I was alerted to the fact it was British Sandwich Week (it's true, look here!) this week & this fella popped into my head & onto my paper.
NB As a cautionary tale, sandwiches & hot soapy water don't go together very well from bitter (& soapy) personal experience. Due to the ongoing horror of '70s school dinners, the 6 year old me begged my long suffering mum to allow me to take sandwiches to school instead. One day, whilst washing my hands I somehow managed to drop them into the sink, whereupon one of the more peculiarly sadistic dinner ladies insisted I eat them, thinking it was a ploy to avoid eating my dinner. Mmmm hot wet soapy corned beef! (not sure it'll ever catch on!)
Wednesday 11 May 2016
Wednesday 4 May 2016
One that got away...
Rejected cover for a recent project (boo!) Some things are never meant to happen, often one party has a very specific idea of what they want but can't always articulate it which makes an illustrator's job harder. Equally, sometimes it's the wrong illustrator for the job which I think was the case for this one. Pity, I LOVE a dinosaur!
Thursday 28 April 2016
Thursday 21 April 2016
Wednesday 20 April 2016
Monster on budget shopping trip
In between doing monster-y things it's *always* good to grab a bargain, maybe a talking ice cream in this case?
You don't believe in such a thing?
You cynic, you!
You don't believe in such a thing?
You cynic, you!
Labels:
aldi,
ice cream,
illustration,
monster,
pen and ink,
shopping,
sketch,
steve may
Monday 11 April 2016
Monday 4 April 2016
...& 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!
More devils?
Go here!
Labels:
black dress,
cat,
character design,
demon,
Devil,
goth,
illustration,
Sisters of Mercy,
steve may,
tattoo,
tattoos,
Temple of Love
Tuesday 22 March 2016
Let's wrestle!
Labels:
antlers,
arm wrestle,
Batman,
cat,
cigarettes,
dunce,
eight ball,
fifties,
hot dog,
HP Sauce,
illustration,
pomade,
quiff,
retro,
smoking,
steve may,
tattoo,
tattoos
Friday 4 March 2016
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
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
Labels:
Africa,
bush taxi,
car,
chicken,
Colectivo,
electric guitar,
Gambia,
goat,
illustration,
Mauritania,
overcrowded,
Senegal,
sketch,
travel,
Tuareg,
watermelon
Thursday 3 March 2016
Tuesday 16 February 2016
Friday 12 February 2016
Monday 8 February 2016
Thursday 4 February 2016
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.
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.
Tuesday 2 February 2016
Kimono Dragon (slight return)
A return to the 'kimono dragon' from an original pun by a friend & drawn as a birthday present for another.
Monday 1 February 2016
Tuesday 26 January 2016
Demonic Kittys
Labels:
animals,
cat,
cats,
daemons,
demon,
kitty,
pen and ink,
sketch,
sketchbook,
steve may
Monday 18 January 2016
Friday 15 January 2016
Thursday 14 January 2016
Startled dog in mid-fart.
More farting animals? Yes siree! Just click here
Labels:
children's illustration,
dog,
dogs,
fart,
farting,
illustration,
pen & ink,
sketch
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.
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!'
Tuesday 12 January 2016
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
NB This blog does NOT condone cats smoking cigarettes
Labels:
Aladdin Sane,
animals,
cat,
cats,
cigarettes,
David Bowie,
fags,
illustration,
smoke,
smoking
Thursday 7 January 2016
A glimpse of summer...
Well, with January shaping up to be pretty horrible all round here's a glimpse of summer from some newly arrived run ons from my agents Arena Illustration's 2016 calendar where I get to be Mr August! There's dinosaurs & ice cream in it- what's not to like?
Here's the original from way back when...
Here's the original from way back when...
Labels:
Arena Illustration,
calendar,
children's illustration,
dinosaur,
dinosaurs,
dog,
dogs,
girl,
ice cream,
ice cream van,
ice lolly,
seagulls,
seaside,
steve may
Happy (belated) New Year
First post of 2016! Here's my newly arrived copy of Felix Frost - Time Detective - Ghost Plane, written by Eleanor Hawken & illustrated by me. I'll post some more when it's published on January 14th. It's published by Quercus books
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