Stubby Pencil

Boris

2011-11-16T14:16:00.004Z

all images © steve cox 2011

Character sketches for a book I'm currently working on.

Just being Orcward

2011-10-02T20:20:00.002+01:00

Click to enlarge

I've been visualising some characters for a games company recently. I can't remember how long it's been since I last drew an Orc. Here's a concept sketch I've just put together. Unfinished, but I think you get the idea. The one below is how it might look on a playing card.

Click to enlarge

New Picture Book

2011-09-29T10:40:00.005+01:00

click for closer sneak

Good news this week as I found out I have been offered a picture book contract with a major UK publisher that I did some concept boards for earlier in the summer. Here's a sneak preview of some of the things that will be in it. The main star of the show is still under wraps but I'll put some more images up as this develops. I'm really looking forward to working on this one, it's going to be fun.

I think I've caught a code...

2011-07-19T14:41:00.004+01:00

I've been messing about with those new-fangled QR Codes to see what you can get away with by customising them and so that they still work. Of course you will need an iPhone or other smartphone QR Code Scanner app to scan it and see if it works. The technology is still relatively new and apparently we're only just scratching (or scanning ) the surface with what might become possible with this in the future. Here's my first couple of efforts.

The Stilton Factor

2011-07-13T13:39:00.002+01:00

Sweet dreams are made of cheese

For decades parents have warned their children not to have cheese before bedtime to prevent bad dreams. But researchers have disproved this old wife's tale and found that cheese could actually aid sleep.

The study by the British Cheese Board, involved 200 volunteers in a week-long experiment. The cheese-munching volunteers reported no nasty dreams after a late night snack.

After eating a 20g piece of cheese 30 minutes before going to sleep, 72 per cent of the volunteers slept very well every night, just over two thirds remembered their dreams and none reported nightmares.

Dr Judith Bryans, a nutrition scientist at The Dairy Council, said: "One of the amino acids in cheese - tryptophan - has been shown to reduce stress and induce sleep so cheese may actually help you have a good night's sleep."

Type of cheese eaten affects dreams

But they reported that the type of cheese you choose can affect the dreams you have.

When it came to dream type, it seemed that Stilton caused the most crazy dreams, with 75 per cent of men and 85 per cent of women eating Stilton experiencing odd and vivid dreams.

Examples of these mad dreams included a vegetarian crocodile upset because it could not eat children, and soldiers fighting each other with kittens rather than guns.

Cornish Giant

2011-07-12T06:12:00.003+01:00

Bolster, Bolster, wicked giant,
Cornwall trembles at his roar.
Stay the plough, boys, guard your livestock,
tie your boats and flee the shore.
Haste men, save your wives and children;
close the shutters, bolt the door.

Bolster, Bolster, monstrous giant;
spies sweet Agnes on the hill,
dreaming of her Cornish laddie,
netting pilchards, fishing still.
Bolster's shadow falls upon her;
maiden's sun-warmed skin turns chill.

Bolster, Bolster, brutish giant;
sees the maid and feels love's dart.
"You shall be mine," Bolster bellows
"nevermore from me to part."
Agnes swoons, moon-pale with terror,
answers Bolster with a start,

"Bolster, Bolster, noble giant;
prove to me your heart is true.
Seven tasks you must perform.
Once done, I shall marry you.
Have you spirit for the challenge?"
Bolster pledges, "Yes, I do!"

Bolster, Bolster, once-proud giant;
one last task must be achieved.
Mighty deeds he has accomplished,
monsters fought and boulders heaved.
Six hard trials the Bolster's suffered,
unaware he's been deceived.

Bolster, Bolster, beaten giant,
follows Agnes wearily
to a crevice on the clifftops,
high above the foaming sea.
"Fill this small hole with your blood,"
says Agnes, "and your wife I'll be."

Bolster, Bolster, dying giant,
endlessly his dark blood flows
down the hole, through unseen cracks,
staining red the rocks below.
One last, longing gaze at Agnes,
Bolster slumps, his eyelids close.

Agnes, Agnes, Cornish saviour,
feasts prepared, and glasses raised.
Cottage doors thrown wide and open,
sheep and cattle safely graze.
"You have saved us, brave St Agnes,"
Cornish voices lift in praise.

Still today St Agnes' voice is
heard amid the ling and gorse,
soft through damping Cornish drizzle,
singing still of her remorse;
weeping on the red-stained boulders,
where the Bolster's blood once coursed.

Facebook

2011-07-06T07:29:00.008+01:00

So, I finally got around to creating a Facebook page for Steve Cox Illustration. You can find that here. This will be a place where newer illustrations and other stuff that might not end up on my main website may appear. You can also comment on illustrations and tell me whether you like them or not. If you visit, please don't forget to click on the 'like' button. That would make my day. Happy Facebooking!

Something Stirs...

2011-07-05T07:44:00.004+01:00

A package arrived in the post at the weekend. The contents are intriguing and herald the start of an exciting new project. Stay tuned to see what develops over the next couple of months...

Biscuit Monster

2011-06-28T09:31:00.002+01:00

...just can't stop eating biscuits...

Jet Boy

2011-06-01T11:44:00.003+01:00

Jet Girl

2011-06-01T11:41:00.003+01:00

The Clean Plate Chart

2011-03-26T14:58:00.004Z

click on image for scary close-up

Another random find from the plan chest of life. A reminder of times past when one had time to sit down and make something like this for the amusement/bafflement of one's own children. It looks like we only got eight meals in before things started going slightly awry...

Puffin KIller

2011-02-10T07:41:00.004Z

Sometimes the postman pushes nice things through the letterbox instead of bills. I've just received my copy of 'The Diary of a Killer Cat' by Anne Fine which has just achieved Puffin 'Modern Classic' status. My original illustrations I did in 1994 still grace the insides and the cover. I've illustrated five Killer Cat titles over the years and I believe Anne is working on a sixth. This Puffin Modern Classic is published on March 3rd 2011.

Time

2011-02-03T05:45:00.002Z

Q: If I could add up all the time I've spent watching the two symbols on the left, recoup it and then do something constructive with it, what would I do?

A: Probably go out and buy a faster computer

Skeleton Rock

2011-01-27T11:12:00.005Z

More skeleton based stuff I'm afraid. The reason being...mostly...that I'm playing around with some graphic ideas for a band that I'm playing in. A friend of mine is hoping to make a short film this year and asked me if I had any original music he could use. As a matter of fact I did...and sent it to him. He then sent me an animated skeleton based on a Mexican Day of The Dead image, playing guitar to the piece of music I'd sent him. I then pinched the image of the skeleton and re-worked it as an illustration. This isn't for anything in particular...just a sketch really, playing around with ideas. Once things start progressing with the film and music I might do a little featurette here...stay tuned.

Young Performer

2011-01-27T10:12:00.006Z

Every couple of months, I am commissioned to do some illustrations for Young Performer - a magazine promoted by Stagecoach who support young people aspiring to forge a career in film, TV and theatre. Each issue features a short story by Errol Murphy and I get to adorn his text with my scribblings.

Initially it consisted of a few small spot illustrations dotted about the text but a few years ago I was asked to make the illustrations more integral to the text so I began to create single pages and double page spreads that bleed off the page. The text then sits on top of that. Luckily for me, the magazine is only printed in English so I can have dark backgrounds which can then have the text reversed out of (in white or a colour). I am usually given quite a lot of freedom to illustrate whatever I like in the story so these are fun to work on. They don't get any exposure outside the magazine so I'm going to start posting the odd one or two here in future.

These are a few illustrations from previous issues. The large spaces in the middle of illustrations are to allow room for the text/story.

click on images for a closer look

Skull A Day

2011-01-26T06:54:00.003Z

From Captain Claw, pirates and crossbones to more skulls...I just can't seem to get away from them at the moment. Mind you, I have been looking for them which might have something to do with it. In my wanderings I stumbled across some rather interesting skullduggery going on here.

Claw Surfaces

2010-12-10T13:43:00.004Z

Some gratis copies of 'The Treasure of Captain Claw' written by Jonathan Emmett arrived in the post today. It's always a moment loaded with equal amounts of excitement and fear. Fortunately, there was nothing to worry about in terms of reproduction and I am pretty pleased with the way this has turned out. The showpiece in the book has to be the fold-out cross section of the pirate submarine. Maybe I'll do a sneak preview of that sometime soon.

This was a follow-up in terms of it being the second picture book I've collaborated with Jonathan on. The previous tome being 'Pigs Might Fly' published by Puffin.

The Treasure of Captain Claw is going to be published by Orchard Books in May 2011.

Design Week

2010-08-11T14:03:00.004+01:00

Click on article for an easier read

It's always nice to hear when somebody likes your work, even more so when it appears in a journal aimed at other creatives. This is from the current issue of Design Week. Thanks to Dean Johnson for his encouraging words - and thanks to Sqz for flagging it up.

More on Commander Nova's Space Station here.

Balancing Act

2010-08-04T01:00:00.002+01:00

Whilst walking on the beach at Sennen Cove in Cornwall recently, I came across the amazing spectacle of rocks seemingly defying gravity. This photo shows two balancing rocks but there were several more in the area. Unfortunately my phone battery expired and I was only able to take a couple of shots. Strange and somewhat visually pleasing.

Steel and Glass Sky

2010-07-01T12:13:00.003+01:00

London June 2010

Smithfield Market

2010-06-30T10:34:00.003+01:00

Smithfield Market - London June 2010

Swiss Roll

2010-06-07T08:12:00.007+01:00

Killer Cat On The Loose

2010-05-13T21:34:00.005+01:00

A little while ago I was asked by the Nottingham Library Service for permission to use one of my Killer Cat illustrations on the side of their new mobile library. I was only too happy to oblige and today I was emailed a few photos of the finished vehicle, all ready to go out and provide children with a great selection of books to read. I think the finished result looks pretty good.

All Bar One

2010-04-28T09:57:00.006+01:00

Click diagram for clearer view

I'm trying to show a friend a few tips on playing rock guitar at the moment and he emailed me to ask about how bar chords worked. I decided it was easier to try and explain diagrammatically and put together a couple of A4 sheets so that he could refer to it when trying to work out chords for songs. Knowing that the song goes: D, Bminor, G, A isn't quite enough information for folk just picking up a guitar for the first time.

You can play a lot of rock songs with these few chords so once you've worked out these few shapes you're away. I thought I'd put them up here so any new guitarists may find them useful. Of course if anyone has spotted any mistakes please let me know.

We'll be covering Pentatonic Scales next week (only joking).

Click diagram for clearer view

Pier Git

2010-04-19T09:59:00.005+01:00

click for big

I thought I'd lost this postcard but it showed up during a clear out for a car boot sale (my first and last, hopefully).

One of my favourite Ralph Steadman images from the early 80's. On the back it's signed: 'Belated Birthday Greetings "old person". I hope it was good? See you soon...Michael.' (1982)

Thank you and good taste Mr Wright.

Images

2010-04-15T18:14:00.007+01:00

click for big

I was sifting through some old vinyl the other day and came across this gem. A collection of early David Bowie songs recorded in the mid to late Sixties. The release date on the cover is 1973 so it looks like Deram were trying to cash in on Mr Bowie's rise to fame during his Ziggy Stardust period. There are quite a few decent songs on here but embarrassingly, the one howler is 'The Laughing Gnome' which Deram decided to re-release right at the peak of Ziggy fever and just after 'Life on Mars' had hit the No. 3 slot in the charts.

I've seen these songs repackaged many times but this is my favourite vinyl sleeve with illustrations credited to 'Neon Park'. Featured are several caricatures of Ziggy and what appears to be Ringo Starr riding his bike as 'Uncle Arthur'. You wouldn't get artwork like this on CD sleeves these days. From a long-gone era when one would spend ages pondering artwork and sleeve notes whilst listening to the music. Great stuff.

Postcard

2010-03-31T10:32:00.004+01:00

Click on map for a closer look

This is an image I remember from my childhood. I've always been fascinated by maps ...and pirates of course. Here they are together on one postcard. I remember this from even before my family relocated to Cornwall and now having grown up there I think this still has an air of romantic history about it, even if the pirate looks like he's emerged from a Sixties fancy dress party. Yo ho ho.

1974

2010-03-26T12:41:00.018Z

News

Ronnie Biggs arrested

Patty Hearst joins her kidnappers and turns bank robber

Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister (2nd time)

Streaking at Twickenham

Muhammad Ali regains World Heavyweight title

John Conteh wins World Light Heavyweight title

WW2 Japanese soldier surrenders in the Philippines

Turkey invades Cyprus for the 2nd time

Charles De Gaulle Airport opens in Paris

West Germany win the World Cup

Liverpool win the FA cup

Helmut Schmitt becomes Prime Minister of Germany

IRA bomb Houses of Parliament

..and pubs in Birmingham and Guildford

Debuts

Tom Baker becomes the new Doctor Who

Happy Days

ABBA win Eurovision with ‘Waterloo’

Stephen King publishes his first novel ‘Carrie’

Tiswas

The Rockford Files

The Little House on the Prairie

Wish You Were Here

Ceefax launched by the BBC

Goodbyes

Monty Python’s Last TV episode

Nixon Resigns

Films

Airport

Black Christmas

Blazing Saddles

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Chinatown

Earthquake

Herbie Rides Again

Murder on the Orient Express

The Godfather Part II

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

The Island at the Top of the World

The Great Gatsby

The Man with the Golden Gun

The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat

The Odessa File

Soundtrack

All I Want Is You - The Best Of Roxy Music

Amateur Hour - Sparks

Angel Face -The Glitter Band

Band on the Run - Paul McCartney & Wings

Beach Baby - First Class

Billy Don't Be A Hero - Paper Lace

Bring It On Home / You Send Me - Rod Stewart & The Faces

Candle In The Wind - Elton John

Can't Get Enough - Bad Company

Can't Get Enought Of Your Love - Barry White

Crying Over You - Ken Boothe

Devil Gate Drive - Suzi Quatro

Diamond Dogs - David Bowie

Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me - Elton John

Down Down - Status Quo

Emma - Hot Chocolate

Everlasting Love - Robert Knight

Everyday - Slade

Everything I Own - Ken Boothe

Far Far Away - Slade

Get Dancing - Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes

Gonna Make You A Star - David Essex

Hang On In There baby - Johnny Bristol

Hey Rock And Roll - Showaddywaddy

Homely Girl - The Chi-Lites

How Long - Ace

Hudson Ford - Burn Baby Burn

I Can Help - Treasures Billy Swan

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - Genesis

I Shot The Sheriff - Eric Clapton

If You Go Away - Terry Jacks

It's Only Rock & Roll - The Rolling Stones

Jambalaya - Carpenters

Jet - Paul McCartney & Wings

Juke Box Jive - The Rubettes

Junior’s Farm - Paul McCartney & Wings

Just For You -The Glitter Band

Killer Queen - Queen

Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas

Lets Get Together Again - The Glitter Band

Light Of Love - T.Rex

Listen To The Music - Doobie Brothers

Machine Gun - The Commodores

Magic - Pilot

Midnight at The Oasis - Maria Muldaur

Mr Soft - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor

Never Gonna Give You Up - The Collection Barry White

Never Turn Your Back On Mother - Sparks

One Man Band - Leo Sayer

Queen Of Clubs - KC and the Sunshine Band

Rebel Rebel - Diamond Dogs David Bowie

Red Dress - Alvin Stardust

Rock Your Baby - George McCrae

Sad Sweet Dreamer - Sweet Sensation

Saturday Night At The Movies -The Drifters

Seven Seas Of Rhye - Queen

Shang-A-Lang - Bay City Rollers

She (original version) - Charles Aznavour

Silly Love - 10cc

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music

Stop, Look, Listen - Marvin Gaye with Diana Ross

Sugar Baby Love - The Rubettes

Summer Breeze - The Isley Brothers

Teenage Rampage - Sweet

Tell Him - Hello

The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies

The Bitch Is Back - Elton John

The Cat Crept - Mud

The Golden Age of Rock'N'Roll - Mott The Hoople

The 'In' Crowd - Roxy Music

The Man Who Sold the World - Lulu

The Most Beautiful - Charlie Rich

The Night Chicago Died- Paper Lace

The Six Teens - Sweet

The Streak - Ray Stevens

There's a Ghost in My House - R Dean Taylor

This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us - Sparks

Tiger Feet - Mud

Too Good To Be Forgotten - The Chi-Lites

Waterloo - ABBA

When Will I See You Again - Three Degrees

Year Of Decision - The Three Degrees

You Aint Seen Nothing Yet - BTO

You Are Everything - Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics

You're Sixteen - Ringo Starr

You're The First, The Last, My Everything - Barry White

Cheers Bazzer.

Gif us a Lift

2010-03-25T14:52:00.004Z

Just a quick experiment to see if I could get this flying saucer off the ground with an animated Gif. Mmmm...seems to have worked...but for how long?

Not sure why the right hand edge has been chopped off though.

Buzz Bomb

2010-03-24T12:00:00.003Z

Another 'find' from the Nineties digital plan chest. One of many T Shirt designs which never made it onto fabric. Summer of '95 or '96.

Motorcycle

2010-03-23T09:12:00.004Z

Talk of motorcycles elsewhere reminds me that my own machine languishes outside with a starter motor problem. With Spring almost upon us (allegedly)my thoughts are turning to long, winding roads and days in the saddle spent exploring those parts of the country I wouldn't normally entertain visiting in a car.
The days when I used to tag along to various motorcycle events have gone mostly by-the-by but my head often turns automatically to the throb of a V4 or the thud of a British single.

I did these bits and pieces whilst I was residing in Cornwall during part of the 90's.

Time to dig out the leathers and get that bike sorted for the Summer...

Strange Fish Fruit

2010-03-22T19:07:00.004Z

click on fish for close-up creaminess

I love the rich creamy colours of these Karisma coloured pencils I've owned for years but I've never managed to put them to good use so far. Once the work levels calm down a bit I'm going to have another go with them and see what effects I can come up with, mixing them with other mediums...including digital.

Room

2010-03-19T14:24:00.002Z

Found in a 28 year old sketch book. Based on my room when I was at college. Not sure what was meant to happening here but most of my favourite music was enjoyed in this room whilst sitting in an old battered brown corduroy armchair.

Brainstorm

2010-03-01T11:51:00.006Z

It was only a week ago that I was lucky enough to be able to stay at a friend's flat overlooking Port Gaverne in Cornwall. The above video clippage was taken from the doorstep and was pretty much the view out of the main window.

The picturesque village of Port Isaac was a few minutes walk away and makes a great short stroll to a pub lunch (one of my favourite weekend activities). Fresh fish, Cornish fudge, fish and chips and Cornish ale were all indulged in and helped greatly to focus my mind on writing a story for a picture book which I've had on the go for years but never got anywhere with it...

...until now that is. I managed a very productive weekend, brainstorming ideas and I can't believe I've never thought of having a working weekend away before. I think I'll have to do this a lot more often.

Working On An Angle

2010-02-18T16:58:00.002Z

One of the key things that has bugged me about working with a graphics tablet and drawing or painting straight into the computer used to be that you couldn't rotate the canvas or work area as you can with natural media (ok, you can't turn big canvases on an easel but you get what I mean). I only upgraded to Photoshop CS4 last year and I have to say that the 'rotate view tool' is probably the biggest step forward (for me) from previous versions. You still can't beat spinning a piece of paper or a sketch pad around to get at an awkward curve but this makes life a lot easier and makes drawing feel a lot more natural.

And yes, I know about the Wacom Cintiq but I haven't had a go on one yet. Maybe sometime soon though...

Heads Up

2010-02-18T11:30:00.002Z

This old sketch surfaced the other day. I think it was a sketch of an old knight character based on some stories my father had made up and used to entertain me with when I was a small boy. Maybe he'll get used in something one day...or I might illustrate one of my dad's tales.

Unfinished Tales

2010-02-16T05:24:00.003Z

The Visitors - click for bigger view

Back in 1992 I found myself as managing 'creative' director of my own design and illustration company called Primary Design, based in Bristol. We specialised in children's TV licensed characters and their merchandising, design and illustration for products and packaging and the like.

In the space of less than four years I had gone from a freelancing illustrator/visualiser/designer to employing 9 others, mostly designers and illustrators. I had also donned a suit and was spending more time than I liked travelling up to places like London and Manchester to discuss business with clients. I enjoyed the meetings but the hours on the motorway trying to keep awake were taking their toll.

I was missing the hands-on illustration and design work which had initially enabled me to grow the company in the first place so in the small amounts of free time I had in the evenings, I started to put together a portfolio of my own work with a view to approaching children's book publishers for some potential work that would be completely different to the work that I was doing during the day.

The image above of the house being visited by aliens started out as a cross-hatching exercise to get me back into drawing again. Having spent several evenings hatching away with pen and ink I began to wonder what it might look like in colour. I enlarged the finished drawing on a photocopier and then set about washing in some colour with the fabulous Dr Martin's Liquid Watercolours. The finished result you can see below.

There is an unfinished tale floating about in the back of my head for this image but to date it has failed to emerge in any form that I've felt strong enough to approach a publisher with. One day the story may get written, one day...

Antique Space Station

2010-02-09T19:03:00.021Z

Original cover illustration and design before the publisher 'tinkered' with it.

My daughter called me yesterday evening to say that 'Commander Nova's Pop-Up Alien Space Station' by Nick Denchfield and myself had been featured on BBC2's Priceless Antiques Roadshow. Apparently one of the resident experts was predicting that pop-up books could be a good investment and could be worth considerably more than the cover price in ten or twenty years time.

I immediately texted Nick to let him know and we are now stockpiling as many copies as we can to boost flagging pension arrangements. I suggest anyone reading this does the same and please spread the word as we could do with the royalties. The Pirate Ship already looks out of stock on Amazon and I'm regretting giving away so many gratis copies as they are bound to be worth a fortune when we're 80. Even Fiona Bruce has one by the sound of it...

Mammoth Discovery

2010-02-04T09:27:00.003Z

click on image for a closer look

As my trawl through the plan chest and 'old-artwork chuck-out' continues...I came across this. I think this was a sketch for a spread in a book all about stone age folk and how they lived etc. Unfortunately the mammoth fell into the pit and that was that. Never mind.

Biro

2010-02-01T22:52:00.001Z

click on image for a closer look

From more recent work in the last post back to an old sketch I found during my recent rummages. This was something I remember which started out as a doodle with a biro just after I left college and was living in a shared flat in Bristol. The previous inhabitants had left spaghetti dangling from the ceiling which is what might have started it off.

Anyway, I quite liked the effect of the biro which was past it's best and would create interesting broken lines over the rough paper.

I did a couple of others around the same time but I like this one the best.

Spookiness

2010-02-01T16:16:00.023Z

A Bone-Rattling Adventure - The Cover of the pop-up

Although slightly overshadowed by it's follow-up: "Captain Scurvy's Most Dastardly Pop-Up Pirate Ship", this pop-up haunted castle remains one of my favourite projects to date. Yes, I did spend too much time on it (probably eight months solid work spread over about fourteen months amongst other projects)...but...I was enjoying myself. Nick Denchfield had produced a fantastic 'white' dummy of this and it just caught my imagination instantly. I remember the first meeting at Macmillan with Nick, myself and the editor, which is when I saw it in the 'flesh' for the first time and it just blew me away. I couldn't believe how Nick had made such an intricate model pop-out of a flat book. A particularly neat feature of Nick's meticulous engineering here is the way the main clock tower extends out of the centre of the model and becomes the highest point. (not featured in the photo below as I think Nick was still developing the mechanism for that at this early stage). It really is very, very clever stuff.

A Polaroid of Nick's white dummy

The first thing we established at the design meeting was to work out which parts of the model would represent various rooms of the castle. This was done by applying post-it notes all over the model until every section had been accounted for.

There was an outline for a simple storyline early on but the most important thing at this stage was for me to take away Nick's white dummy and come up with designs of what the finished model might look like.

I decided that due to the much more complex nature of this model in comparison to previous pop-ups, I was going to create some sketches that might give everyone a better idea of how it might look once I was let loose on it.

This was probably one of the biggest challenges of the project as I had to acquaint myself with every single nook and cranny of Nick's model and come up with ideas which would cohesively bring together all the aspects of the model in a meaningful visual way. I wasn't concerned with any figures or creatures that might populate the model at this stage, I was just concerned with the main building and structure itself. I had to pay careful attention to certain shapes and edges of the model which had to stay as Nick had cut them as they were essential to the way the model worked when opening and closing. Many of the other areas I could basically shape how I wanted within reason.

Technically-speaking, this model isn't a book at all. It's called a carousel, and as you open it up and fold the covers or boards back on themselves the model is pushed outwards and upwards to the point where the boards meet back to back and the model is fully extended.

Broken down to it's absolute basics, the model is constructed out of four distinct sections which are joined, back to back.

Anyway, after I had sat there musing on Nick's work, I got out a sheet of A3 paper and started sketching each quadrant in turn. You can see by the time I got to the fourth section I was starting to flag and eager to get on with roughing out the sections of the model itself. I had a much better idea of where I was going with it by then so I felt my time would be better spent working directly on the model itself. The deadline was also a little bit closer...

This was the first section I sketched out - featuring a 'Taxidermist's' with steps going up to it. To the right are various walkways which follow a route around the structure and are part of the game feature.

The next section I tackled features a crypt with steps leading down from a cave mouth. At the bottom in the centre you can see the dungeon area. To the right of that you can see the Taxidermist's which this section backs on to. There is an unfinished section here that was still being decided upon. It eventually became an area where I illustrated some goblin guards eating their supper.

This is part of the project I particularly enjoy. I feel I have the time to experiment and let my imagination have the freedom to shape a little world which I will later get the opportunity to populate with all sorts of creatures. I'm also bearing in mind that with this model there also has to be a game integrated into whatever I choose to illustrate. I decide early on that some kind of stone-flagged path might work quite well.

This section is the graveyard featuring some neat flying-buttresses and a little pop-up tomb which you can open up...

As the covers fold back on themselves and form a solid 'wall', this is the only significantly large surface area of the model that can be illustrated on. I decided to make one side the entrance to a crypt through a cave and the other showed the night sky with a flying-buttress coming down from one of the towers. I had an idea that the flying-buttress might actually stand away from the 'wall' in relief rather than just be illustrated. I was pleased to find out that we could do that without the cost of producing the pop-up increasing significantly.

This last section backs up to the graveyard and had the 'Finish' area of the game. I never quite finished this as I was eager to get on and start roughing out the model sections themselves.

The next spooky post will feature some more of the sketches and finished pieces I produced at the next stage of the project...

Surfacing...

2010-02-01T14:21:00.007Z

Claw's Submarine just after surfacing

The picture book I am currently working on, 'The Treasure of Captain Claw' is very near completion now. I made an older post showing a couple of sketches from the book but as I am close (I hope) to signing this one off I thought I'd post some more pieces from this project.

The sketch above is a rough for the cover which has just been approved. It's inspiration comes from an old 'Boy's Own' type annual cover. I'll also be doing the hand-lettering on this which I always prefer...rather than using existing fonts etc. I've just been told to remove the skull & crossbones from the flag as it might hamper foreign edition sales. That's a real shame as having Pirates without skull & crossbones is like having Cowboys and Indians without six-shooters and tomahawks. Still...mustn't offend anyone...

I think I'm going to make up a symbol which hopefully will be deemed as less offensive but still look 'piratey'.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing that one in colour.

The other black and white sketch above was an earlier version and featured an underwater view of the sub. I was keen to keep the submarine from view until we see it in all it's glory in the book but the publisher felt that the sub was too good a selling point to not show more of it on the cover. It's a fair point. Although I do like these underwater images. The title of the book has changed since then as well.

The images at the very top and below are from a couple of spreads within the book. The one at the top opens up as a gate fold, showing a cross-section of Claw's submarine. Hopefully that will look pretty spectacular and it's the centrepiece of the book. I might give you a sneak preview of a section of that at some point soon...

Captain Claw's cabin

Hand Tinting

2010-02-01T11:18:00.003Z

I came across these images whilst having a bit of a computer clear-out the other day. I bought a bunch of black and white photos (which I am pretty sure are the work of Mick Rock) at a record fair in Bristol many years ago. Several years after that I scanned one in and added some colour. This sort of work used to take a lot more skill than I needed to create these in Photoshop. Quite tempted to get one of these made into a framed print....but which one?

The Island at the Top of The World

2010-01-29T09:30:00.010Z

In 1974, Disney brought out an adventure movie called Island at the Top of the World. I was about 12 or 13 at the time and I remember walking past this poster on the way to school every day whilst it was showing at the local cinema in Redruth. Actually, I didn't walk past it, I would stop for several minutes to admire the artwork. It's a shame I can't find a decent image of it on the net...or find out who the artist* was.

*Bryan Bysouth - as supplied by Steve Gardner (see comment below - thanks Steve!)

I now own a full size cinema poster for this but have never had the wall space to hang it up. One day maybe...

A man and his dog in Redruth contemplate whether Island at the Top of The World will be worth watching

The other version for the film below, is also a fabulous piece of movie artwork (although a bit of a spoiler if you look at the state of the airship in this one...). They just don't make 'em like this any more as the saying goes. More often than not the posters were better than the actual films.

click on image for a closer look

You can see more of Bryan Bysouth's work here.

Alfred Bestall

2010-01-27T08:51:00.011Z

Rupert Bear Annual Cover 1936

Another of my children's book influences from the sixties was the magical work of Alfred Bestall who illustrated the Rupert Bear stories for the Daily Telegraph from 1935-1965. For me, the most stunning pieces of his work were the covers and endpapers of the Rupert Bear Annuals. To hold one of these annuals in your hands and study the artwork on the cover and then open the book to be faced with yet another watercolour illustration had the effect of instantly transporting you into another world.

The Frog Chorus by Alfred Bestall

Rupert Bear Annual Cover 1968

I particularly loved the Oriental influences (from his early childhood spent growing up in Burma) which mixed with his period depictions of rural Britain at the time created quite an original and exotic backdrop for the stories. He was also President of the British Origami Society for many years and you can often see this feature in his work.

I'm working on some of my own story and character ideas at the moment and I recently produced a personal Christmas card which to my mind makes more than a passing nod (or bow of respect, I should say) to dear old Albert (he was 93 when he passed away).

click on image for a closer look

The idea started with the rat hanging up some Chinese paper lanterns which made me think of Albert Bestall's work with Rupert.

As an aside, I often listen to the Radcliffe and Maconie show on BBC iPlayer when I'm working and whilst I was scribbling away on this illustration just before Christmas, I heard Mark Radcliffe mention that he had every Rupert Bear Annual since he was born and still gets one every year. He said something along the lines of "sitting down with a new Rupert Bear annual and a box of Maltesers just is Christmas". I think I know exactly what he means.

I emailed them a copy and it was mentioned on air apparently but I managed to miss it. I did get a personal email back from Mark though and he said "Loving the Bestall lanterns" which was nice.

Anyway, where did I leave that box of Maltesers?...

Mondays

2009-10-05T11:30:00.001+01:00

Monday mornings are made more bearable with a large cup of coffee, Spotify and the warm glow of a lava lamp.

War Birds

2009-10-01T11:49:00.010+01:00

I must be in Spitfire mode at the moment...probably inspired by that Alex Hamilton painting in the previous post no doubt.

I am a big fan of pulp fiction cover artwork and there is one genre within that which probably had a lot to do with inspiring me to illustrate myself (although I couldn't be further away in terms of style and subject matter!). These were the classic 'War Picture Library' comic books, which many boys growing up in the sixties and seventies would be very familiar with. The main ones I remember were 'Commando' and the Fleetway Library, 'Battle' and 'Air Ace' publications.

The standard of artwork in these comics is pretty remarkable, particularly when you think how poorly paid and how quickly the illustrators would have to work to actually make any money out of them. The inking on some of the inside comic strips is quite astounding in places, it's a shame that the actual printing on cheap paper doesn't do them justice. The blacks were never really black and the pulpy paper must have made the line work bleed. But nonetheless...

Click on image for larger view. From 'The Gypsy's Warning' Originally published in 1963. I don't know the Illustrator's name unfortunately.

Aside from the stories and interior illustrations themselves there were the fantastic covers. Again, I would imagine that these were painted at some speed and in many cases with great skill.

My painting skills do not go anywhere near the masters of this medium but I thought I'd give myself a little challenge and see how quickly I could mock an image up which might include some of the elements of the pulp war comic.

Armed with my iPhone camera, a couple of die cast model planes and Photoshop (ok, my Mac and a Wacom tablet also), I set about knocking something together as fast as I could. The result (still not finished but now abandoned!) is below. Probably took about 2hrs in total. I'm not happy with it but it was fun and I think I'll make a more determined effort sometime.

Click on image for larger view. © Steve Cox 2009

Oh and here's that black and white drawing from earlier which I just couldn't resist splashing a bit of colour into...

Another slightly different version of my efforts:

Click on image for larger view. © Steve Cox 2009

Sunlit Silence

2009-09-23T10:00:00.004+01:00

I don't normally go for this kind of thing but I stumbled across this gorgeous painting by Alex Hamilton. You can see more of his aircraft paintings here.

Oyster Boy

2009-09-17T13:54:00.002+01:00

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and other stories by Tim Burton.

This is how my head feels when I'm up against a deadline.

Dan Dare Desktop

2009-09-16T15:55:00.004+01:00

click on image for closer view

Nick Denchfield, my collaborator and all-time genius cardboard engineer on all of the pop-up models I've illustrated sent me this great Dan Dare Wallpaper today. Made from scans from a domino set apparently. Nice one Nick.

The Heavy

2009-09-16T14:08:00.000+01:00

Loving the sounds and the graphics of The Heavy who I recently discovered on the radio yesterday.

Apparently they are from a place called 'Noid' south west of Bath. I live in Bath and have never heard of the place. Can't find it on Google either. Are they having a little joke I wonder?

From Wiki:

The Heavy are an English indie rock band from Noid, England. Combining crunchy guitar, funky horns, and Prince-like vocals, The Heavy play a mix of guitar heavy, hip-hop soul. The core of the group, guitarist Dan Taylor and Vocalist Kelvin Swaby, became friends in 1990 when they bonded over vintage R&B and Jim Jarmusch films.

The rest of the band is made up by the kings of rhythm, drummer Chris Ellul, and bassist Spencer Page.

After releasing two singles in the fall of 2007, The Heavy released their first LP Great Vengeance and Furious Fire on 17 September, 2007 in the United Kingdom and 8 April, 2008 in the United States. 'That Kind of Man' their first single from the album was recorded by at Alpha's studio and released on Alpha's record label Don't Touch Recordings www.donttouchrecordings.com before Ninja Tune heard it and promptly signed them.

On 26 March, 2008, The Heavy were the Artist of the Day in Spin Magazine.^[2] The band were also tipped in Rolling Stone's Hot List in May 2008. They played in the 2008 South By Southwest music festival on the 89.3 The Current stage and collected one of the Best Discovery awards in Spin Magazine's Best and Worst of SXSW '08.^[3]^[4]

They appeared on Johnny Cash remixed LP (2009) with the remixed version of "Do my time".

And from Ninjatune.net:

Prepare to burn. Sorry. Don’t wanna put you off or nuffink. But prepare to burn.

The Heavy make the kind of dirty, guitar-scorched hip hop soul which leads you into temptation. And then you’re going to burn. The dark side of four boys from the arse-end of Bath, the beast of Bodmin Moor, half man/half wolf, The Heavy specialise in making everything wrong sound right. So successful are they, so good does it feel, so natural, that voodoo filth will be pouring through you before you know what’s going on.

From the moment you hear first single, “That Kind of Man,” you know only exorcism can save you. Combining the gritty bottom end of classic Wu Tang with wall-of-sound guitar wailing and raw blues-soul, it’s instantly recognisable and utterly addictive, Swaby’s sweet-yet-threatening vocal raising it to another level. “Coleen” is a more stripped-down hip hop groove, with backing singers giving the tune a Stax-on-acid feel. “Set Me Free” throws acoustic guitar in to the mix for a more laid-back (though still rhythmically driving) number. “You Don’t Know” shows heavier rock influences, a building pile-up of riffage. “Girl” gives Swaby a chance to show off his (slightly tongue in cheek) rapping style, over a rhythm which can only be described as Kinks-meets-Marly Marl. “Doing Fine” is the emotional centrepiece of the album, a downhome blues straight outta the West Country. “In The Morning” is frugging and flithy. “Bruk Pocket Lament” sounds like classic blues brought bang up to date and reeling from too much meths. And the raging “Dignity” ain’t going to stand no fucking with it, seen? The album finishes with “Who Needs The Sunshine,” which carries echoes of the Bristol scene of Massive Attack and Tricky, but reconstituted as an epic country blues.

The core of The Heavy are Swaby and Taylor, who have known each other for a decade. Swaby’s parents were one of the first West Indian families to move to Bath. One of eleven siblings, he grew up surrounded by reggae, Prince and Two Tone as well as the hip hop he embraced so fervently. When he met Taylor they bonded over vintage rhythm and blues and the movies of Jim Jarmusch.

Despite starting with an Atari and a four track, the pair soon recruited Ellul(drums) and Page (bass) and began gigging as a four piece. Perhaps their unique sound is in part the result of coming from a town they describe as “the graveyard of all ambition”. Or some West Coutry leyline shiznit. Either that or they’re just sex-crazed lunatics. At the end of the day, who cares as long as it sounds this good?

Nice to know I live in 'The Graveyard of All Ambition'. Explains everything.

Retro

2009-09-07T12:22:00.008+01:00

Ok, I know I've posted these elsewhere but I'm thoroughly enjoying my new iPhone. Marvellous bit of kit and wonderful gadget to have in your pocket when out and about.

One thing I've never been great at is carrying around a sketch book or camera to capture something I may end up using as reference for my illustration work. I have a Nikon SLR which is great but heavy. Even a small compact digital camera is a bit of a pain size-wise.

Standard iPhone 'non' Polaroid

Even though the iPhone only packs a meagre 3 megapixels I'm finding it produces great photos which a are perfect for taking quick snaps whilst out and about.

My favourite App at the moment is 'Shake It', fake Polaroids at a click and a shake of the phone.
Essentially, it's a filter but it gets some great results. I'm starting to prefer the results to those I get with the SLR.

I couldn't stop snapping away in Brighton last week, particularly around the bricabrac and second hand stores in around North Laine. Only drawback is exhausting the battery.

Shake it.

North Laines Temptations

2009-09-02T04:24:00.001+01:00

This shop frontage tempts and taunts me every time I visit Brighton.
Lovely, lovely Brighton. If only one could live in two places at once.

Brie Boy Strikes Back

2009-08-21T11:57:00.002+01:00

Trying to work with this thing looking at me all day long...

Actually, just a test to see if I can post a photo to here from the new gadget. Hey, it works! Nice one.

Submarines

2009-05-21T13:36:00.007+01:00

I'm currently working on a new project for Orchard Books. It's a story written by Jonathan Emmet and is the second story I will have illustrated of Jonathan's. The first, 'Pigs Might Fly' was published by Puffin and won the 'Books for Younger Children' category of the Red House Children's Book Award 2006. As a follow-up I suggested to Jonathan that we should do 'Pigs Might Swim' with submarines. Jonathan took that all on-board and came up with a swashbuckling piratical yarn...but without the pigs.

Without giving too much away at this stage, I can say it's going to feature some of my favourite subject matter and features a pirate submarine, a small dog, a fat cat, a crocodile and a jar of toffee. This project has had several delays and it's been almost two years since I started doing the first sketches and character designs. But now we are back on course and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into the drawings.

The main 'star' of the book is of course the submarine and I am about to go overboard with detail in a massive fold out cross-section within the book. Again, I can't give too much away but here are a couple of sections from working sketches I've made during the process.

click on images for a closer look

Roughs are almost approved and it's almost time to go 'full steam ahead' with the artwork which will keep me pretty busy over the early part of the summer. (That's enough of the nautical puns - Ed).

Just time to quickly mention one of my favourite Tin Tin stories by the brilliant Herge, featuring a shark submarine.

Tom Paxton & Me

2009-04-01T10:04:00.002+01:00

Tom Paxton invited me to go and see him in a recent concert at St. George's in Bristol the other week. The reason being, that we have just produced a book together based on one of his songs. I've been working on the illustrations for this since last August and it's satisfying to bring the project to it's conclusion. I have to admit that it's been one of the biggest challenges of my illustration career in the fact that I was 'forbidden' to actually illustrate the main 'character' in the story. The book will hopefully be published later in the year but I am sworn to secrecy for the moment. I can say that the American publisher is called Imagine and it will include a CD of the song which the book is based on. Watch this space...

When You're Dying For a Wii

2009-02-12T13:39:00.008Z

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: When we were in Blackpool and whilst visiting rellies, we were treated to a go on a Wii. Ok, I'd heard of them but had just lumped them in with PlayStation/XBox 360s etc which I am utterly useless at anything that requires more than two buttons pressing at the same time (yes, I know that's most of them...you get the picture) and haven't got the patience for. (Give me an old Mega Drive 2 with an Aladdin cartridge and now you're talking).

Anyway, after a few hours spent digitally ten pin bowling and lobbing a virtual tennis ball over a photoshopped net we were hooked. I lasted about a week before we went and got one from Argos. Three days later we were still moaning about sore muscles that we hadn't used for some time. Bloody good fun though. My son Joe had his 19th birthday recently so that was a good excuse to buy him Mario Karts, House of the Dead and Call of Duty. Mario Karts is pretty good fun and the most 'family' orientated. House of The Dead is obviously a massive gore-fest with plenty of exposed rib cages after you've unloaded your pump-action into the chests of a lurching zombies. Haven't played that one yet...looks a bit scary.

Aside from Mario Karts, the next most played game I bought is 'Blazing Angels'. Yes, I know, predictably it's a WWII flying game with missions, dogfights, bombing and strafing runs etc. A little tricky to get the hang of the controls at first (if you're a klutz like me that is) but once you've managed to take off without destroying half your own airfield it's like plain sailing...I mean flying. Great fun apart from getting your arse riddled with tracer fire when you're not expecting it. Utterly frustrating but immensely satisfying sending Heinkel 111s spiralling out of the sky trailing plumes of black smoke. Joe is miles ahead of me and I don't get many goes on it but it's much more fun than watching telly or doing the washing up.

Red Rant

2009-02-12T13:18:00.006Z

Ok, this is minor...but nonetheless it gets my goat every time I reach for the tommy sauce to spruce up a sausage sandwich. Not that I consume much of the stuff anyway but when I do it would be nice if the stuff came out of the bottle in an orderly fashion. For decades, if not longer, the consumer of this fine product has had to endure bruised palms from slapping the arse off the bottle trying to get a glob of ketchup to appear. The freshly opened bottles were the worst, I've had to resort to stuffing a knife down it's neck just to dislodge some of the red stuff.

Finally some boffin in the Heinz labs came up with the idea of the 'squeezer'. Good idea...except it still doesn't work. The new inverted ones (the fat one on the left in the pic) are the worst. You have to squeeze it so hard to get anything to appear that it nearly always overshoots the target and goes all over the plate/table/trousers etc. If you're going to re-design packaging Herr Heinz, do it properly please because this sucks. Sort it out.

Working From Home...

2009-02-05T10:16:00.007Z

click on photo for larger view

Whilst the entire country seems to be taking the day off to have snowball fights or just stay in bed and watch TV the humble home worker plods on immune to the effects of the weather. I listen to the local radio and am told that nearly every school and university/college in Bristol and Bath has been closed. I hear people who are old enough to know better phone in and tell the radio presenter how much fun they are having on their day off in the snow. Am I jealous?

Yes.

I can't think of a single excuse for not delivering a job on time as I 'work from home' anyway. Still, I shall try and get out at lunch-time and throw a large snowball at any passing child that comes withing range. Humbug.

Whoops....suddenly it's 2009

2009-01-06T11:14:00.011Z

Flipping heck, time does certainly fly. One minute it's August 2008 and before you know it, Christmas has rushed up and bit you on the bum before running away and hiding in the back end of 2008. Here we are in yet another January, which is probably my least favourite time of the year I have to admit. Apart from being stupidly cold at the moment, it's a time of getting my accounts and Tax Return sorted which (I know, I know, I know) I should have sorted out last October when my accountant asked for them. It is also traditionally a time when I have to face the fact that I have been putting off chores and even work in the hope that somehow they will have dissipated magically during the Christmas period. The stark reality and realisation that they haven't is always a BIG disappointment in January. Never mind.

One thing I LOVE in January is a trip to Blackpool to visit my wife's family who live in and around this wacky but fabulous town.

We arrived on the night of New Year's Day and for once, I saw the Illuminations lit up...well most of them anyway. You'll just have to imagine them as I didn't have my camera with me. You can bask in the glow and feel the fizz of electricity as you drive along the sea front, it's brilliant.

Walking down Central Drive towards the tower

An enjoyable few days are spent in and around Blackpool, catching up with Angela's family. A few pub lunches, Northrn ale, meat and potato pies, the seafront and a walk up Beacon Fell whilst the sun set, casting an amazing pink and orange glow over everything. Great stuff, I miss it already.

View from Beacon Fell

Big War Movie Themes

2008-08-18T16:39:00.003+01:00

The 1969 fim, "The Battle of Britain" was on TV the other day. It has to be one of my all-time favourites. Not the sort of film I can imagine being made today, even if it were possible since there aren't as many vintage aircraft available to do it unless it was all CGI. It reminded me of an illustration that used to feature on the cover of "Big War Movie Themes" a collection of classic movie scores performed by Geoff Love and his Orchestra. Evocative stuff and a great cover as well, although I don't know who the illustrator was.

Along The London Road and Home

2008-08-14T07:19:00.002+01:00

After lunch I decide to have a quick walk along the river bank before starting the journey home. The weekend has gone really quickly and I wish I'd had a bit more time re-visiting some of the other places I remember when I lived in Chesham and Caversham. Nevertheless I've had a really enjoyable time of total self-indulgence over the last few days and I'm so glad I made the effort to do the trip. Apart from a few spots of rain on Friday in Hay-on-Wye the weather's been much better than expected which is a real bonus.

Last leg of the journey along the A4

So...back on the bike for the straight ride home. I decide against bombing down the M4 as I find motorway riding at speed on a bike pretty tedious and hard work bracing against the wind. Instead I join the A4 just outside Sonning and basically follow it all the way to my front door on The London Road (A4) in Bath.

I stop off briefly about half way in Marlborough for a break and a swift pint at The Green Dragon where they are playing Led Zeppelin II and I watch a group of ducks walk by on the pavement (!?).

The Green Dragon - Marlborough

I pass Silbury Hill near Avebury and the Cherhill White Horse before passing through Calne and Chippenham and finally arriving in Bath early evening.

The Chervill White Horse & Monument

It's strange to think that the road right outside my front door leads directly back to where I used to live in the 60's and 70's. I somehow feel more in touch with myself and my past than I did before I set off the previous Friday. It's also great to get out on the bike and cover a few miles. I can't wait until the next time.

Caversham Park Village - Phase One

2008-08-14T06:40:00.033+01:00

After a short ride further along the Henley Road I turn left into Caversham Park Road and left again into Lowfield Road. It's an almost dream-like experience. A route I remember exactly whilst looking out of a car window as a small boy. It feels strange now all these years later and still yet so familiar. The part of the then modern estate was called Phase One and Phase Two was still under construction. Looking at Google Earth, it looks like several more 'phases' have been built since then.
I pass the turning down into Corfe Mews and continue along Lowfield Road a little further before turning right into Farnham Drive and the small shopping precinct that used to be the focus of Caversham Park Village. My first impression after sidestepping the skateboarders skating under the 'NO BALL GAMES - NO SKATEBOARDING' sign is that this place has not aged well. When we lived in CPV (Caversham Park Village), it was newly built and some of the shops were empty shells yet to become inhabited. Although it was a Sunday and some shops were shuttered up I could see that several were now empty again in a rather more dilapidated state.

'Martin's The Newsagent'

One of the main shops used to be called 'Martin's The Newsagent' and contained the local Post Office. The Post Office counter has gone but amazingly the shop inside has changed very little in all this time. I must have spent a fortune on sweets in here over the years. There used to be a 'Budgens' small supermarket but that has long gone.

Farnham Drive Shopping Centre

I have a quick look around the back of the shops as we used to play there and I'm quite shocked to see how run-down it all looks. The rotten fencing in the photo below was brand spanking new white paint when we were there. It all looks a bit sad now.

Urban decay - click on image for close-up

At least the adjacent woods are still intact and haven't been bulldozed to make way for more housing. A particular favourite tree for climbing facing the shopping precinct is still there and still used by today's kids by the look of the rope swings hanging from it.

I walk a few hundred metres down a path leading from the precinct towards where we used to live.

There in front of me is No.7 Corfe Mews. The huge chestnut tree that was 'half in' our back garden towers over the house and has grown enormously. The house looks in pretty good shape from the front anyway. The only thing that seems to have visibly changed is the PVC front door.That was my bedroom, top right. I remember having a catapault and acorn fight with some 'friends' who had laid siege to the house. They were sent packing I can tell you!

A quick excursion 'round the back reveals the garden in which my dad had spent quite a bit of time building a pond surrounded by crazy paving and a bench around the trunk of the tree . He'd also built a rockery with a waterfall and stream which ended up in the pond. The rockery made a great bit of terrain for all those airfix soldiers etc.My dad laying the crazy paving, closely watched by my brother Jon...

The garden as it is now - rockery still visible and showing the young trees from the older photos having grown somewhat.

Family photo with us perched on the rockery 1968-69

A Quick Trip to Sonning

After a bit of a wander around the area around the house, which is looking rather tired it has to be said, I decide to make one last port of call before heading home to Bath.

Sonning is a pretty little village a couple of miles from Caversham on the banks of the river Thames. It was always a little posh but now I would imagine you would have to be pretty rich to afford to live there. It was lunch time so I decide to have a pub lunch (well, it was Sunday after all). Right in front of me appeared the familiar sign of The French Horn right on the edge of Sonning Bridge. I parked the bike up and strolled into the main reception area to be greeted by a waiter wearing a green blazer. Suddenly I felt like I was in the wrong place as I looked at all of the elderly diners sat out in the garden. "Is sir dining with us today?" came the enquiry. I stood there in my motorcycle leathers, crash helmet under my arm and looked nervously around me. "I'm not sure actually" I replied realising my mistake. "If sir wants casual, there is another public house just over the other side of the bridge which serves lunch" he informed me as I thanked him and turned on my heels to escape as quickly as possible.

"Casual? Casual!?" I muttered under my breath as I got on the bike and nipped across to the safety of the other side where I had a delicious 'casual' lunch for probably one fifth of the price they would have charged at The French Horn.

I have memories of swimming here in the river (once unintentional - I had a rubber dinghy which decided to suddenly split open whilst I was rowing whilst my parents were off walking. I managed to drag it's remains to the bank without drowning fortunately!) Aside from that, I used to go to cub scouts for a while here.

Sonning Bridge and the spot where my dinghy burst.

As part of the Berkshire, Sonning 1st Scouts I managed to make the rank of 'Seconder' and amassed a fair collection of 'proficiency badges', including Art, Entertaining, Sport, Cycling etc. Good fun at the time but we must have looked like a bunch of little green elves running about in our cub uniforms doing 'bob-a-job' on Caversham Park Village estate.

The Ladybird book of Boy Scouting - essential reading at the time. The uniforms were practically identical too. Our scarves were green and yellow though. These Ladybird books were everywhere at the time. Another topic for another time maybe.
The Berkshire Scout Badge we all had sewn onto the sleeves of our uniforms.

I've spent far too much time trying to find photos of the old Scout hut just off Pound Lane and I have failed. I've no idea who the people above are but I would put money on this being taken in the old scout hut. Same colour walls I remember and everything. There is a new building there now and the scouts are still going strong by the look of it. Akela!

Micklands Primary School

2008-08-12T18:10:00.022+01:00

At the top of Donkin Hill I turn right onto the Henley Road and head towards Caversham Park Village. I pass a shop on the corner of All Hallows Road that I also remember. It was all boarded up but I could see there was a window you could look into. I pulled up and took a look inside. Amazingly it looked like one of those disaster movies where the owners had just upped and left in a hurry leaving everything in it's place. There were rows of toiletries and various other bits and pieces of 'corner shop' stuff all over the place like a museum. I suppose one could attempt to date when the moved out by looking at the packaging designs of products on the shelves. Possibly as long ago as the eighties? The bottle of 'Matey' bubble bath on the bottom shelf could even be 70's.
My old junior school is just around the corner from here. Micklands Primary School. I guess I was only there for a few years before we moved to Cornwall but it seemed like a lifetime back then.
It was a Sunday so I felt ok about riding my bike right up to the main gates to have a look. It wasn't so fenced in back in my day but we live in different times where anything that might put children at risk has to be cordoned off.
The caretaker did come over to check me out but when I explained that I used to go to the school back in the late 60's he told me all sorts of bits of history about what had happened to the school in the past four decades, including a fire that destroyed the main hall, and the tearing down of the dangerous asbestos 'temporary' classrooms that were demolished 8 years ago. Apparently lots of old ex-pupils turned up to watch it being taken apart by men in chemical warfare suits because of the asbestos dust. I was taught in that building along with hundreds of other school children for years. Great.

The playing fields look identical and looking around I am reminded that I think I was very happy at this school. I have some good memories of playing in the woods adjacent to the playing fields. You can't get in or out of the school grounds at the back like you used to as they've built houses all around it. Also the cemetery next door has expanded massively and started to surround the grounds since I went to school here. Slightly Ominous!

Photos pinched from the Micklands School website

That's me in my new Micklands School uniform with my family at a wedding sometime about 1967 at a guess.

In the interests of trying to keep examples of illustration running through this blog, I remember reading a several books at this school. One was 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' which had a wonderfully atmospheric cover but I don't know who the illustrator was.
Others were J.R.R Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' and C.S. Lewis' 'Narnia Tales' which need no introduction but again it was my first introduction to not only these epic works but also the illustrations of Pauline Baynes. Practically all of her covers transport you into another world before you even open the book and start reading. Nearly all of my mental images conjured up by reading these books are based on her illustrations.
It's interesting that Tolkien and Lewis were very good friends and they both chose Pauline Baynes to illustrate their books. Or maybe it was the publisher that chose her. Good choice in any case.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles...On To Caversham...

2008-08-10T14:42:00.030+01:00

So, after a bit of an exploration of the area around the old house, I rediscover many of the places I remember as a boy; The walk to school along Chestnut Avenue, much as I remember it. The part of my road where they were still building and I managed to fall off some scaffolding pipes and gash my leg on a huge piece of flint sticking out of the ground (still have quite a big scar). The area called The Spinney where we used to play 'Stig of The Dump'. All pretty much there and recognisable 40 odd years later.

Another fantastic illustration from Edward Ardizzone and an influence on getting me interested in children's book illustration I realize many years later.

I next head off to see if I can find the first school I ever attended at Ley Hill, a couple of miles away from where we lived. This really is pushing the boundaries of my memory as I think I was only there for a term or two before we moved to Caversham when I was about six or seven years old. I pass an old red brick pub on the way called 'The Hen & Chickens' which rings a bell and then I round a bend and there the school is on my right. It's obviously expanded since I last saw it (1967-68?) but still recognisable. The school must have been newly built when I attended as I remember some temporary classrooms and construction going on back then. The only distinct memories I have of this place was trying to sing along to "Morning Has Broken' and failing miserably as I didn't know the words and couldn't understand what the rest of the children were actually singing word-wise. I also remember making a model of an ancient hill fort by moulding the round hill out of papier-mâché over a balloon and then popping the balloon when it was dry. Fascinating.In fact, that is the very classroom (below) I stood in back in 1967. The only other memory I have is sitting outside the classroom there on the grass waiting for the school bus to take us back to Chesham. There was a boy happily pulling the legs off a daddy longlegs. Why does one remember such things?I leave Ley Hill and head off back to Chesham for a quick look around the town. I find the station which I believe is the furthest station from the centre of London on the London Underground. This is as far as you can get on the Underground. Trains stop here and then go back to London. End of line.
I think the signal box here made a big impression on me as a boy. I mean it's a 'proper' signal box isn't it? It reminds me of another childhood fascination...model railways.
I used to avidly collect the Triang Hornby catalogues. Again the cover illustrations were fantastically dramatic and atmospheric. I don't know who the artist was but I believe he used to place a mouse in each of his illustrations. The image below is too small to see it but I believe there is a mouse scampering over the tracks somewhere in the picture. Awesome illustration anyway.
Right, that was Chesham revisited. I never found the hospital where I was actually born...it must have been demolished I guess, never mind!

So, on to Caversham near Reading then. It's closer to Chesham than I thought and I arrive early Saturday evening but it's been a long day so I basically find my B&B and put my feet up for a couple of hours. Later on I take a stroll along the banks of the Thames and walk over Caversham Bridge to a Pub called The Griffin for a couple of drinks and something to eat. It's been an interesting day and I'm looking forward to revisiting more places from my childhood tomorrow...

I'm up early on Sunday and I decide to pay a brief visit to a school just down the road from the B& B where I remember my mother working as a teacher. She took me there a couple of times when she was working and presumably didn't have anyone to look after me. It still looks like quite an imposing building even now.
On to Caversham, over the bridge and down Caversham high street, the shopping centre and the library instantly bring back memories and are virtually unchanged as far as I can remember. I don't have much in the way of a map so I basically follow my nose towards where I think Caversham Park Village is and the house we lived in for four years before moving to cornwall when I was 10.

Suddenly I find myself riding up Donkin Hill which has a sinificance for me in terms of childhood memories. I used to walk to a shop at the top of Donkin Hill practically every Saturday morning to spend my pocket money. More often than not I would buy an Airfix kit of some kind and would spend the rest of the day making it up. I think I must have been 'Airfix mad' as a boy. I wasn't alone. All my friends also seemed obsessed with it. Strange now looking back. Plastic modelling must have been the major hobby of many a young boy in the sixties and seventies.
The shop is still there although it no longer sells toys and models and now seems to be a fishing tackle shop.

Any excuse for another example of Airfix box artwork.Ok, we've had trains and planes so what about automobiles? Well, another favourite of that time was Scalextric. I was given a big box of track and cars that my parents bought second hand for what must have been about my 8th birthday. The track was enormous and filled most of the ground floor of the house we lived in. Many happy an hour was spent hurtling plastic cars around the huge circuit. It used to terrify the cat, particularly when a car would leave the track on a bend and hit him like a guided missile.

The yellow Lamborghini was particularly fast at cornering...

Back on the Nostalgia Trail...

2008-07-01T16:23:00.032+01:00

So where was I? Oh yeah, back in Amersham where I was born. Work and a week's holiday in Spain have put the dampeners on any progress on finishing this part of the blog off. In fact. Remind me NOT to write one of these accounts of a trip in any detail again...too much like hard work ...and dull for everyone else no doubt. I've started so I'll finish...
So there I was, suddenly standing in front of my first ever home, 29 West View in Chesham. Considering I haven't been here since we moved in 1967 it all looks incredibly familiar...and in great nick too. That was my bedroom there right at the front...the memories all come streaming back.

One of my strongest memories of the mid sixties is of Saturday evenings in front of the telly. Usually I would be sat at the dining table making up some kind of Airfix kit I'd had bought for me or with pocket money. For some reason I remember making up this one below. Strange what you remember.
It would be winter and the coal fire would be blazing away in the hearth whilst my mother was making 'tea' in the kitchen, consisting of a baked potato, sausages and baked beans. When it was ready I'd have to push my Airfix bits to one side so we could all settle down to watch scrambling on Grandstand on the telly as we ate...it were reet cozy.

After the scrambling there was probably the football results on that typewriter and then the 'proper' telly started with Dixon of Dock Green. Jack Warner making us all feel safe as he put villain after villain behind bars.
Hark...is that Dr Who about to start? Better grab yourself a cushion and hide behind the sofa as every child under the age of ten did back then...it's true, ask anyone of that era. The sound of the opening theme tune was terrifying enough but when the Daleks and Cybermen arrived all you could do was hold a cushion in front of your face and peep from behind it. Madness.

Scary Daleks on the loose

On a Slightly More Genteel Theme...

At an early age my father began reading me stories that were obviously childhood favourites of his own. The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame introduced me to the brilliant ink drawings of E.H. Shepherd.

Toad's caravan from The Wind In The Willows

...and obviously the Pooh books were heavily illustrated by Shepherd as well. The map of Hundred Acre Wood enthralled me at the time.

100 Acre Wood from Winnie The Pooh

Mole's Picnic from The Wind In The Willows

Pooh visits Owl from Winnie The Pooh

Early Days Revisited

2008-06-09T08:35:00.014+01:00

So...here I am. I've just had lunch in Old Amersham and have arrived at Lowndes Park in the centre of Chesham. The only reason I have come here is because I have quite vivid memories of learning to ride my first bicycle here. The feeling of propelling yourself in a straight line without the aid of stabilisers for the first time is something you don't forget that easily! I can remember arriving here at Water Meadow car park in one of my parents first cars which was an Austin A40 along with my bike and a bag full of bread to feed the ducks. Up until then we had been used to travelling in a sidecar attached to my dad's Norton 500*.An Austin A40...ours was a bit bigger than this obviously.

This isn't a photo of our 'actual' bike and sidecar but it's very similar to the one we had. Can you imagine two adults and two children travelling down to Devon to visit my grandmother on this?...we did it several times. We caught fire once but that's another story...

*I am corrected by my mother who tells me that although my dad did indeed have a Norton 500, the bike he had when I was born was a BSA 500 and this was the bike which had a sidecar attached to it. So, for the record, here's a BSA A7 500cc bike...hopefully not too far off the one we had in 1961!
This is my dad on his Norton 500, year unknown but I guess at some point in the early 50's.

What a great looking bike! Strangely enough, I found myself parked next to a BSA C15 250cc just the other day here in Bath. The C15 was the first ever motorcycle I had which I bought in about 1979. It was blue like the one below but I decided to paint it black. I loved that bike but it did break down a lot.

My current bike, the Honda VFR 750 parked next to the BSA C15 in Bath.

Asparagus

2008-06-05T17:56:00.007+01:00

I set off just after 11am and soon find myself on the A40 heading east. As I passed Gloucester I saw a sign saying 'Freshly cut Asparagus' so I stopped and bought some. This was consumed a couple of days later with lashings of butter and black pepper...delicious. Much better than that pale green stuff you get in supermarkets that's been grown in Thailand or somewhere.

Back on the bike and I stay with the A40 all the way past Oxford and High Wycombe and then turn off towards Amersham and Chesham. It feels strange going back to the place where I was born and haven't been back to since I left in the late 60's. It's about 40 years since I was in this part of the country last and I'm keen to see if there is anything I can actually remember from that long ago.

Seeing a sign for 'Amersham Old Town' I take a left turn and find myself in a very picturesque old town centre...which I don't recognise at all. I'd like to say I did but I didn't!
It all looks very posh and very English and doesn't tie up at all with any of the memories I have from my early childhood. After a few laps of the centre I decide to have some lunch and think about where I'm going to visit next.

Hereford

2008-06-05T09:43:00.014+01:00

I'm awake early and the sun is shining...a clear blue sky infact so the good old Met Office has got it wrong again. Not that I'm complaining. After a very good 'full' English breakfast I decide to have a quick wander into Hereford city centre before checking out.
It literally was a walk through the main pedestrian shopping area and a quick look at the outside of the cathedral before I had to get going but I wouldn't mind coming back for a longer stay some time. I didn't get to see the Mappa Mundi either.

To Hay and Back

2008-06-03T10:12:00.021+01:00

I find the B&B easily, it's just across the river from the Cathedral and a short walk from the centre of Hereford. I'm shown to my quarters which is a cosy attic room. Nice. I dump most of my luggage and go straight back out to continue the journey to Hay-on-Wye where I have been invited to a book-signing and award ceremony given by Red House as part of the Hay Literary Festival.I decide to take the scenic route to Hay via Abergavenny and Brecon as I remember the roads being great to ride on a bike and I still have plenty of time to get there.

It was a fast road to Abergavenny and I soon found myself riding on a twisting road on the edge of the Brecon Beacons. I'd like to come back and ride through the Beacons when I have more time at a later date. I've driven in a car over the Beacons before years ago and it was quite spectacular, it would be great on a bike.
I miss my turning to Talgarth and end up in Brecon which wasn't planned but I need petrol so I fill up and then pick up the road to Hay, arriving there with about an hour before the book signing.
I had a quick pint at the Kilvert's Hotel, sitting in exactly the same spot that I sat in two years ago before collecting my own Red House Children's Book Award for illustrating 'Pigs Might Fly' written by Jonathan Emmett. Time flies let alone pigs...
Literally, (or should that be literary?) as I arrive at the Hay Festival site it's starts to rain...not hard but it's the first time I'd seen rain today. Riding into the site area it was obvious that Hay had seen rather a lot of rain that week. It took me a good 15 minutes to find somewhere to park the bike that wasn't too boggy and so it wouldn't disappear into the mud.I'm 15 minutes late for the book signing and find myself sat next to the illustrator Petr Horacek as a line of children and the occasional adult file past asking us to sign anything from autograph books to books we've actually illustrated, commemorative carrier bags, fans, bookmarks etc. A small boy knocks over my glass of lemonade which soaks the table and adds to the fun...and dampness. The heavens opened at this point and you could barely hear yourself speak as the rain lashed down onto the marquee we were in.
After the book-signing we were all shown to our particular 'named' tables (I was on Harry Potter). A meal of bangers & mash followed by speeches and the award ceremony itself. In short Derek Landy's 'Skullduggery Pleasant' published by Harper Collins was the overall winner. You can read a bit more about it here if you like.

Yes, I should have gone to the party afterwards but as it had just stopped raining I decided to take my chances and headed off back to Hereford whilst it was still dry and light.

Just time to go out for something to eat and a couple of pints in Hereford before turning in. A fairly early start tomorrow and I'm already looking forward to the ride to Amersham.

The Trip To Hereford

2008-06-03T09:00:00.013+01:00

After some last minute hand-wringing about whether to actually go or not due to having been glued to the weather forecast (rain, rain and more rain) all week I decide I'm going to chance it as it's actually sunny on Friday morning. I have a B&B booked in Hereford for Friday night and if it looks like the weather is going to stay fairly dry I can continue my route and hope to find somewhere else to stay on Saturday night.

With bike loaded up, I set off around midday and head off up the A46 to the M4 which I follow east to the old Severn Bridge near Chepstow. Delighted to discover that motorcycles can cross the bridge for free where as car drivers have to stump up £5.30 at the toll to get into Wales. I smile smugly at the car driver next to me as my barrier lifts and I speed off leaving him struggling to find change in his glove compartment. From Chepstow I take the A466 which takes me along the picturesque winding road through the Wye Valley.

Two miles up the A466 I meet my first annoyance. As I round a bend a fully-laden car transporter pulls out in front of me. Once again 'The five second law' confounds me. The five second law is my theory that at any given time on a journey, a slow moving vehicle will lie in wait to delay your progress. To annoy you it will always pull out in front of you a few seconds ahead. If you had only been another five seconds ahead on your journey it would have pulled out behind you. This normally takes place when there is no visible traffic ahead of you or even behind you thus emphasising the sheer annoyance factor that it has singled you out deliberately to slow your journey.

Anyway, it's not easy trying to pass a slow-moving car transporter on a windy road, particularly when it is driving in the middle to avoid the trees either side but I finally squeeze past on one of the few straight stretches and feel sorry for the poor sods in their cars still behind it who are going to be stuck there for some considerable amount of time.

This is more like it, lovely winding road through the Wye Valley, it feels great to be out on the bike again after not having ridden it for months. I pass Tintern Abbey...I would have photographed it but it's predictably swathed in green netting and scaffolding (Another of my pet gripes...travelling to places to visit famous landmarks only to find them covered in scafolding, it seems to happen a lot).

In fact taking photos is not that easy when travelling on a bike which is why I don't have loads of scenic shots of my trip. By the time you have stopped, taken off helmet and gloves, located camera, changed camera battery because it dies on you, taken photo, put away camera, put gloves and helmet back on etc. you will have added at least ten minutes to your journey.

So...here's somebody else's photo of the Abbey taken from Devil's Pulpit...and that's the A466 and the river Wye next to it.
I arrived at Monmouth about 50 minutes after leaving Bath which isn't bad considering the car transporter and I haven't been caning it. From Monmouth it's a fairly short trip of about 25 minutes to Hereford and I arrive at the B&B I am staying at 1 hour and 20 minutes from leaving home. Mmmn...not bad.

Planning The Bike Trip

2008-05-27T14:40:00.006+01:00

I've been invited to a couple of events at The Hay-on-Wye Festival at the end of this month. As I won't have the car I am thinking of turning it into a weekend motorcycle mini-tour: Starting from home in Bath I'll cross the Severn Bridge and take the picturesque Wye valley road up to Hereford and stay the night. After the events in Hay-on Wye I'll leave Hereford and travel towards Oxford along the A40. From there to Amersham where I was born and Chesham where I lived until about the age of 7. Then it'll be down to Caversham and Reading where I lived up until the age of 10 and then back to Bath on the Sunday. It might be a bit mad, particularly as the weather is not looking great I think I'm going to try it anyway. Will keep you posted...

Oh How Absolutely Marvellous!

2008-05-12T10:52:00.006+01:00

As I sit at my desk, Wacom Stylus in hand, racing towards another deadline, I find myself wondering if anyone who looks at the illustrations I produce in books has any idea of what it takes to get a drawing into print. I am reminded of a brilliant cartoon strip by Posy Simmonds from The Guardian (?) a few years ago. This is exactly how it is children...(you will have to click on the strip to get a bigger version you can read)

Brighton Rocks

2008-04-21T18:26:00.006+01:00

We just came back from a couple of days in Brighton. Aside from the sea air, the great beach and pier, the masses of little shops tucked away in The Lanes, my favourite guitar shop and loads of great places to eat and drink...there's also some fantastic street murals. I would have called them graffiti but it doesn't really do them justice. There's a few more photos if you click on the Flickr widgety thing over there on the right hand column....or just go here.

Where The Wild Things Are

2008-04-15T08:55:00.004+01:00

Maurice Sendak? Genius. Everything that is right with children's book illustration is right here. I absolutely love this book and as far as I can remember, it almost single-handedly inspired me to want to draw moody, slightly sinister illustrations for children's books (cue cackling laughter...). It's not something that I often get the chance to illustrate but you will notice the appearance of full moons quite often in my work...what does that tell you!? If you don't already own this then buy one now. A masterpiece.

Pulteney Bridge & Weir

2008-04-15T01:03:00.004+01:00

Wandered past Pulteney Bridge and Weir the other night on the way out for a drink in the centre of Bath. The water looked green and turbulent. A chance to try out my new phone's camera.

Book Jackets, Harrington Jackets & Abercrombies

2008-04-11T14:01:00.008+01:00

I saw this Clockwork Orange book jacket the other day. Took me back to about 1975 when I first read it. Classic cover design. Shame the film wasn't as good as the book. The film was banned back in the 70's and I had to wait until about 1998 to see it for the first time. Not really worth the wait, it hasn't aged well. Back in the day...school life was dominated by 'hard men', the skinheads and suedeheads of the day so this book was well read by most people I knew. I wasn't one of the hard men myself but because I was into David Bowie & Ziggy Stardust there was a kind of Clockwork Orange connection (Bowie used to play Beethoven's Ninth before a Ziggy gig - Alex's fave bit of music in the book) I was deemed 'cool enough' and largely left alone. "Hey droogie don't crash here...he was the nazz..."etc. Off for a glass of moloko and maybe a lomtick of kleb and maslo and a dollop of Jammiwam...

Airfix

2008-04-09T13:11:00.009+01:00

I probably spent most of my pocket money on sweets, closely followed by a weekly Airfix kit from the series one 1:72 range. The box artwork on these was mostly done by a guy called Roy Cross I believe. There a bit about him here. Fantastic Boys Own stuff.
That's me standing in front of a real Spitfire aged about 7 at Abingdon Air Display in 1968.

Letraset Transfers

2008-04-04T18:18:00.010+01:00

Does anyone remember Letraset's Action Transfers? I had loads of these as a kid in the late sixties and early seventies. I found some of these in a Google search and they remind me that they must have been quite a major influence in getting me interested in drawing. Shame they don't make them anymore.

Whilst we're on nostalgia...next up: Airfix kits.
Click on image for a closer look

Old Sketchbooks

2008-04-04T17:57:00.001+01:00

I was looking through some old sketchbooks and came across these. Good to know I did try and do some proper figure drawing at some point then...

Studio

2008-04-03T11:35:00.001+01:00

A typical day in the studio. This photo was actually taken last year when working on the soon to be published 'Pop-Up Space Station'. That's a working dummy with my roughs on it there on my drawing board. Looks like I was looking for some reference for another project at the time.

Here we go (again)...

2008-04-02T17:49:00.002+01:00

Let’s see how long this lasts…

I did start a personal blog a few years ago. Who knows where it is…floating around in cyberspace aimlessly I guess. Let’s hope this one fairs a little better. It might even be a bit more interesting, you never know…