Tales From the Deep!

Drawn Chorus Collective recently put together a graphic novel anthology that I was part of.

We had some amazing reviews from some very important people and a great launch event at Hackney Pirates.

My contribution was the "The Tale of the Aquarium". I decided to put a bit of a spin on the 'normal' styles of graphic novels and create my story in papercut. 

You can judge for yourself...

 To find out how it ends you'll just have to order it yourself!

The first print run has now sold out... but keep an eye on our website as more copies will be on their way soon!

The next day, none of the fishermen would be able to agree on just what the stranger had looked like.’

A storm shakes the very foundations of a small fishing village. The wind howls and batters the windows of a local tavern, bringing with it a bizarre wanderer from out of the gloom. He offers them a wager. As the night draws on, he spins his tales, each one more fantastical than the last - an extraordinary world populated by mermaids, monsters and strangers from the sea.

By the end of the night the fishermen are unsure of what is real and what is imagined, what is true and what is false, and just what came to pass on that stormy night.

A cornucopia of stories, Tales from the Deep will take the reader on a journey through a richly imagined world, brought to life with drawings, paper cuts, and watercolour from the award-winning illustrators of the Drawn Chorus Collective.

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" 'A mysterious storyteller enters a seaside tavern and begins telling tales of the sea…' So begins a spellbinding swirl of lost loves, submerged urges and drowned memories in this brilliant new anthology from some of the most promising new comics talents around."
Stephen Collins, Guardian cartoonist

"This… anthology gave me a sense of the wonder that I remember on first reading fairy-tales, with artwork that consistently achieves… other worldliness, drawing you into a strange dream… [the way] only the best combination of story and art can do."
John Higgins, comic book artist and colourist for Watchmen

"A lovely package... This is exactly what [all] comics should be doing - taking the medium into exciting places."
Richmond Clements, Forbidden Planet International

The book weaves together a collection of 10 dark and stormy sea tales featuring the illustrative talents of;

LEFKI SAVVIDOU
ABIGAIL MOULDER
ALEX MOORE
CATHY KWAN
DANIEL DUNCAN
EILEEN KWAN
FRED CAMPBELL

 NADINE SCHERER
ZANNA ALLEN

Plus regular guest artist to the collective...
MARTIN URSELL

Meow!

A pet portrait of some fabulous felines created for a very lovely mother of the bride.

I'm also often asked how I put my collages together.

Here are a few process pics...

First, I draw out my design to scale.I then use this as my guide. I trace the shapes and use a scapel to cut the shapes I need. 

I layer these shapes to build up a character...

And voila! The most marvellous mousers you could wish for.

Happy Valentines Day!

For the one you otterly adore... x

A papercut birdie for a special lady.

A present for the lovely Joan who turned 80 this week! Thrushes are her favourite birds!

Sneak peak at laser cut christmas decorations.

Some decorations I designed for christmas of a reindeer in a christmas jumper... the laser cutter didn't really work on the red felt I'm using so a lot of this is hand cut. They still have a bit of work to do on them...

(Pics are from my friends mobile so aren't that great. Will update with some camera pics soon!)

Costumes in the jungle.

My plan now I'm back is to attempt to keep up a weekly update of this blog... we'll see how it goes!
While I was away it was one of the girl's in my group's birthday, the lovely Juliet! We decided to throw here a surprise 'jungle themed' fancy dress party. We all made costumes and arranged food (I made a chocolate birthday cake... with a microwave! But that's another story...). I set out to make Juliet her costume as well, without her knowing.

I paper cut some butterfly wings and then filled the gaps with sweet wrappers to give the wing effect.

And this was the result!

Here they are before the wrappers were added...

And once the wrappers were added!

Here a very dark pic of everyone in their costumes!

My costume was a bit of a disappointment. Not up to my usual standard at all... I just didn't leave enough time to make it after Juliet's (although I suppose it was ok for being made in the middle of the jungle!). I was a crocodile, and here is a picture of my mini-group, Miriam the leech and Nat the firefly!

Dissertation.

Here is my final bound dissertation. I'm quite proud of it!

The title was: “I refuse to lie to children. I refuse to cater to the bullshit of innocence.” (Maurice Sendak): To what extent do presentations of the ‘real’ world and societal issues, in Children’s picture books and films, pander to the ideals of childhood innocence?

Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Second Spread.

These are photos of the second pop-up I did for The Voyage of the Dawn treader!

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. I can't tell you how his friends spoke to him, for he had none. Eustace Clarence disliked his cousins. But he was quite glad when he heard that Edmund and Lucy were coming to stay. For deep down inside he liked bossing and bullying. Edmund and Lucy did not at all want to come and stay with Uncle Harold and Aunt Alberta. But it really couldn't be helped. The story begins on an afternoon when Edmund and Lucy were alone and talking about Narnia. You may imagine that they talked about it a good deal. They were in Lucy's room looking at a picture on the opposite wall. It was a picture of a ship sailing straight towards you."The question is," said Edmund, "whether it doesn't make things worse, looking at a Narnian ship when you can't get there." "That's a rotten picture," said Eustace Clarence, who had been listening outside the door and now came into the room. "You won't see it if you step outside," said Edmund. "Why do you like it?" said Eustace to Lucy. "I like it," said Lucy, "because the ship looks as if it was really moving. And the water looks as if it was really wet. And the waves look as if they were really going up and down." Of course Eustace knew lots of answers to this, but he didn't say anything. The reason was that at that very moment he looked at the waves and saw that they did look very much indeed as if they were going up and down. He turned rather green and tried another look. And then all three children were staring with open mouths.

The things in the picture were moving. Down went the prow of the ship into the wave and up went a great shock of spray. Lucy felt all her hair whipping round her face as it does on a windy day. And suddenly with the wind came the swishing of waves and the slap of water against the ship's sides. But it was the smell, the wild, briny smell, which really convinced Lucy that she was not dreaming. "Stop it," came Eustace's voice, squeaky with fright. "It's some silly trick you two are playing. Stop it. I'll tell Alberta - Ow!" The other two were much more accustomed to adventures, but, just exactly as Eustace Clarence said "Ow," they both said "Ow" too. The reason was that a great cold, salt splash had broken right out of the frame.
"I'll smash the rotten thing," cried Eustace. He rushed towards the picture. Edmund, who knew something about magic, sprang after him, warning him not to be a fool. Lucy grabbed him from the other side and was dragged forward. And by this time either they had grown much smaller or the picture had grown bigger. Eustace found himself standing on the frame; in front of him was real sea, and wind and waves rushing up to the frame as they might to a rock. He clutched at the other two . There was a second of struggling and shouting, and just as they thought they had got their balance a great blue roller surged up round them, swept them off their feet, and drew them down into the sea.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

For my self-intiated project I decided to make a variety of pop-ups for the The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One of my favourite books of the Narnia series. I thought that the journey was surreal enough to make some quite interesting pop-ups from.

Here is one of the spreads.

"Slowly the door in the hillside opened again and out there came a figure as tall and straight as the girl's but not so slender. Light seemed to come from it. As it came nearer, Lucy saw that it was an old man. His silver beard came down to his bare feet and his siver hair hung down to his heels. He looked so mild and grave that once more all the travellers rose to their feet . But the old man came on without speaking to the travellers. Then both of them held up their arms and turned to face the east. In that position they began to sing. Lucy said afterwards that it was a high, but very beautiful, cold kind of song, an early morning kind of song. And long afterwards the east began to turn red and at last, unclouded, the sun came up out the sea. And as Edmund said afterwards, "Though lots of things happened on that trip which sound more exciting, that moment was really the most exciting." For now they knew that they had truly come to the beginning of the End of the World. Then something seemed to be flying at them out of the very centre of the rising sun. Presently the air became full of voices - voices which took up same song but in far wilder tones and in a language which no one knew And soon after that the owners of these voices could be seen. They were birds, large and white, and they came hundreds and thousands and alighted on everything, till it looked as heavy snow had fallen.

Then the birds stopped their singing and appeared to be very busy about the table. When they rose from it again everything on the table that could be eaten or drunk had disappeared. But now, because they were not singing, the whir of their wings seemed to set the whole air a-tremble. Now at last the Old Man turned to the travellers and bade them welcome. "Sir," said Caspian, "will you tell us how to undo the enchantment which holds these three Narnian Lords asleep." "To break this enchantment you must sail to the World's End" said the Old Man. "and you must come back having left at least one of your company behind. He must go on into the utter east and never return into the world." "That is my heart's desire," said Reepicheep. "Have you any knowledge of the seas and lands further east than this?" asked Caspian. "I saw them long ago," said the Old Man, "but it was from a great height. I am Ramandu. The days when I was a star had ceased long before any of you knew this world. But come, are you yet resolved? Will you sail further east and come again, leaving one to return no more, and so break the enchantment?" "Surely, Sire," said Reepicheep, "there is no question about that?" "I think the same," replied Caspian. "And even so, it would break my heart not to go as near the World's End as the Dawn Treader will take us." That night they all ate together at the great table where the feast was magically renewed: and next morning the Dawn Treader set sail once more. "Lady," said Caspian, "I hope to speak with you again." And Ramandu's daughter looked at him and smiled.

(Its not completely finished, I still need to add in the table and men, but hopefully I'll get to that over summer!)

Final colour macmillan spread!

This is the last page of my picture book!

Macmillan. The Big, Not so Bad Wolf.

Here are a few spreads from my entry to the Macmillan picture book competition. My story is about the Big Bad Wolf and how he decides he's tired of the bad press and wants to reform. He goes to group therapy and all kinds of other crazy shananigans! Anyway we'll see how it all goes!