Yet another year!

Best wishes for 2011!

John

These are the lenticular images of Zac I have sent to some publishers with a card featuring the synopsis of the story. They are rather diminutive in size and might get mistaken for Christmas cards, but maybe this will work in my favour:)

Each publisher has a different policy when it comes to submissions, many asking not to be sent manuscripts. So I'm hoping these cards give a bit of a taster and beg to be followed up:)

Zac Spanner

Zac Spanner is a personal project I am working on at the moment. It is almost in a state worthy of sending out to Art Director's. I will be producing little lenticular business cards featuring Zac in an attempt to grab their attention:)

This is the basic synopsis of the story:

Zac is a genius inventor. His parents are dull and boring bird-watching enthusiasts. They don't approve of technology and have banned all gadgets from the house. Zac’s only refuge is his secret laboratory hidden in the attic above his bedroom.

Whilst his parents are out on a hunt to find a rare bird, Zac hears disturbing noises coming from the basement. He discovers something which also attracts the attention of a couple of aliens with a particularly bad attitude. Speaking in a strange mix of Shakespearian English and cockney-rhyming-slang, they explain to Zac their intentions to use Planet-Earth for a spot of target practice.
Zac is in deep trouble and his parents are due back at any moment….




http://www.storyportal.co.uk/zac_spanner.html

Quite printeresting?

 Away from the 'day' job illustrating, I carve at small blocks of wood with delicate cutting tools and when there are enough cut lines, I roll lots of smelly black ink on and print the result in an elderly proofing press that I've adopted.  I've just had two prints accepted into the Society of Wood Engravers annual travelling exhibition, for the third year running. It's the first time I've had BOTH entries accepted, which has really pleased me. Just a small fanfare, please....... ;-)

 The first is called 'Winter Walkies' and shows an old mine engine house local to us, this whole area is riddled with these solid, almost castle-like ruins.

The second is called 'Late Shopping' and shows a coastal village with a large and rather inappropriate supermarket.

Bologna Children's Book Fair 2011 - Illustrators Exhibition: submissions are now being accepted!

"Introduce your pictures to the world! Enter the most prestigious competition for creativity in children's illustration, the Illustrators Exhibition.

Submissions are open: the application form and the Rules of Entry are now available online at the BCBF web-site.

Participation is open to all illustrators - both established artists and new talents alike - who can submit five illustrations (unpublished or published from the last two years).

Furthermore, Schools and Academies of Fine Arts are invited to enter the most interesting and innovative projects produced by their students over the last two years.

Publishers are also invited to send artwork from illustrators with whom they regularly collaborate.

The deadline for the receipt of artwork is October 1, 2010.

Selected by an international representative jury of distinguished publishers, art directors, artists and academy head teachers, the winning entries will be exhibited during the 2011 Bologna Children's Book Fair and will be published in the Illustrators Annual, ensuring important exposure to the creators of this outstanding work.

Moreover, all young selected illustrators (under 35 years of age) will take part in the Bologna Children's Book Fair - SM Foundation International Award for Illustration. This annual award, founded in 2009, aims to promote and support new talents in the world of illustration; It is worth $ 30,000 (US)."

My thoughts are with Duncan and Helen at this very sad time.
He was a fantastic Agent, I will miss him very much. Especially his daft phone voices.
My kids called him "Agent Mike" which made him sound a bit like a James Bond character, I think he would have liked that!
Good bye Mike.
with love from Sarah W  xx

Trumpet Blowing

When not working all hours that there are in a day on illustration work I paint.  Recently I have been very happy to have the above two paintings accepted for Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours Exhibition which is at the Mall Galleries 21st April to 1st May and

this one accepted by the Royal Watercolour Society for their open exhibition which is at the Bankside Gallery, London from 19th February - 11th March.

Luncheon of the Boating Party

I did this a few years ago because I like Renoir's painting so much. What I like best about it is that nobody is paying any attention to the person speaking to them (a bit like this blog-Ed) and I think all of them would rather be with someone else in the picture. Since I originally did it I've juiced up the colour a little on my computer and it now looks much better than it did, so thanks computer for covering up my deficiencies.

New Gargoylz Website and Blog

To coincide with the release of Gargoylz there is a new blog written by Max and Ben who are the only children who know Gargoylz come to life. Their new blog can be found here and is updated every Friday detailing what tricks they've been up to over the week. They're very naughty boys.

There is also an official Gargoylz website which can be found here.

Vworp! Vworp!

A little while ago I posted my pic of new Dr Who Matt Smith which was part of an artist mash up of all the Doctors. Here's the cover of Vworp! Vworp! with my drawing placed with the others.

This is a non-profit making fanzine and charts the history and development of the comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine.

For the Doctor Who fans amongst us, you can order the fanzine here.

Author Hotline

Happy New Year monkeys! I haven't a relevant pic for this post which is why I'm calling you 'monkeys' today.

Over Christmas I was contacted by a new website called the Author Hotline which is looking for authors, poets, storytellers and illustrators to add their profiles before it goes live on World Book Day, 4th March. This is intended for school children and teachers to use and once ready it should look pretty good. The company behind the website is Creative Writing for Kids (CW4K) which, as the name suggests, encourages children to write their own stories.

So I'm doing my duty and letting you know in case you'd like to take part. Again, have a very Happy New Year x