Shifty and Sam - Not just for Christmas...

Well I missed out on doing a 'Yule Blog' before Christmas as I had that awful fluey thing over the seasonal holiday so it's taken me a while to get back on track!

The best thing that happened over the hols (apart from the Miranda special - such fun!) was a lovely present from my parents - Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam soft toys to take with me to events and workshops!

There are four altogether - two large toys and two smaller ones - aren't they cute!

I am making new stripy tops for them as these ones have a few too many stripes!  I might make little SWAG bags for them too in time for the book launch on May 2nd...

The book is now available for download on Amazon in both hardback and paperback form HERE.

There will be lots of up-coming events involving myself, Tracey and our two robber dogs over the coming year so I will be posting all the details here as well as my Facebook and Twitter feeds.

In other news I am just putting the finishing touches to my Nursery Rhyme book with Little Tiger and am now full throttle on my first author/illustrator Picture Book with Nosy Crow - it's going to be very funny, silly and really good fun to design!

Helen Holmes - designer at Little Tiger Press...

A month or so ago I did a little blog about head designer at Nosy Crow, Stephanie Amster.

I asked my designer at Little Tiger, Helen Holmes to say a few words too as she is also super talented and a joy to work with.

Here is what Helen said about her love of working on children's books;

I've been very lucky to work with many wonderful illustrators over the years, from established artists to gifted newbies. Each one equally lovely, displaying their own unique talent, along with a shared passion for books that reveals great dedication. And Steven is no exception! He has a fabulous sense of humour and such enthusiasm that makes my role all the more enjoyable – thank you!

Like Hippo, I love wearing hats! Throughout the week I can be seen wearing a collection of hats to suit the variety of roles a book designer may play, such as: biscuit baker, technical advisor, motivator, juggler, counsellor, talent scout and the list goes on! The trick is not to wear too many at once, as it's very confusing and makes you're neck ache! And then, of course, there's the party hat – there's nothing better than a spot of fancy dress to relieve that deadline stress, yee-haw!!

Helen and I are now working on our third book together which is a lovely collection of Nursery Rhymes which will be out in 2013.

Les Pingouins en francais...

Bonjour!  I had a very pleasant surprise this morning when my first co-edition of 'Five Christmas Penguins' arrived in the post.

This co-ed is in French and I think the French publisher 'Hemma' (no nor have I) has done a lovely job of translating the original text - and they have added some fun rhythmical touches such as ZIP! Oh! Oh! and Flon! Flon!

Here are some pictures of said co-ed, which is available in France, Belgium and even HERE on Amazon;

Good luck to my two little hounds in Frankfurt!

I had a lovely surprise yesterday when Nosy Crow called to let me know I could pop in a grab a copy of the proof of 'Shifty McGifty'.

I was very nervous as, even though you have a pretty good idea how things are going to look, until you actually have it in your hands you don't know for certain - what are the colours like?  Is everything cropped to perfection?  Is there a spider on each page (very important!)

Well what can I say - Steph has done a wonderful job at creating a spangly, shiny and sleek cover with foil moon, stars, text and even the spiders silk - tricky to capture on a photograph as it looks so different under different light sources;

I'm not going to put photos up of all the spread but here is a sneaky peek at one of the spreads from the new Nosy Crow Frankfurt Book Fair (Fayre?) catalogue.

In this scene Shifty and Sam are attempting to make the best buns in town - and are getting very messy in the process!

I hope that the two little dogs go down well at Frankfurt - good luck woofers!

*BOOK GIVEAWAY KLAXON*

My first book with Little Tiger Press is released in the UK on Monday (1st October)...

Here is said book;

It is incredibly shiny and festive - the perfect stocking filler for your little loved ones!

To celebrate I am giving away a copy of 'Five Christmas Penguins' and 10 runners up prizes of a Penguin pom-pom;

Now, this year the book is a Sainsbury's exclusive, which means while it is available in lots of other countries on AMAZON and book shops in the US for example, here in the UK you will only find it in these supermarkets.

Now, I don't venture into Sainsbury's very often, so what I would like you to do to be in with a chance of winning a copy is to take a picture of you and the book in said supermarket.

The first person to post their photo with the book (preferably looking happy!) onto my FACEBOOK page will win the book, and the next 10 people to do so will win a festive penguin pom!

Happy snapping!

Finished Scotty!

Did you guess what was missing from the Scottish Scotty?

It was the POM-POM for his tam o' shanter of course!

Fresh from the family pom-pom factory here is his lustrous red pom sitting proudly on said hat.

And here he is in his box ready to be posted off to the Willow Foundation to have more photos taken.

I will update this post when he is on the internet along with canvases by Vanessa Feltz, Peter Firmen, John Hurt and Rick Astley to name a few - an eclectic mix indeed!

The Willow Foundation was founded in 1999 by Bob and Megs Wilson as a lasting memorial to their daughter, Ann, who died of cancer aged 31.  Bob Wilson is the former Arsenal and  Scotland goalkeeper and TV presenter.

I am very honoured to be part of this wonderful money raising event.

Scotty on canvas...

I have been asked to partake in the 'Stars on Canvas 2012' Charity Exhibition and auction which will feature lots of petite canvases by illustrators, television, film and sports stars all in aid of the Willow Foundation.

I will post more about the exhibition soon, but for now I wanted to share the slightly nerve-wracking experience I had over the last couple of days creating my canvas.

I've been talking to my students about creative processes over the last couple of weeks so thought showing my process of painting this canvas might be (slightly) interesting?

Firstly choosing a subject.

As I had been asked to contribute as a children's book illustrator I thought it best to choose something from one of my upcoming books.

There is a little Scotty dog in Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam who is (ssssssssh don't tell the other characters) my favourite of all the dogs in the story.

In one of the books spreads there is a painting above the Scotty dogs mantlepiece featuring one of his relatives playing the bagpipes (I think it's his Great Grandad but we will have to await his episode of Who Do You Think You Are? to find out).

I used acrylics, brushes, sponges and black ink to start building up the layers - here are a few photos of the painting process.

I took a while deciding on a background colour but opted for a textured teal to contrast nicely with the characters palette, then I very faintly sketched the character in HB pencil.

This was the scariest bit - painting the heavy black and strong red onto the pale teal.

Next a cute little kilt and some bagpipes! 

The pipes, the pipes were calling me.

Tassels and pipe detailing next.

A scribbly shadow, some musical notes and some sponged checks.

I thought I had finished at this point but just as I was putting the kettle on I noticed I had forgotten his sporran.

Note the paper plate - saves on the studio washing up!

There it is! (minus one detail that I'm waiting for in the post)

There were a few wobbles hither and thither - I haven't used acrylics for quite some time but I got there in the end and really enjoyed it once I stopped panicking.

I will upload the finished version as soon as I've added the final detail that should be arriving tomorrow...