[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-drawing-the-house-with-chicken-legs":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"One of the hardest things about getting older is that, when I go to parties celebrating creative achievements, hardly any of my friends actually want to get together to \u003Ci>make \u003C/i>stuff; we stand around and chat and hold drink glasses and nibble at canapés. Nothing wrong at all with that, but I miss everyone sitting around a table at the pub and drawing and laughing at what we've drawn. Luckily one of my friends is still totally up for coming to a party, sitting on the floor and drawing with me. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/433695_original-fdc02b0103.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's @CFcomiX, who I met briefly four years ago when Philip Reeve and I were doing our Pugs of the Frozen North events up in Kendal for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He's a member of our @StudioTeaBreak drawing challenge group on Twitter (with his account overseen by his mum) and for years, he's managed to meet almost every single challenge! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/434004_original-31532ed14a.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more under the cut!-->\\r\nLast night, his mother, \u003Ca href=\"https://sophieandersonauthor.com/books/\">Sophie Anderson\u003C/a>, launched her debut novel with Usborne, and since I'm a fan of Russian stories (I did my degree in Russian lit), I'd been keen to read her book based on the Baba Yaga legend, The House with Chicken Legs. And it's a brilliant read, I really enjoyed it, and heartily recommend it for kids and grownups! Here's cover artist \u003Ca href=\"http://www.melissacastrillon.co.uk/\">Melissa Castrillón\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/434394_original-1bc4d45b1d.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nNotice the cover credits both her and the artist of the interior illustrations, Elisa Pagnelli! With the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.picturesmeanbusiness.com\">#PicturesMeanBusiness\u003C/a> campaign, we've only asked that publishers print the name of the cover artist legibly on the back cover. But Usborne realised that people would naturally assume the cover artist of this book was the same as the interior artist, so they made things extra clear by printing both names. Thank you, Usborne!! (I had a real fangirl moment meeting Melissa, I LOVE her artwork; do check out \u003Ca href=\"http://www.melissacastrillon.co.uk/\">her website.\u003C/a>) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/436489_original-9f0f52c40d.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nOh, and a data expert just pointed out that the metadata is good, too! (Metadata's complicated but absolutely vital to illustrator careers and you can read more about the workings and problems \u003Ca href=\"https://jabberworks.livejournal.com/713698.html\">here\u003C/a>, and solutions \u003Ca href=\"https://jabberworks.livejournal.com/745276.html\">here\u003C/a>.) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DatabaseSponge/status/992389300397453317\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/437032_original-e0ab0bf3e0.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nAs soon as I sat down with @CFcomiX, he set the challenge of drawing a Baba Yaga house: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/434487_original-c167854a48.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nHe called on Sophie to judge the results and she diplomatically called it a tie, but Alec definitely won in the speed category, making two drawings to my one. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/434819_original-b7190d5f7e.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nIt was great to meet the whole family,\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/435149_original-27ea8d7f18.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n...including the daughter that 12-year-old Marinka, the book's heroine, is based on! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/436461_original-e8d656a94a.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/435895_original-0264976e01.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/436139_original-88e0a87564.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/435204_original-a8f0211510.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nThanks for a lovely evening, Usborne and Waterstones Covent Garden! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/436854_original-2806acc3ab.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd thanks, most of all, to Alec for drawing with me! Find out more about \u003Ci>The House with Chicken Legs\u003C/i> on \u003Ca href=\"https://sophieandersonauthor.com/books/\">Sophie's website\u003C/a>, more about \u003Ca href=\"http://www.picturesmeanbusiness.com\">#PicturesMeanBusiness\u003C/a> and more about \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/virtual-studio/\">@StudioTeaBreak drawing challenges here\u003C/a>. (Do join us if you like!)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/435538_original-787b523545.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">","2018-05-04T13:06:00.000Z","drawing-the-house-with-chicken-legs",[],"drawing the house with chicken legs",1776628729619]