DJ Deaf...

My beautiful mini Jack Russell Holly won't get off my lap whilst I'm attempting to complete my Beauty and the Beast entry.  

So I have given her some decks and some headphones to play with - and DJ Deaf is born!

Great review for our YumiYoga website...

The founder of YumiYoga, Claire Tredgett has created a lovely website that features some of my little characters and it has received a lovely recommendation from website design guru Wendy Tan-White on the Real Business website.

Click on the image below to read said article...

Dog card tests...

I'm just back from from the dentist - booooo.  But a lovely delivery of my everyday card collection tests arrived - yay!

There are three types of card stock that we are deciding between;  A clean white with mottled texture;

An off white with grainy texture;

or my current favourite the vintage cream with grain;

The different texture don't come up brilliantly on here (click on the images to enlarge them for more detail) but I'm hoping to go with the latter to give them that vintage feel that seems to suit the designs at the mo.

The cards will be available towards the end of the year from all good card shops.

A Stretch of the imagination...

I just finished watching The Great British Bake Off and I think it is the best television show ever.

On a different note I have been working more on my new character 'Stretch' and his first range of cards for this Christmas (I know it's rather early for the C word!).

Here are a few character studies of the little chap;

Not too Christmassy so far I know, but here is a sneaky peek at one of the five festive card designs;

Along with the cards there will be a range of gift tags and a calorie-free Advent Calendar (no choccies, no calories!) available from The Haberdashery in Crouch End, and my online stores at Not On The High Street and Etsy.

The everyday collection also starring Stretch will include Get Well Soon, Wedding and Thinking of You designs amongst others.

And now back to Beauty and the Beasting!

Good old Congleton!

Proud as punch to feature in my local rag this week, the 'Congleton Chronicle'.

I will be popping back to my home town very soon to see my family hoorah!

The Dog Card collection grows...

In-between the Beauty and the Beasting I am still tweaking the dog card designs and thinking of names etc for the collection - I have now introduced a mild texture in the backgrounds and a little background detail for context.

Tests of the designs are currently being printed - looking forward to seeing the results!

Here is one of the (not so) little woofers...

Telegraph Online Slideshow...

Ooooh it's all go today!

The Telegraph has just put a nice slideshow of all the Picture This finalists online.

Click HERE for the link :)

Waterstones Picture This Official Press Release...

I've never had a big press release before so this is another exciting development in my illustration adventure!

London-based freelance illustrator, Steven Lenton has beaten hundreds of artists to secure a place in the final of Picture This 2011, Waterstone’s nationwide hunt to discover the next big name in illustration.

In June, the bookseller invited readers to vote for a favourite fairy tale that they would like to see brought to life by Michael Morpurgo, one of the world’s greatest storytellers. Over 1,000 people voted, and the winner, Beauty and the Beast, was announced at the Telegraph Hay Festival.

Aspiring children’s book illustrators were then invited to submit their interpretations of how the main characters would look, alongside a scene from the much-loved fairy tale. The winner will receive a lucrative publishing contract to illustrate Morpurgo’s story in late 2012.

Waterstone’s received hundreds of entries, and a shortlist of seven artists, including Steven, was chosen by an expert panel, including Waterstone’s Children’s Books Buyer Kate Skipper, Deputy Editor of the Daily Telegraph Review Ben Secher and Harper Sales Director Kate Manning.

Steven is a character designer, animator, art director and illustrator, based in central London. He is currently writing and illustrating his first children’s title and has lots more ideas waiting in the wings.  He also sells his greetings cards and prints online.

Kate Skipper said: “The judges were incredibly impressed with the strength of the entries again this year, and after much deliberation, a very exciting shortlist of seven illustrators has been chosen. Each entry has a very different art style and we think all have the potential to go onto successful illustration careers.”

The seven must now provide full colour artwork for two more pages from the book, plus sketches for the remainder. The winner will be chosen in October.

- Ends -

 

Shortlisted entrants

·      Els Dolan ( Cambridge)

·      Madeline Hill (London)

·      Steven Lenton (London)

·      Matt Robertson (Norwich)

·      Sophy Henn  (Brighton)

·      Tracey Smith  (Fife)

• Loretta Schauer  (London)

 

Picture This

The winner will receive a £6,000 contract, and see their work illustrate Michael Morpurgo’s words when the book in published in late 2012 as a Waterstone’s exclusive. The first Picture This competition found a new illustrator, Karen George, to work with Julia ‘The Gruffalo’ Donaldson.  The resulting book, Freddie and the Fairy, was one of Waterstone’s Christmas bestsellers last year, selling over 35,000 copies by Christmas day.

Waterstone’s

Waterstone’s, the UK’s leading specialist bookseller has nearly 300 branches in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as branches in Eire, in Amsterdam and Brussels, on the Isle of Man and Jersey. Its transactional website Waterstones.com was launched in 2006, and there are currently over 3 million holders of the Waterstone’s Card. Waterstone’s is sponsor of the Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate, and was named Children's Bookseller of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards 2011. www.waterstones.com

Michael Morpurgo

Awarded an OBE in 2006, Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain's best-loved writers for children. He has written over 100 books and won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Award. In 2005 he won the Blue Peter Book Award for his novel Private Peaceful, which was also adapted into an acclaimed stage play. His subsequent book, The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, spent an astonishing 20 weeks in the bestseller charts, and his enormous success has continued with his most recent novels, Alone on a Wide Wide Sea and Born to Run. Michael was Children's Laureate from 2003 to 2005.