all through the night

Here's one from the up and coming new ballpoint pen zine. It's not completely finished in this version, a little more has been added since. A little something extra for those who purchase the zine. C'mon, I have to entice you somehow. I'll be putting it for pre order in the next couple of days.

This is my living room and the armchair is my workspace.

something to be

So here's a little thing I've been working on for a little while. It's a new zine. Or rather this is the cover. It's not a Molezine, it's a bit different. Not quite as posh as my little Molezines, but, I think, more in the spirit of zines. It's also a kind of 'drawing with a ballpoint/biro/stilo/bic' zine. It'll be out in the next couple of weeks (bad timing I know, with the Christmas mail, but that's typical).

I did wonder about putting it for pre order, but after the debacle with the last one I'm not too sure. What do you think?

your smiles and shells

Another new one from the travel sketchbook. Or, at least, it will be new to you if you weren't rifling through my Moleskine over the weekend.

This one is one half of a pair of drawings. You can see the other half, and the rest of the travel sketchbook set, HERE.

using words i never say

Wow.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

What an amazing weekend I've had in Clermont Ferrand at the Biennale Carnet de Voyage exhibition. I was there to show my sketchbooks, specifically the travel sketchbook, to (what seemed like) the whole of France. The event turned out to more than I could ever have imagined. It really was amazing.

No doubt I will go on and on about it for some time, but right now I just need to say some big 'thank yous'. Firstly to the organizers of this brilliant exhibition, specifically Anne, Anais and Marie who looked after us so well. Merci girls.

Of course a huge HUGE thank you to everyone who stopped by to look at my work. This is the first time these sketchbooks have been exhibited 'in real life'. Obviously, I have shown the drawings here on my blog, to a great response, but nothing beats seeing that response first hand. To see the look on peoples faces and hear the reactions was a beautiful thing and quite overwhelming. I returned to the UK a very happy person.

Finally, a big old thanks to my friend, and manager on this trip, Tim. I couldn't have done it without you mate. It certainly wouldn't have been SO much fun. You were great despite your appalling French.

Over the next few weeks I'll bang on about it a lot more, and I'll post some of the drawings of the souvenirs and memories that I brought back from Clermont Fernand. I hope you come back to see them.

Merci beaucoup.

for such a long time now

Another from the travel Moleskine.

I'll be exhibiting my Moleskines, including the travel Moleskine, at the Biennale; Carnet de Voyage event in Clermont Ferrand this coming weekend. If you are planning to visit the exhibition stop by and say hello.

see the drunkard of the village

See. I told you it would all go horribly wrong. Poor old Alice will be regretting sipping so much Claret tomorrow morning. I hope this is a lesson to you all. Now I just need to practice what I preach.

on the highway of regret

This weekend, boys and girls, I am going to teach you about the perils of too much alcohol. Believe me, I am well qualified to do so. Sometimes it's about knowing when to stop. But, if you don't know when that is it's about not starting at all. Because things can all go horribly wrong. As you will see in my next post.

So, watch and learn. Watch and learn.

my little box at the top of the stairs

If I'm honest this isn't actually my little box. I've also taken to drawing other people's souvenirs in my quest to fill my travel themed Moleskine. This box of crap, I mean beautiful collection of memorabilia, accompanied my friend Tim home from his world travels. I am a big fan of tat and have wanted to draw this for the longest time.

Actually I've probably wanted to use this blog post/drawing title for even longer than I've wanted to draw his little box, so to speak.

forget myself

My last post found me extolling the virtues of illustrated endpapers...

...when it struck me that I now have some endpapers of my own...

...not only endpapers, of course, a whole book, but at the moment we are just talking about endpapers...

...it also got me thinking that not only do I love endpapers...

...but I love a good flyleaf too...

...and you know, I might be blowing my own trumpet here...

...but I think that my endpapers are pretty lovely and my flyleaves look non too shabby either.

the way i feel from day to day

Before I signed with my agent I visited her at her home and we went through all of my drawings, so that she could get an idea of where my work was at and where it might go. When she saw the many drawings of collections, that I create, she said "These drawings look like endpapers. Beautiful endpapers, but endpapers all the same". I have to agree. They do.

You see, I absolutely love endpapers. I've bought many a book on the strength of the endpapers alone. They are often my favourite part of a book. Just Google image 'endpapers' and, if you are anything like me, you'll be drooling for hours.

It got me thinking that my most perfect job in the whole world would be an endpapers illustrator. Seriously, I couldn't think of anything better. So, if you hear of any endpaper-drawer jobs going please let me know. In the meantime here's a couple more from my travel Moleskine.

that's entertainment

It's been a slow couple of weeks drawing wise. I've been having some work done on my house and I've realised that any disruption to the tranquility of my solitude means that drawing just does not happen. But, I do, of course, still have the book illustrations to share.

It just so happens that I live five minutes down the road from a place called Lyme Park, which is where the BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was filmed. It is, quite frankly, THE only adaptation you'll ever need to see (we all remember the lake scene, right girls?). Anyway, as a little nod to that, I made Lyme Hall the house in the Jane Austen story that I illustrated (it also appears in THIS drawing and THIS one). I absolutely love weaving all this stuff into my illustrations. Packing them full of references, messages and clues. There's plenty more in this drawing. Maybe you can spot some?

into something more

Here's a couple more from the travel Moleskine. The first, above, is one of the many postcards I brought back from a trip to Port Meirion, North Wales. I just cannot tell you how much I love this crazy beautiful village. It is one of the most surreal places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. It was designed by Clough Williams Ellis and the drawing on the postcard is one of his architectural designs. If you ever should find yourself in North Wales you absolutely must visit Port Meirion. I insist on it. Insist.

This pencil, which is quite obviously from the Louvre, was originally going to be surrounded by other objects in the drawing. But, once I'd drawn it on the page I liked the simplicity of the composition. The challenge for me, now, is to leave it as it is. To not add anything else. I'm not at all confident about the chances of that.

all i wanna do

Ooooh. 'Citing stuff. The book I recently (ish) illustrated arrived at my little home today. It's a great feeling to finally hold it. It's a little book, little but cute. I know I keep on repeating myself, but for those who don't know, it's by Jane Austen. I'll tell you more, and add some photos, in the next post. Right now, I'm so excited I just wanted to share this news with you.

This is one of my favourite drawings. It also graces the cover. This scan isn't so great. In the original you can see every hole that the needle made in the material. Yes, I actually drew every tiny hole. Nothing obsessive about that, I'm sure you'll agree.

say hello wave goodbye

Well, hello dolly. Again.

Yes, there certainly seems to be a theme running through my work at the moment. The drawing, above, was another that I really enjoyed doing. I love having so many different textures to tackle, and each of the dolls had a texture and character of it's own. I've finished with the theme, for now, though. I'm all dolled out.

a song for Alice

My drawings are, to say the least, highly detailed. Often I over do it. I know I do. It frustrates the hell out of me that I just cannot let a drawing be. So, on the odd occasion when I create something and resist the urge to cross hatch the hell out of it it I feel quite pleased with myself. Those drawings often become my favourites. Probably because they make a refreshing change.

Here's one of those. It's another from the Jane Austen book.