...& the Devil in a black dress watches over... (part 2)

I've been in a very Devil-y mood recently...
(apologies to The Sisters of Mercy)

...& the devil in a black dress watches over...

I'm rather fond of a devil & a recent conversation reminded me of the line from Temple of Love by The Sisters of Mercy mentioning the 'devil in a black dress' so I thought it'd be a shame not to depict one.

More devils?

Go here!

Let's wrestle!

Just another Saturday night...

Colectivo cover art

I drew this recently for the cover of a new literary magazine called Colectivo.
The image takes a little bit of artistic licence from several experiences of shared 'bush taxi' journeys a friend of mine & I experienced while traveling around in Gambia, Senegal & Mauritania a few years ago. Whilst travelling around West Africa on the cheap one becomes more & more aware of the myriad workings of what I came to call 'Bush Taxi Top Trumps'
Here's a couple of the original sketches.

For more exhaustive & often far better written & funny musings on 'different' travel experiences I heartily recommend my friend Graham Askey's Inside Other Places blog

Happy World Book Day (even you villain-ish types)

'cause you gotta source your fiendish plots from somewhere!

Batman vs Superman (the 'avuncular years')

Re-imagined in the George Reeves /Adam West oeuvre...

Year of the monkey!

Here's a monkey triangle ensemble to celebrate Chinese New Year - year of the monkey!

Diary of Dennis The Menace - The Great Escape published TODAY!

It's publication day for the 6th Diary of Dennis the Menace book - The Great Escape written by Steven Butler with illustrations by me.

In this story, Dennis the Menace - Prankmaster General and feared enemy of softies everywhere - has been sent to Posh Street, an elite boarding school run by the terrifying Mrs Snoot. Help! Dennis is surrounded by bookish boffins, can't hang out with the Bash Street Kids and is nearly starving as the school dining room only serves super-healthy food. What he needs is a plan. With a little help from his menacing buddies on the outside, some fart pellets and Gran on a Charley Davison bike, it's time for Dennis to make his great escape . . .

Very sadly I recently found out that this is going to be the last Dennis the Menace book I'll be drawing. It's been a huge amount of fun & I've absolutely loved the chance to be able to reinterpret a childhood hero of mine in the books. I've also thoroughly enjoyed working with the lovely Steven Butler (any author who can make me laugh out loud with the manuscript is ALWAYS a good sign!) & lots of thanks to all the people at Puffin & The Beano.

Kimono Dragon (slight return)

A return to the  'kimono dragon' from an original pun by a friend & drawn as a birthday present for another.

The creative process (or caffeine solves everything)

Flappy ghost

Startled dog in mid-fart.

More farting animals? Yes siree! Just click here

Felix Frost - Time Detective - Ghost Plane - published today!

Ghost Plane, the second in the series of Eleanor Hawken's Felix Frost books I've illustrated is published today (14th January)

While illustrating the interiors & cover I got to become familiar with the details of several WW II planes (in particular the Mustang P51 he says knowledgeably!), some '40s hairstyles & managed a few pictures of Winston Churchill in the meantime.
(Because of another job I actually ended up drawing likenesses of Winston Churchill & MC Hammer on the same day! Not many illustrators can claim that but that's a story for another day...)

It's published by Quercus books & you can buy it online but I'd urge you to seek out your nearest independent book shop & give them the trade if you can - you never know what else you'll find or what people you might meet!*

(*ok, Winston Churchill's out, but there's an outside chance of MC Hammer...)

'As every respectable scientist knows, messing with the space-time continuum is more trouble than it's worth.

That's why Felix Frost, secret child genius, has locked up his time machine for good. Yes, sir.

But, when your best friend is an adventure-loving bossy pants and you've got a history project to do. Well, that changes things.

When Missy and Felix visit Bill Hudson, Missy's great grandfather, to ask him about his years as a pilot in WW2, he tells them the story of the ghost plane: a fighter jet that went out on a routine mission, and when it came back, its pilot had vanished.

Join Felix, Missy and Einstein as they dust off the time machine to travel back to England, 1943. Can they solve the mystery of the ghost plane without getting caught out as time travellers? Or worse, spies!'

Smoking Bowie cat

Just found this crittur & thought I'd post it in lieu of yesterday's sad, sad news. RIP David Bowie

NB This blog does NOT condone cats smoking cigarettes

Happy monster!

Johnny Danger - Lie Another Day

Forget your Spectre nonsense! Here's my cover illustration for Peter Millet's second Johnny Danger book, 'Lie Another Day'
It features 'death-defying bungee bogeys, Big Andy the killer anaconda, despicable G.R.O.S.S. agents, and a gassy evil villain known as The Blank Space.' - out in 2016

Make mine a "99"

Nope, I have no idea why the '99' flake was called thus. Anyway, we all love cats & ice cream don't we...?

Reinventing the Deal - Economist 24th October

Some new illustrations for The Economist magazine issue dated 24th October where I'm attempting to illustrate how newer companies are outpacing older more traditional ones with new business approaches

You can read the article here

Snow bound

More sketchbook bits & pieces.

(insert your own subtext)

Monster facts #15

Monster fact: Most nocturnal chocolate eating is down to monsters - but fret not, they NEVER touch the orange creams*

*insert any other flavour you despise - somehow they KNOW!

More monster facts? Go here