Menace it Yourself!

Thought I'd share some brand new Illustrations from the new Diary of Dennis the Menace - Menace Yourself Scribble Journal published by Puffin - there's some skateboarding action & a glimpse of the Dennis & the Dinmakers - Dennis' rock band

(I'm wanting to know where I can get a 'Menace' amplifier for myself!)

Never again.

(yep, I KNOW he's not wearing trousers - deal with it!)

The Haunted Lunchbox

The Haunted Lunchbox or... when good foodstuffs go BAD!
With a little nod to Wagon Wheels (which even as a kid I thought were foul) & Um Bongo, which according to legend they drink in the DRC - except this doesn't rhyme / scan in quite the way it did in the slightly naive / racist  '80s commercials!

I'm thinking this would be a great book title, I just haven't come up with the story yet, so here's the cover while you wait...

Johnny Danger - DIY Spy

Having thoroughly enjoyed worked with author (& all round good egg) Peter Millet on his Boy Zero series for Faber & Faber a few years back I recently illustrated the cover for his latest book 'Johnny Danger - DIY Spy' published by Penguin.

 It's billed as 'A hilarious, action-packed tale featuring a pair of evil number twos, a madman, exploding bogey bombs, discount ninjas and a man-eating piranha called Bob.' - what's NOT to like?

It's only available in Australia at the moment but hopefully a UK deal will follow - otherwise you'll just have to buy this edition & read it upside down in the UK.

Here's a couple of the original preliminary character sketches (we lost the Blofeld cat & the water pistol & gained a banana in the process!)

Boo!

Croco Pops™

Lapsed deities

The God of Hell-Fire on an off day

May Festival!

No, not the (Steve) May festival, but lovely to see my Dennis the Menace illustrations on the posters for the Shrewsbury Bookfest !

Hastings Independent Artist Profile

I was extremely flattered (& blushing) by Kate Renwick's lovely artist's profile which was featured in issue 25 of the Hastings Independent.
As some of you might know, I was born in Hastings & spent my childhood & teenage years there & the article was published immediately prior to my band Das Fluff's incredibly enjoyable gig in Hastings on the 20th March.
It was the first time I've played back in Hastings for many years (we'll draw a veil over how many!) so was a particularly special gig to me.

Fuzzy icecream

The Sneeze Witch

Remember allergies et al  are a work of fiction, you've probably just inadvertently pissed off the Sneeze Witch...

Dazed dragon

Here's a slightly dazed dragon for St George's day!

Tidal beard.

Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage cover

Sneak preview of the cover for 'Canine Carnage' the fifth in the very funny Diary of Dennis the Menace series written by Steven Butler & illustrated by me.
Publication date 2nd July 2015

(Wondering if I can swing a free Flying V or Explorer guitar from Gibson for my product placement...hmmm...)

Ding-dong!

I overheard a man in a café in Soho the other day referring to a 'ding-dong', not a phrase I'd heard in a long time & what with the word 'fracas' being rather prevalent in the news recently it got me thinking...

(nobody was hurt during the drawing of this sketchbook page)

Monster facts #14

That knocking sound in the wardrobe? That'll be the monster hiding in there with his carrier bag full of wire coat hangers (you always wondered where they came from huh?)

More Monster Facts™? Hot foot it over to HERE!

Thursday monster time!

In a long tradition going back at least since I just drew this here's your Thursday monster!

Like monsters? Like facts? Go to here NOW!

World Menace (Book) Day 2015

I've been pleased to illustrate a special edition of Diary of Dennis the Menace written by the very funny Steven Butler especially for World Book Day (or World Menace Day as Dennis has decided to rebrand it!) 

A few weeks ago I also took part in a Puffin Virtually Live event where the audience got two Stevens for the price of one, (myself & Mr Butler!) tips on dressing up as Dennis for school on World Book Day itself & I explain how to draw your very own Gnasher! Lots of fun! 

Here's a sneak preview of Dennis' Blobzilla costume I drew for World Book (I mean Menace) Day...

(design by Mandy Norman)

Monster Facts #13

Monsters don't generally let the 'this is extremely uncomfortable' factor get in the way of a good hiding place.

More Monster Facts? Go here

Jesus is tempted in the wilderness

Every Shrove Tuesday we are reminded how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil with a pancake (or something like that)

Fat Tuesday...

Fat Tuesday - mind that lard!

The Economist Feb 7th - An Investor Calls

 I was commissioned to produce these illustrations for The Economist for an article called 'An Investor Calls' about the impact of certain hedge fund activists on businesses - you can read this far more eloquently in the original article
My idea of 'activist' was rather different to what the article was actually speaking about but once I'd been put onto the right track (no V for Vendetta masks et al!)  I had decided to make the activist female in the original roughs but was informed that all the activists the journalist had researched & spoken to were men so this was duly amended in the final illustration - here's a before / after for your edification

Bash Street Bandits - Puffin Virtually Live

Had great fun this afternoon drawing for the Puffin Virtually Live event for the publication of the new Diary of Dennis the Menace book at Sadlers Wells with charming Dennis the Menace author Steven Butler & former Blur Peter presenter the lovely Helen Skelton. (ok, it's very childish of me but that's BLUE PETER! So cool!)

I got to demonstrate to the audience the fine art of drawing Dennis' best friend, the one and only Gnasher with some great audience results too! (might be out of a job if I'm not careful!) Here's a couple I managed to get photos of.

Dennis the Menace - Bash Street Bandit!

Somebody out there is OUT-MENACING THE PRANKMASTER GENERAL! Dennis the Menace has to use all his super secret agent detective skills to find this Bash Street Bandit & prove to everybody that he's the most menacing menace of all Beanotown!

The 4th book in the Diary of Dennis the Menace series 'Bash Street Bandit!' written by Steven Butler & illustrated by me is out today (Thursday 5th February)
There's some detective work...

...& a healthy dose of burping & farting

Tiger pants

Nothing as joyful as pants on a tiger in its natural habitat!

Tyrannosaurus slide!

NB Dinosaurs are not too hot on sharing or taking turns (& watch your ice cream!) 

A guide to the creative process

Beards, craft beer, posh coffee.

Some pensive beard sketches - am not mentioning the h*pster word.

Here be dragons...

Some very dragon-y sketchbook pages

Heels of Glory

Just had the pleasure of re-visiting my design for 'Drag Action Musical' Heels of Glory for the lovely Tricity Vogue which is on for 2 nights at the Chelsea Theatre on Wednesday 28th & Thursday 29th January. You can buy your tickets here

Monster Facts #12

Monster Fact: THAT'S what happens when you fiddle with your belly button kids! (where the hell did you think tentacled beasties lived huh?)

Collect the series!

January blues