Tag Archives: Brighton

Success?!

This week I’ve been setting up a new online shop and figuring out ISBN numbers, but there are also some crumbs of interesting content in the post as well. :)

Brighton Naked Bike Ride poster

I love drawing clothes and fashion, as evidenced by my work in progress Satin and Tat, and much of my previous work including Everything My Daughter Wore… So it was quite a surprise to find myself working on an illustration where everyone had to be naked! All for a good cause though: the annual BrightonContinue reading “Brighton Naked Bike Ride poster”

Bonus birdies

There’s a fab shop in Brighton called Blackout, which sells all manner of brightly-coloured stuff from around the world. Don’t visit if you’re a minimalist! They’ve been running workshops over Easter and my daughter and I popped in with a friend to do their Marimekko-inspired bird collage session (possibly a string of words you wouldContinue reading “Bonus birdies”

It’s really really soon now, you guys

Woah, those Finns are arriving pretty soon! In case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, you might like to catch up on the history of my madcap idea to bring two complete strangers over to the UK to sleep on my sofa and talk about comics — hopefully to an audience, which is ofContinue reading “It’s really really soon now, you guys”

A cartoon about running

Click each page and then click again if you would like to view these pages at a larger size. Last January, I realised that I had run far fewer miles in 2014 than in previous years, and that this was because I’d got into the habit of skipping runs if the weather looked at allContinue reading “A cartoon about running”

Four graphic novels worth putting your back out for

Here’s a good tip: if you are going away for Christmas, make sure you give small presents that fit into your luggage. Or, be like me, and buy your husband a book so vast, and so heavy, that transporting it requires a flat bed truck, seven shire horses and a police escort. OK, I exaggerate,Continue reading “Four graphic novels worth putting your back out for”

Podcast: Erica Smith on Girlfrenzy

Back in the 90s, when I was fairly new to Brighton, I had the good fortune to meet a woman named Erica Smith. Erica was the force behind a feminist zine, Girlfrenzy, to which I contributed a few cartoons. There isn’t an awful lot on the internet about it, but what there is has nowContinue reading “Podcast: Erica Smith on Girlfrenzy”

Brighton Illustration Fair

I’m really feeling the pressure of time at the moment. It’s a fine old thing to have a drawing blog, but that becomes a bit problematic if you find yourself having the choose between updating it and actually doing some drawing! So this is a bit of a fly-by post. I just wanted to tipContinue reading “Brighton Illustration Fair”

Graphic Brighton: Drawing in the Margins

On Friday night and all of Saturday, I was at Graphic Brighton, a conference about graphic novels and comics creation. The overarching theme of the conference was “Drawing in the Margins”, and it brought together practitioners who represent some form of minority or marginalised group. Brighton living up to its name “I’m going out toContinue reading “Graphic Brighton: Drawing in the Margins”

Bid on some artwork, and contribute to something amazing

The short version You can bid on a whole variety of artwork, including a couple of my prints, at http://www.bidforboat.com. Bids are open until Saturday 14th March, and there are a few ‘flash sales’ where certain pieces are offered for 24 hours only. The proceeds from this online auction will go to fund an openContinue reading “Bid on some artwork, and contribute to something amazing”

Hello, people: all about me

A funny thing happened at the beginning of Janaury. My phone is set to ping every time someone likes one of my blog posts or follows my blog. This has not been, in general, exactly what you might call an intrusion: it normally happens in a cluster after I make a new post, or otherwiseContinue reading “Hello, people: all about me”

Green Lady Hill, a one-page comic strip

As anyone who knows me will see immediately, this strip is inspired by real-life events. There is a hill at the end of my road, and I did go on an archaeological dig there last month. The Habitat mug anecdote is also a true story, though it happened to my father rather than to theContinue reading “Green Lady Hill, a one-page comic strip”

People-watching and people-sketching on the Level

Have you ever tried to draw while your pages are gently splattered by the spray of a water pistol? Me neither, until last week. Here in the UK, we’ve had an unusually consistent, hot summer, and for residents of Brighton, one obvious place to find some relief is at our new playground, the Level, where,Continue reading “People-watching and people-sketching on the Level”

More plants that grow by the sea

Photoshop is such an incredible luxury for illustrators – it’s no longer the end of the world if you make a blot, or a line goes awry. The one on the left is written over the top of a clapping game that my daughter came home reciting: it must be a fairly recent variant, asContinue reading “More plants that grow by the sea”

Sketch of plants that grow by the sea

Click if you’d like to see it bigger Scanning doesn’t do full justice to the white and lumnious yellow inks. But anyway. I enjoyed drawing something other than my comic strip. I wonder if those blobby leaf shapes are under the influence of the Matisse cut-outs exhibition that we saw last Thursday.

Graphic facilitation course

My recent post happened to bring together my day job and my illustration work. By coincidence, I saw something today that would also straddle both parts of my life – a course in graphic facilitation, right here in Brighton. Regular readers might recall my slight sense of unease when drawing in work meetings – nowContinue reading “Graphic facilitation course”

The secret thing about picture books is that they aren’t for children at all

I’ve got rather a busy couple of weeks coming up, thanks to the flurry of booking I indulged in a few weeks ago when the Brighton Festival programme came out. Tonight, I went to see a panel of children’s book illustrators: John Vernon Lord (revered illustrator, to quote the blurb on the back of hisContinue reading “The secret thing about picture books is that they aren’t for children at all”

A few bits and bobs

I am back from Chile It was wonderful. I did expect to have a sketch diary to share with you by now, but work trips are very different from family holidays. For starters, you’re working rather than drawing – although, I was very pleased when work asked me to draw the conference that I went out for. TheContinue reading “A few bits and bobs”

Don’t forget the Brighton Open Houses

  I’m off to Chile tomorrow, but before I go, here’s a reminder about the Open House, which begins its run before I return. The prints are all ready, and they have come out very nicely. I’ve had far too much fun painting signs, making price labels, and finding random things in charity shops toContinue reading “Don’t forget the Brighton Open Houses”