on the blog, partly at least because my fabulous friend Deadly Knitshade showed me how to use Instagram ! This app is fantastically easy to use, and cuts out a whole layer of techy stuff with scanners, etc that I use to post things to my blog. With the on going s-l-o-w healing of my damaged hand, Instagram has proved fantastically user-friendly: I had a lot of fun making a Pumpkin advent calendar on Instragram in December.

The good news is that I also found some brilliant hand exercises, designed for musicians, which work on the tendons: the Cowling System . I've been using exercises twice a day since the beginning of November, and have seen great improvement to the strength, mobility and control of my hand, so I can highly recommend these.

More good news: this gang of humpties went to live together with a lovely young lady and two cats, and have been having some great adventures from photos I have seen:

Finally, I'm both drawing and playing my guitars again, so there will be more to see here soon!

Pumpkin's adventures part two

On Sunday evening, Pumpkin was very excited to join me and friends Nick and Paul at a Jameson's Cult Screen Club screening of  "Invasion of The Body Snatchers" at the Union Chapel.  Here he is admiring the magnificent building, and enjoying watching the actors who are setting the scene before the film starts.

Then on Monday, at Stitch London, Pumpkin made friends with a crocheted and knitted zombie completed minutes earlier by the talented Toria, and I suspect had a sneaky swig of my glitterberry drink!

Here he is with another new friend, the famous Cooey the pigeon! Pumpkin enjoyed these adventures so much he's keen to accompany me again, although he has drawn the line at going to work.

Happy Halloween

It's almost Halloween, so Pumpkin humpty has come alive! He's already found an ally in Poppy the  black cat. I'm wondering what mischief they have planned for tomorrow night?

Undiscovered Voices

This is the drawing I made in August for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators "Undiscovered Voices" competition: I had great fun making the drawing  - those are my own casually discarded boots on the floor!

Congratulations to the eight lucky shortlisted illustrators: Kim Geyer,  Jennifer Graham,  Julia Groves,  Amber Hsu, Heather Kilgour , Shana Nieburg-Suschitzky,  Nicola Patten,  and Rachel Quarry.  I'm looking forward to seeing their interpretations of "Undiscovered Voices" in December, when the six winners will be announced.

Cranford knit-a-long September 2011: finished mitts

Here are the completed Cranford mitts: I actually began knitting the darker pair in April ie before I broke my finger! Then while the finger was healing I decided to put the mitts on hold, lest my guage knitting the new-fangled English style was different to my life-long continental style knitting. So, it feels a mile stone in the healing process to have completed this pair of mitts : )

Bookworm and Knit The City

 Gosh! Comics was the exciting venue for a book signing by my friends at Knit The City on 16th September.  I knitted a tiny friend to take with me:

Questia, a Blinkin' Book Worm (the pattern can be downloaded for free here from Whodunnknit).  She was rather taken with Plarchie the recycled plastic squid - something about liking his colour - but felt it wise to gaze at him from a relatively safe distance, although he usually only eats humans.  She did not notice the tip of tentacle creeping from behind the books!  I left Questia at Gosh! - she seemed so at home there among all the fabulous books.