2016

Hello and a Happy New Year to you!

2016 was a busy year for me and I wanted to share a few highlights. For starters, my Dad returned home after a 18 month stint in hospital. My family adjusted to life with disability, undoubtedly the best bit being Dad's new mobility scooter - a thing of wonder, providing hours of entertainment.

Over summer I decided to make the most of flexible Freelance holiday and managed to get away hiking in both Norway and the Swiss Alps. It was just the dose of nature I needed to recharge my creative batteries.

A happy Emily on a Norwegian mountain top 👌

With the help of my Mum I rediscovered some of my earlier works (i.e. clearing out the attic). It was a real joy going over my old artwork, I recommend digging out your old stuff - if you can find it! I'm particularly proud of this peacock:

(the Dino-foot picture isn't bad either)

On the work side of things, 2016 proved to be a hectic year. I finished off illustrating my second picture book with the wonderful Michelle Robinson. It's called 'Monkey's Sandwich' and will be publishing in Febuary 2017 with Harper Collins. It was an absolute pleasure illustrating Monkey's mischievous shenanigans and I can't wait to see it out in the wild. Keep your eyes peeled!



'Elephant's Pyjamas', the first book I illustrated for Michelle, made it to the small screen in December. It was read on CBeebies as a bedtime story and I was pretty excited to see Ele appear on TV! Alas, I didn't have the foresight to take a quick snap, so this poorly Photoshopped recreation will have to do:

Seems legitimate, right? 🤓

2016 also saw the end of the 'Fox Investigates' series, written by the talented Adam Frost and published by Stripes. I've had so much fun illustrating these hilarious stories and can't recommend them enough. Here's the last 3 books of the series:

Watch out for 'A Dash of Poison' publishing in February 2017.

Towards the end of the year I also had the opportunity to work on a picture book with the brilliant Vicki Hargreaves from the Commotion Dance company. The book called 'Where Is Christmas' accompanied Commotion's Christmas Performance of the same title. After a very animal filled year, it was nice to draw some some human-beans!

So that pretty much sums up my year. I also just want to say thanks for all the continued support, it's greatly appreciated. Here's to a 2017 filled with more stories, drawing and travel. Let the good times roll! 👍✌️

Popular posts from this blog

Bologna Book Fair 2016

Image
This year I decided to visit the Bologna Children's Book Fair. It's been three years since I last went as a final year student back in 2013. It was a hugely different experience this time round, I had more industry experience, more work in my portfolio and an excellent Agent to go with. I found walking around the halls a bit overwhelming. There are so many Publishers and different disciplines. It really made me consider where I fit in the picture. Where does my work fit now? Where could I take my work in the future? Where do I want my work to go in the future? It was great to chat to everyone and especially nice to meet so many new people. I really appreciated the feedback and guidance on my work, especially book ideas. I took a couple of new book ideas with me. I had a mad rush preparing promo material, but I'm glad I had something to leave behind. I thought the penguins looked quite funny on teenie-tiny postcards. Anyway, here's a snap of the 'I...
Read more

Bologna Book Fair

Image
Hello Bloggers! Last week I went to my first ever book fair. For some reason I decided to jump in at the deep end and went to the ginormous Bologna Book Fair , no really, it was genuinely huge. Prepare yourself for a monster post... It was the 50th annual fair, I have my suspicions that it may have been even busier than usual. The fair took place over 4 days and 6 big warehouses. I felt as though I walked for miles, and I probably did. Maybe its all a ploy to keep Illustrators fit and healthy?  This year's guest country was Sweden and there was a small exhibition of Swedish Illustrators. I ended up buying the accompanying Illustrators index - one pricey book, but definitely worth it. The fair was a real eye opener into the larger world of children's books and illustration. It was also interesting to experience the commercial side of illustration. I went with my talented Illustrator buddies  Annaliesse , Martha and Kate , and we bumped into ...
Read more