[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-blackheath-halls-grumpycorn-drawing-competition":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"I'm thrilled to be part of the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.blackheathhalls.com/whats-on/thursday-with-nicky-spence-illustration-masterclass\">Blackheath Halls Online Season\u003C/a> with my amazing tenor neighbour \u003Ca href=\"https://www.nickyspence.com/\">Nicky Spence\u003C/a>! And we have a drawing competition for you! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/992041_original-81888b3711.jpg\" width=\"550\">\\r\n\\r\nNicky and I had so much fun putting together this animation. It's followed by a drawing tutorial where I show you how to draw Grumpycorn on stage, doing his big diva act. In the books, Unicorn's already tried his hoof at being an astronaut (successfully!) and a writer (less successfully), and the big lights of the opera stage are calling to him. But he needs a big stage set behind him - and that's yours to imagine and draw! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"4752\"/>\\r\n\\r\nAll ages welcome! We'll draw an entry out of one of my fanciest hats, and \u003Cb>the winner will get a signed and doodled copy of my new picture book, \u003Ci>Don't Call Me Grumpycorn\u003C/i>\u003C/b>. To enter, you can either tweet a photo of your picture, including the hashtag \u003Cb>#Grumpycorn\u003C/b> and tagging \u003Cb>@BlackheathHalls\u003C/b> (and me & Nicky, @jabberworks & @nickythespence, if you like). Or you can e-mail it to blackheathhalls@googlemail.com, including the name and age of the artist. Be sure to get in your entry \u003Cb>before 9pm on Thurs, 3 Sept\u003C/b>!  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/992268_original-8a0491da6f.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>Special newsflash:\u003C/b> copies of the HARDCOVER book just arrived ten minutes ago, so you'll get one of those, and no one has one of those yet! (We had printer problems with the printer in Italy due to Coronavirus, so only the paperback was printed and arrived in time for the spring launch. But now they're HERE, and they're SHINY!!) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/992587_original-3fb3ff9f85.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd a little background to working with Nicky Spence: In 2011, I saw one of the best operas I'd ever seen, \u003Ci>Two Boys\u003C/i> at the Coliseum by the English National Opera. It was the most gripping storyline I'd ever seen in an opera, the music was utterly compelling, and the singers were brilliant - I raved about it \u003Ca href=\"https://jabberworks.livejournal.com/413613.html\">in a blog post here\u003C/a>. Then a couple years ago, someone moved in next to my studio, and he looked a little familiar. When we got talking, it turned out he'd been the star of \u003Ci>Two Boys\u003C/i>... and I almost had a fan-girl meltdown right there on the pavement! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/992858_original-2966fbbfbb.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nAwhile back (pre-Lockdown) Nicky took me to see a performance of \u003Ci>Noye's Fludde\u003C/i> at Blackheath Halls, with its mixture of young and grownup professional opera singers, which was absolutely brilliant (and also rainbow-themed!). \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/993531_original-bf72795005.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nI love catching snatches of music from Nicky and his concert pianist fiancé \u003Ca href=\"http://www.dylanjohnperez.com/\">Dylan Perez\u003C/a> (who did \u003Ca href=\"https://jabberworks.livejournal.com/858273.html\">the voiceover for our \u003Ci>Kevin and the Biscuit Bandit\u003C/i> trailer\u003C/a>). Best neighbours ever! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/993268_original-e4d0cad904.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\u003Ci>Still from a video of us singing at the end of the \u003Ca href=\"https://youtu.be/XE4bu1iAStc\">#DrawingWithSarah Roly-Poly Flying Pony video\u003C/a>!\\r\n\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n* You can follow \u003Cb>Nicky Spence\u003C/b> online on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/nickythespence\">@nickythespence\u003C/a>, Instagram \u003Ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nickythespence/\">@nickythespence\u003C/a> and visit \u003Ca href=\"https://www.nickyspence.com/\">his website\u003C/a>\\r\n* Follow \u003Cb>Blackheath Halls\u003C/b> on Twitter \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BlackheathHalls\">@BlackheathHalls\u003C/a>, Instagram \u003Ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/blackheathhalls/\">@blackheathhalls\u003C/a> and visit \u003Ca href=\"https://www.blackheathhalls.com/whats-on/thursday-with-nicky-spence-illustration-masterclass\">their website\u003C/a>","2020-08-27T11:57:00.000Z","blackheath-halls-grumpycorn-drawing-competition",[],"Blackheath Halls Grumpycorn drawing competition!",1776628730682]