Bookbug Picture Book Prize 2018 Shortlist!

I am delighted to announce that The Fourth Bonniest Baby in Dundee has been shortlisted for the Bookbug Picture Book Prize! Hurrah!
Our book will be included in the Bookbug Bag and every P1 pupil in Scotland will receive a copy. Schools, nurseries and libraries can register the children to vote for their favourite book and choose the winner.

You can find more details on the Bookbug website here. You can also watch Michelle read the book and me make some mess in this video! 

Big thanks to the Scottish Book Trust for including us in the shortlist and congratulations to fellow shortlisters Little Owl’s Egg (Debi Gliori and Alison Brown) and Gorilla Loves Vanilla (Chae Strathie and Nicola O’Byrne).

Cycling in Outer Hebrides 2016

Sketches from my not that recent cycling tour in the Outer Hebrides.
It has become a bit of a tradition that every summer I pack my tent, camping gear and a few other useful things into my panniers and I spend a week cycling in the Western Isles, by far my favourite place in the world.

There is not many things that make me happier than cycling through the spectacular Hebridean landscapes, getting soaked by the rain, almost knocked over by the wind and defeated by particularly steep climbs.

This year I cycled 200 miles through Skye, North Uist, Bernaray, Harris and Lewis. The weather was spectacularly bad even for the Hebrides and I would get completely soaked by the rain twice or three times a day. I've developed an affinity for automatic hand driers in public bathrooms and I could write an essay on different types of  hand driers and which are best for drying what type of clothes.

But I don't really mind a bit of rain if I can spend a week cycling through the most beautiful landscapes, watch the seals swimming in the Sound of Harris without even having to leave my tent, meet lots of interesting and friendly people and drink whisky in a pub in Stornoway.

Here is a few drawings I made. For some reason they are particularly dark this year - I will have to bring more colours next year!

Comic for Wysokie Obcasy Extra

An editorial / comic piece I did for Wysokie Obcasy Extra magazine back in July.
And a work-in-progress photo from my mobile studio. I very often work while travelling but this was probably the first time the whole thing was created when travelling on intercity trains in Poland.

 

I am a Very Clever Cat is out

I am a Very Clever Cat, my first author and illustrator picture book has been published earlier this month and here is a few pictures from it. I am super excited about the way it turned out, particularly about the neon pink wool throught the book - the photos don't really show how bright it is!

And if you want to read more about the process and inspiration here is an interview I did for Picture Hooks.

COMING SOON!!!

I am very happy to annouce that 'I am a Very Clever Cat', the first picture book where I am both author and illustrator will be soon published by Templar Books! The publication date is 8th September and you can pre-order it here.

I am super excited about the book and I will be blogging and shouting about it more closer to the publication date.

The Fourth Bonniest Baby in Dundee

'The Fourth Bonniest Baby in Dundee' has just been published by Floris Books! Beautifully written by Michelle Sloan, a hillarious and very lively story about a mum and big sister taking a baby to the contest for The Bonniest Baby in Dundee.
It was a lot of fun to work on, even though, it was probably the busiest book I have ever illustrated - I ended up drawing 104 characters (not including animals) throughout the book.
I also ad lots of fun drawing the actual places and landmarks from Dundee.

Król

A few illustrations from 'Król', a picture book I illustrated for Dwie Siostry Publishing earlier this year. This is the second book in the series written by Ewa Madeyska. A beautiful text and a strong message - the story is about a girl Frania who is bullied by two very naughty boys. Things are really bad to start with but then Frania meets a new friend, a boy on a wheelchair called Artur and becomes a knight. A lovely story about self-acceptance, empowerment and inclusiveness. It is always super exciting to illustrate a book about a girl, who becomes a knight (and not a princess!) .

Tablecloth design

Here are a few photos of a quite unusual commision I worked on earlier this year. Lupo&Olimp is a company selling coats for dachshunds and they commissioned me to create a tablecloth design that would feature fifteen dachshunds making an apple strudel. Every dachshund-chef included in the illustration was based on a real dog and got reference photos, names, characteristics and a back story for each of them. The main challenge was to show every dog and every stage of making an apple studel (which is a quite complicated process. I know that because I made it myself as part of my first hand research) and fit it all into one big scene.
The final design was later screenprinted onto a linen tablecloth. You can buy it here. 
It was probably the weirdest and in the same time the most fun commission to date. And definitely Lupo&Olimp is one of my favourite clients ever!

photo credit: Lupo&Olimp.

Cycling in the Outer Hebrides

So this year I headed to the Western Isles for my solo cycling and camping trip. I think this have become a little bit of a tradition by now. At some point in the summer I pack the paniers, take my camping gear and I go cycling somewhere up north. I get to spend a week surrounded by the nature, cycle through stunning scenery and defy a few gender stereotypes. I don't know what it says about me but these are definitely the best and most relaxing holidays I can think of (although I am not sure if 'relaxing' is the right word).

This time I took the ferry to the Isle of Uist and the plan was to cycle round both Uists and South Harris. The weather was really bad (winds at 30mph and rain, I guess nothing unusual in this part of the world but not the best weather for cycling, especially the wind) so unfortunately I have never made it to Harris. The good thing was that I could explore the Uists more instead of rushing through it so I don't miss the ferry.

I didn't make many sketches as most of the time I was too tired, my hands were not cooperating after a long cycle or it was simply imposible to take out the sketchbook because of the strong wind or the rain approaching (and I was more concerned about getting the next camping site dry and in one piece rather then creating artwork). The sketches don't really capture the spectactular sceneries of the Outer Hebrides but I think they are more true to the nature of the trip (note that most sketches is from the train or the ferry).

New picture book out soon!

Great news! A picture book I illustrated for Wydawnictwo Dwie Siostry in Poland is out soon. You can see a preview here.  The story, written by Ewa Madeyska, is about a 4 year old girl who doesn't like to wear glasses as she is being teased by other children at the nursery.
It was a fun book to illustrate (I fell in love with the main character and her world first time I read it) and I was happy I could work with Dwie Siostry as it is one of the best Polish publishers and every book on their list is just great.
Just a few pictures for now. I will post more illustrations and maybe some sketches when it is published.