Update

Hello! It's been a little while hasn't it?

There's been a lot going on in my personal life which means I've had to take a small amount of time off. Mostly taking a step back from my chapter book so it isn't going to the book fair in Frankfurt. Fingers crossed for Bologna next year.

However, I have been working on a exciting new project with a big publisher. This is the sample I was asked to do.

It's a different style for me and a new way of working but I've been enjoying myself. It's been a challenging project but great to see it all together. I was sent a photo of the mock up which looks amazing if I do say so myself! Everything crossed it goes down well at Frankfurt and I get to work on it some more.

I've also been commissioned directly from a HUGE publisher which is something I'm pretty excited about. If all goes well it should take me to April next year. The first brief came through yesterday and the deadline is tomorrow for roughs so it's a busy day ahead.

And here's something just for fun.

No news on the publishing of my picture book yet but I did receive some complimentary copies. I'm super happy with them and can't wait until it's released into the world.

The exciting, the samples and the disappointments

Hello! It's been a little while since my last post. But fear not, I haven't disappeared just been working on a few things. My last post covered a project I was working on that fell through, and since then another project I was yet to start fell through as well.

So as you can imagine that left me feeling pretty deflated. I'm just starting out and yet have already had my share of disappointments! The important thing is to try and pull yourself back from it and not take it too personally (easier said than done I know). Everything in this business takes time, a project coming up, sampling, waiting for feedback, waiting to hear whether you've gotten the job, waiting to start the project, waiting, waiting, waiting.....there is A LOT of this. More than I realised. And even when you've done work for a project and you've gotten the job there are no guarantees (see previous post).

So it's VERY important to remind yourself why you do what you do. It's important to keep working on your portfolio, get yourself out there, Love what you do, put in the hard work and don't give up. 

Anyhoo, enough of that! So the things I've actually been working on, well I've been working alongside my agents and LaB to write my very own chapter book (eek!).  I'm having fun with it and enjoying bouncing ideas off the lovely people at LaB. There isn't much to share just yet, a few sketches and ideas but nothing I can show. But it's all very exciting!

Other than that, some possible projects have come up (one straight after the others falling through) that I've been sampling for. One looks very much up my street and is boys orientated. Here are a few character samples. Fingers crossed they like them!

And the second one, which is very different for me is stories from the Bible. Here's a little sneak at that one.

These are only possible projects so I'm keeping everything crossed :)

And the most exciting news yet! My picture book is being published this month! I can't wait to receive a copy of it. As soon as I do, I will be sure to share a few sneaky peeks. I'm also thinking of sharing some of its process which will include some very rough roughs. Which I hope you'll enjoy. Here's to the next few months!