Uncool is cool, isn't it?

Jumbo, Barbie, and party rings…

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Hey Rosefinches,

Just as January is the longest, I swear July is the shortest month of the year!

Here in the UK school system, literally everything happens in the space of three weeks. And for a family that quite likes our predictable little rhythm, it’s a lot. This year I learnt that to keep everyone sane and happy, it’s a good idea to have both children’s July birthdays completely planned by the end of June. Because this year we didn’t, and hurtled through the month held together by sticky tape and party rings.

July wins: both children enjoyed their hastily cobbled together birthdays; Big Kid retained her sack race gold; our hairbrush dodging Little Kid graduated from nursery looking like Tim Minchin.

July fails: Dan bought Little Kid a number 4 balloon for his 5th birthday - this was after I popped the original 5 balloon on the rose bush; I nearly broke myself (and everyone else) finishing my Pathways brief on time; the cats dragged a dead pigeon through the house.

Cornelissen Art Shop and Gosh Comics

I started the month with a trip to London. It was a huge deal for me, as I’ve not been away from home on my own for 9 years. I’ve also never been to London alone, and the last time I’ve played an active part in navigating London transport was before mobile phones when you had to buy an actual tube map. I survived though, and actually really enjoyed it.

I was there to attend two classes as part of Pathways Into Children’s Publishing, one on Comics & Graphic Novels with Isabel Greenberg (Glass Town, the Midnight Babies), and one on Illustrating Non-Fiction with Yuval Zommer (The Big Book of the Blue, The Street Beneath Your Feet). They were both really interesting and insightful classes. After, fellow illustrator and native Londoner Clare took me on a whirlwind tour - to The British Museum, Cornelissen’s, and Gosh Comics for the launch of Isabel Greenberg’s picture book, The Midnight Babies.

The Midnight Babies by Isabel Greenberg

We have just completed our second Literature Brief on Pathways Into Children’s Publishing. We were asked to illustrate three consecutive spreads from a large format, narrative, non-fiction book - Jumbo: The Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Alexandra Stewart and fabulously illustrated by Emily Sutton.

It was a dream brief for me. This is just the kind of book I would like to illustrate one day. Researching and composing was definitely my favourite part (although as I discovered in our Yuval Zommer masterclass, the researching part is usually done for you in non-fiction as there just isn’t the time) and the brief was the perfect fit for my love of borders and decoration. I could draw directly from the illustration style of the time (mid-19th century) and two of my favourite inspirations, Thomas and Walter Crane.

Illustrations by Walter Crane

Illustration by Thomas Crane

The Bloomsbury team really liked my roughs, and just had a a few tweaks - adding some smaller illustrations to the elephant fact page, and changing Jumbo’s position at the train station.

Bloomsbury Brief Spread 2 Rough

Bloomsbury Brief Spread 3 Rough

This is when I got a bit stuck. Because I’m still discovering what my finals process is, I needed a lot of time for experimenting and exploration - but I only had two weeks, in the middle of July chaos. I submitted my finals on time, but I wasn't happy with them. The saturation is off, and it all feels too tight, and ultimately it doesn’t feel like me. Yet again, I find I enjoy the line-work of my roughs over the colour finals. I just need to practice more.

Bloomsbury Brief Spread 1 Colour Final

I’m putting it out of my mind for now though, and I’m hoping to carve out some time during the summer holidays to play a bit, enter some competitions, and take part in an instagram challenge. I need to loosen up, draw everyday, and make messy mistakes.

Summer reading:

1. I saw Barbie last night. My thoughts on it are as complex as my thoughts on the doll. It’s definitely funny though, has some awesome design and costume, catchy songs, and fabulous cinematic choices by Greta Gerwig. Go see it.

   1. Barbie Has Never Been A Great Symbol, But She’s An Excellent Mirror

   2. Barbie May Be The Most Subversive Blockbuster of the 21st Century?

   3. Parenting In Barbieland

   4. Barbie Hs Cellulite (But You Don’t Have To)

2. More grown-ups playing with toys, in the most clever way.

3. Let the Kid’s Get Weird: The Adult Problem With Children’s Books

4. Stunningly captured birds from the Audubon Photography Awards.

5. I am very uncool, and I have been since childhood. I still have my Take That scrapbooks (plural!).

6. Local good news - Red Squirrels (with thanks to JT for putting this under my nose)

7. This weekend I was mesmerised by a South Asian performer keeping tala for the musicians. I struggle to process music, so love watching the visual form of the music come alive in a conductors hands. Who knew that the craft of baton making and choosing was akin to finding the right wand.

8. “Libraries are mankind’s common memory”

9. Some awesome online archives:

   1. The first version of everything

   2. The stories of historical and rare photographs

   3. Graphic design

   4. Web design - and as someone who remembers the start of the internet this is some time warp.

10. For anyone else wondering how to not haemorrhage money over the next 5 weeks whilst listening to a constant chorus of “I’m bored”.

Happy summer people, and if you like what I share please consider becoming as paid subscriber. It would make it easier for me to keep drawing and keep sharing.

Love,

My very 80’s (and very dusty) Barbies on top of my art dresser - I was a haircutter!

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