Book Launch!

On Thursday last week, Marta and I had a joint book launch for our new books, My New Home and Digby Dog Delivers, at the really wonderful Book & Kitchen in Ladbroke Grove.

I had a great time, and we both sold out of our books, which felt like a good success! Sadly I didn't get many pics, and certainly none of me looking normal (sober), but there's one below, plus the super flyer Marta designed for us.

Digby meets Racoon - the start of a great friendship!

Emily, our friend and Macmillan editor, me and Marta

Ella's book launch buys!

It felt like a great evening - thank you so much to those who came along!

Olive and the Embarrassing Hat

My third book in the Olive series, Olive and the Embarrassing Hat, publishes this week! 

Joe gives Olive a present because he loves her so much, but unfortunately it's a rather unattractive hat (Olive naturally has a keen sense of style!) How can Olive ditch the hat and still be a good friend to Joe? 

It's based on an experience I bet many of us have had with a well-intentioned but unsuitable gift - mine involved a t-shirt from my cousin reading "Alexander Loves Tor" in large multicoloured felt letters - a painful (though loving!) situation to find myself in.

Olive and the Embarrassing Hat is in bookshops now! Very much not an embarrassing gift to give to a young friend in your life!

This book is published by Brubaker, Ford & Friends. 

My thanks to Katie, who was a lovely editor on this book, and to Amy and Amelia, and David and Brett - I will always feel grateful and lucky for the time I spent working with them.

Digby Dog Delivers Publication Day!

My new book, published by Macmillan Children's Books, is out today!

Digby Dog Delivers is a story with search-and-find activities inside. Every other spread is a big scene, with jokes and lots of jolly things to find. Digby goes to a greenhouse, a dinosaur museum, a scientists' laboratory and more!

It was a joy to draw, and thank goodness for Photoshop and being able to move things around - hiding objects in the pages was a lot harder than I thought it would be...

After the busier style I was getting more comfortable with on Showtime and The Toucan Brothers, it felt like it'd be good to try paring back the story, and focus on making the pictures as fun to look at as possible. So that was the aim, and I hope it's worked out and that Digby will be a really enjoyable book for children!

Below are some of my favourite small bits from inside... If I ever get to illustrate a dinosaur book, it looks like all my Jurassic characters will be a bit socially needy - the ones on the left are especially eager to please I think! They've turned up 15 minutes early to your dinner party, and you didn't even mean to invite them in the first place.

Digby is in bookshops from today, and hopefully not very well hidden at all! I hope you can find him...

With thanks again to the super duo at Macmillan, Emily and Emma! As always, it was a real joy to be working with them.

Risos from Hato Press

I just went to Hato Press to collect my and Marta's risos for our book launch! It's the first one I've done, and I definitely feel that I want to do more, and that much more is possible with the process than my print allowed for. It was good to look at some examples on their walls to see. 

We will be giving away limited edition signed risographs with our books on the night!

Hato walls above - imagine the possibilities!

Digby Dog, 4 colour risograph, signed edition of 100.

Delivering this August 31st!! In fact, in two days!

Liza Pigelli in the rain gif!

Cut it up one time!

I had a lovely time at the Pop Up Festival on Saturday. I'd not been to one of Pop Up's festivals before, but I will definitely go again - there was a great and creative mix of activities, shows and installations for children. I met fellow spinners Shirin Adl, Andy Stanton and Dave Cousins (sadly I wasn't there in time to meet Lynne Reid Banks, though I'd carried my very-loved copy of the L-Shaped Room with me in case). AND the sun came out. 

Here I am being DJ Tee Frizzle (apparently DJing for the Betty Ford Clinic).

TUUUNES

Fun stuff! I'm going to be DJing (playing my soon-to-be-made iPod playlist) at the Pop Up Festival of Stories this Saturday, July 12th in Swiss Cottage. The festival is free and has lots of great story-based activities, events and art for children. It's on all day from 11am till 6pm, on both the Saturday and the Sunday. My slot is from 3.30-4.30pm on Saturday - so if you want to come and GET DOWN to some brilliant, child-friendly, BANGING TUNES - please do come along!

Disclaimer - that cat below has NO taste - I will not, of course, be playing any Phil Collins... 

OR WILL I.

From very roughs to roughs...

I'm just starting to do more detailed roughs for a new book, and remembering how much I like this stage, although I dither before settling down to it - mostly because I forget that I DO enjoy it. I always think it's going to be very hard, and I'll forget how I draw anything... 

so it's good to be going again.

 It also make me think to post some of the colouring in from Digby Dog Delivers, coming out this July. Bit of process stuff!

So many layers! And masks...

Getting nearer... think this ended up being quite near the finished one, colour-wise.

Illustrators' Fair at the House of Illustration

I had a lovely day at the Illustrators' Fair yesterday. The weather was beautiful, everyone was friendly, and generally it was a good way to spend a Sunday. I feel like I've got a market bug now - what a newbie I am though! It was good to get tips, and I feel like I learned a bit about what works and doesn't... it was a super day.

I have some stickers and prints left over from the day - I've put them in my shop. 

On the tube with my trusty V&A trolley - best buy ever!

Still early and the fair is being set up. 

The building at the back on the left is the new House of Illustration.

Mel putting up our cards on our "gallery wall" (metal hoarding opposite)

Finished!

Sharon writing out prices at our stall.

My part of our table.

Sharon's wonderful cards - available at her shop.

Mel's work - beautiful cushions and cards, and she was wearing a matching dress she'd made and handprinted - it was GREAT!

 All together!

ELCAF

On Saturday I went to ELCAF, the East London Comics & Arts Festival. I had a great time and saw some very inspiring work (and tried to pick up some display tips for next weekend). I watched a talk by Mathias Adolfsson which was super as I've admired his work for a few years now, and I bought a signed copy of his new book, Second in Line. I also bought a copy of Emily Carroll's new book, Through the Woods. I've had it on my wishlist so to get a signed copy was a total bonus. 

Here are the few pics I took:

Perhaps most importantly, I found my sock twin!! And she turned out to be a very super illustrator from Barcelona called Júlia Solans.

Me and Marta queueing to see Mathias Adolfsson do his talk.

Hanging out with Shikha, Emily and Stuart too!

For an interesting, well written and photo-illustrated read about the festival, check out Sarah McIntyre 's  blog entry. 

In other news, I did a commission last week for a friend's dad. He used to make up stories starring these characters, and she and her sisters wanted to give him some illustrations. It was good to draw some people again! (Click on the picture to see a bit bigger.)