[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-cheltenham-morris-and-i-got-to-see-my-first-vern-and-lettuce-book":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"I submitted this coloured mockup version of the Cheltenham BookIt! illustration, and just heard back from festival co-ordinator Nicola Tuxworth that she really likes it. Whew! I always forget how long it takes to colour these images, this one is 45 layers in Photoshop, even though I'm sure other people could do it with a whole lot less layers. (You can also see the earlier \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/303776.html\">penciled version\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/306999.html\">inked version\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mcintyre_cheltmockup-0f5b14b84e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd SO exciting, it doesn't launch until \u003Cb>Sept 30th\u003C/b>, but I got to see \u003Cb>the first advance copies of the real live \u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i> book!\u003C/b> This means so much to me, this book is totally my baby! It's the first book I've both written and illustrated myself, and the book that most clearly does what I want it to do, even though it was my first real foray into comics. I know the characters so well that I sometimes get a bit carried away talking about them, going well beyond the book; because for me, they don't stop with the book at all, it's like they're real characters and they're still doing loads of other things behind the scenes. I really love these guys.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/vernlet_bk-0a469e853f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMy publisher, \u003Cb>David Fickling\u003C/b>, presented the first copy of \u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i> to me at a talk we gave together on Thursday night for the \u003Ca href=\"http://britishscbwi.jimdo.com/\">Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators\u003C/a> about the makings of our first picture book together, \u003Ci>Morris the Mankiest Monster\u003C/i>. David surprised everyone by selling three advance copies of \u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i> to the first three people who could nab them, I totally wasn't expecting that! So there are a few copies floating around somewhere. \\r\n\\r\nYou can always count on David to give a rousing and dramatic performance. Here's a video that \u003Ca href=\"http://www.candygourlay.com\">Candy Gourlay\u003C/a> (author of \u003Ci>Tall Story\u003C/i>) caught of the two of us reading \u003Ci>Morris the Mankiest Monster\u003C/i> (Thanks, Candy!):\\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"248\"/>\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"http://vimeo.com/13247072\">Morris the Mankiest Monster: reading by Illustrator Sarah McIntyre and publisher David Fickling\u003C/a> from \u003Ca href=\"http://vimeo.com/user1019535\">Candy Gourlay\u003C/a>.\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://vimeo.com/13247072\">Vimeo link\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uIj7IN8XJM\">YouTube link\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nHere's the back cover of \u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i>:\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/vernlet_bk2-052eb310e2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nCongratulation to DFC colleague \u003Cb>Jamie Smart\u003C/b> (\u003Ca href=\"http://foo5.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">foo5\u003C/a>) on the news that his DFC strip \u003Ci>\u003Cb>Fish Head Steve\u003C/b>\u003C/i> is going to be \u003Ca href=\"http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2010/jamie-smarts-fish-head-steve-the-tv-series/\">made into a TV series!\u003C/a> Whee! \\r\n\\r\nAnd one more amazing thing! Go look at the wonderful photos taken by my studio mate, \u003Cb>Lauren O'Farrell\u003C/b>, of all the tiny people knitted and sewed for the Science Museum's \u003Ci>\u003Cb>Stitch Yourself\u003C/i>\u003C/b> exhibition. Here's the \u003Ca href=\"http://stitchandbitchlondon.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/stitch-yourself-night/\">Stitch London blog post!\u003C/a> (Can you spot mine? Yeah, apologies again to all the people who were wondering why I didn't give myself any arms. ...I mostly draw by banging my head against the desk, hehe.)","2010-07-12T09:14:00.000Z","cheltenham-morris-and-i-got-to-see-my-first-vern-and-lettuce-book",[],"cheltenham, morris, and i got to see my first vern and lettuce book!",1776628718404]