[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-vern-and-lettuce-bookplate":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"Exciting! \u003Cb>The marvellous Gosh! Comics, across the street from the British Museum, is selling an \u003Cfont size=\"3\">exclusive, limited edition bookplate run of \u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i>!\u003C/b>\u003C/font> I recently bought a bookplate version of the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.davidficklingbooks.co.uk/davidficklingbooks_dfclibrary.asp\">DFC Library\u003C/a>'s \u003Ci>Mezolith\u003C/i>, and the bookplates are very lush. I had fun drawing this one, it's based on the scene where Serge the ferret tailor is getting V&L kitted up for their talent show appearance. \u003Ca href=\"http://goshlondon.blogspot.com/2010/09/vern-lettuce-bookplate-edition.html\">Get details and read their review of \u003Ci>Vern and Lettuce\u003C/i> here!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://goshlondon.blogspot.com/2010/09/vern-lettuce-bookplate-edition.html\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/vernlettucebookplate-75b86b034a.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nAlso good news, I just heard from comics reporter \u003Ca href=\"http://matthewbadham.wordpress.com/\">Matt Badham\u003C/a> that \u003Ca href=\"http://scribblehound.com\">David O'Connell\u003C/a> and I feature in an article about the small press that he wrote in the latest edition of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.comicheroesmagazine.com/\">\u003Ci>Comics Heroes\u003C/i>\u003C/a> magazine. Thanks, Matt!\\r\n\\r\nLook, we made ourselves a studio sign! Yesterday we had an appointment with \u003Cb>Steve Pill\u003C/b> from \u003Ca href=\"http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk\">\u003Ci>Artists & Illustrators\u003C/i>\u003C/a> to interview me and photograph our working space to feature in their magazine. Steve said not to do any tidying up, that they wanted to see us in our element, but then he sent through this earlier article about a guy's studio in Chelsea that looked like rooms from the Wallace Collection. After we'd all rolled around on the floor wetting ourselves with laughter at the comparison, we decided we at least needed to hoover and then thought we should make that sign we'd been talking about for at least six months. So here it is! That's Steve on the right, looking shocked at the state of our tiny paper and yarn sweatshop.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/fleecestn_sign-517804cab7.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI hadn't read a copy of A&I for a couple years, it always seemed more of a Sunday painters kind of magazine than a cutting-edge journal on illustration. But Steve gave me a recent copy and I was pleasantly surprised to see a three-page article about one of my favourite printmakers, who's become a bit of a British icon, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.angielewin.co.uk\">Angie Lewin\u003C/a>. She follows on from a rich tradition of artists such as \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ravilious\">Eric Ravilious\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bawden\">Edward Bawden\u003C/a> (and loads of '50s and '60s textile and ceramics artists that I vaguely know of but have lots more to learn about). Good stuff. Steve said my interview and studio photos should be in the October issue.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/aimag_angielewin-b6501a7c84.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLast night \u003Ca href=\"http://www.themousehunter.com/\">Alex Milway\u003C/a> rallied a bunch of writers, illustrators and publishers who will be involved in the upcoming \u003Ca href=\"http://www.palacefestival.org\">Crystal Palace Children's Book Festival\u003C/a> \u003Cb>(Oct 23, book now!)\u003C/b> to meet each other over drinks at the Royal Festival Hall. What a great evening! I'd never met \u003Ca href=\"http://lerrynkorda.com/\">Lerryn Korda\u003C/a> before, and was totally taken with the aesthetics of her \u003Ci>Little Nye\u003C/i> books. I managed to come home with a signed copy of \u003Ci>Rocket to the Moon\u003C/i>, and I'm sitting here oo-ing over her colour palettes and nicely shaped blocks of colour that don't rely on outlines. I need to get all four books and read the stories, but the artwork is superb. Here's \u003Ca href=\"http://lerrynkorda.com/littlenyefun.html\">a version of Little Nye's house\u003C/a> that you can print, cut out and stick together.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/lerryn_korda-d7d28a2012.jpg\">\\r\n\u003C!--more Loads more stuff under the cut-->\\r\nI hate to use the word 'iconic' twice in one blog post, but the pictures and characters do have that sort of iconic quality of Dick Bruna's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.miffy.com/\">\u003Ci>Miffy\u003C/i>\u003C/a> or Lucy Cousin's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.maisyfunclub.com/maisyframe.asp?section=maisy\">\u003Ci>Maisie Mouse\u003C/i>\u003C/a>. It was great comparing working notes with Lerryn (a Cornish name) and discussing workshop ideas for the festival. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/lerryn_korda2-5d2f1929c3.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe other lovely surprise was getting to meet the team who create the \u003Ca href=\"http://karenwall.com/\">\u003Ci>Stripey Horse\u003C/i>\u003C/a> books, illustrator \u003Cb>Karen Wall\u003C/b> and writer \u003Cb>Jim Helmore\u003C/b>. (They also happen to be married to each other.) Stripey Horse always pops off the shelf, and it's great to know they'll be part of the festival. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/KarenWallJimHelmore-6621e576a3.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAlex Milway had a look at my sketches and gave me some more valuable landscape drawing tips. (Here he is, sketching out some of the stuff he's talking about.) He encouraged me to focus more on the tree's movements and overall shapes instead of trying to fill them in with so many details. He also likes to make the horizon the focal point of his own pictures, and always find a way to work a fairly clear path up to the horizon. He recommended I look at work by \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Palmer\">Samuel Palmer\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivon_hitchens\">Ivon Hitchens\u003C/a>, and for composition, the motorway landscapes of \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Diebenkorn\">Richard Diebenkorn\u003C/a>. And here's \u003Ca href=\"http://barnabythings.blogspot.com/\">Barnaby Richards\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.garynorthfield.co.uk\">Gary Northfield\u003C/a> mucking about with the Little Nye books. Gary suggested I use larger paper and stop using my titchy little pens and try using a brush pen or charcoal instead. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/royalfesthall-d584c65a4a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSo this morning I tried to find a bit of land where I could actually \u003Ci>see\u003C/i> a bit of horizon that wasn't covered in skyscrapers, and drew a bit of scrub on Blackheath. I think it's possibly my least favourite drawing so far, my pen was playing up, and I was cold and wanting my breakfast. But surely it's all grist for the mill. Last night \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILYA\">Ed Hillyer\u003C/a> was suggesting I should draw gritty, urban scenes instead (were you calling my work 'twee', Ed?) But practically \u003Ci>everyone\u003C/i> I know thinks they should be drawing gritty urban scenes, and there's a lot to be learned from nature. Besides, whenever I find myself a bit stuck in drawing one sort of thing, if I learn to draw something completely different or experiment in a different medium, it almost always helps the other work. For example, for me, making little characters out of Sculpey clay was the best thing for drawing better comic characters. So learning how to draw trees should make my urban landscapes all that more convincing. And besides, I need some fresh air. (So there, Ed.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/greenwichpk_17sept10-285fa63908.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne last glimpse of our fab little sign and the sheep just around the corner. (The speech bubble's Gary's: \u003Ci>Hello, spare us a copper, love?\u003C/i>)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/fleecestn_sign2-662a2e5136.jpg\">","2010-09-17T11:40:00.000Z","vern-and-lettuce-bookplate",[],"vern and lettuce bookplate!",1776628718751]