Merry Christmas Everyone!

Am busy tying up all those pesky loose ends this week before taking a bit of a breather over Christmas so that I am all fresh and raring to get creative again in the new year. It's going to be a busy 2012 for me, there's a bunny book to complete then a small matter of the much anticipated arrival of baby #2 in April...I may have to put the pens down for that one, just for a moment or two!

Anyway, I wish all my lovely friends, family and followers the most wonderful of festivities and I hope that 2012 is truly fantastic for you all.

Hollyxxx

Something Festive!

Something a little festive to kick off December with!

Earlier this year I was approached by a lovely new business called The Border Mill which specialises in treating, spinning and producing alpaca wools and products. I did an array of illustrations for their website and marketing materials and here was something I did for their winter promotions.

Happy December everyone. xx

Stretching It Out

Am busy this morning tackling changes to my Bunny roughs following feedback from the publisher. It's always a tricky stage but I always go into knowing that the changes will inevitably bring about better images and a stronger story. I can't wait to get on with the colour though!

This Bunny requires to stretch a bit harder apparently (I think he's like me and not a great fan of pilates!) so I am off to see what I can do with him. I actually really like how he looks in this rough so it will be interesting to see how things look after the changes...

Been Roughing It!

I've been beavering away drawing lots of rabbity roughs for the new book recently and have just sent the first draft of them through. Keeping everything crossed that they get a good reception and that the new characters go down well!

Here is a little snippet from one of the pages of the main character Bunny and his side-kick Mole for you to get a peek at. Just black and white now but I shall be working on colour samples very soon - am thinking gorgeous clean and vibrant spring colours with elements of gold in there too for some foresty backgrounds. Can't wait!

Hope you are all well, thanks for dropping by for a read. xx

Something a Bit Rabbity (& Moley!)

Just a wee rough that I had been doodling recently. Am working on a Bunny book for the lovely folks at Harper Collins which promises to be full of fun and colour. But in the meantime here is a little black & white of a bunny that tripped over a molehill and went plop into a puddle. You can click on the image to make it bigger.

Am slightly in love with the mole at the moment!

Hope you are all well. Thanks for stopping by!

Hollyx

It's all been about the Guinea Pigs!

Well it definitely has been a shameful length of time since I last blogged but there has been a very good reason! I have been frantically working on a ridiculously fun book with the wonderful Nosy Crow and we have quite literally had guinea pigs coming out of our ears getting it all ready for Frankfurt.

I am so pleased with how it has come together, it is a counting book bursting with lots of guinea characters and I am keeping everything crossed that it is being well received over in Frankfurt as I type! The above is one of my favourite moments in the book and just about sums up how I am feeling right now!

Can't wait to share more of this with you but in the mean time it's back to the drawing board for me, and, Rabbits! x

Lovely Review!

Here is the loveliest review of About a Bear I am ever likely to get by the super-fantastic Book Sniffer!

About a Bear is released early!

So excited that Amazon has released my new book early! Check it out here and if you'd like to write a review anytime I'd be very grateful!

Hope you all like it!! xxx

News About A Bear!

I could bearly (sorry!) contain my excitement this morning as a little package arrived this morning containing advanced copies of my new book About A Bear!

It is so exciting to see bear in all his beautifully bound glory and think he looks very happy in own his little book! I am so delighted with how both the paper and hardback have turned out, the colours look great. Harper Collins have been great letting me go wild with my palette and the reproduction shows the pinks and metallics just brilliantly.

I've given you a little sneaky peek at the endpapers (which I am ridiculously happy with!), and the title page which I love. I really hope that you love Bear too when he becomes available to purchase in just a matter of weeks - you can pre-order a copy here!

Happy Mondays

This was me ten minutes ago when my fabulous husband found my Wacom tablet pen which I have been hunting for since Friday. I was despairing even more when I started to look into how much it was going to cost to replace it!

Our darling little daughter had pushed it into a gap under a kitchen cabinet...about the only place I hadn't been on my hands and knees looking. Deep sigh of relief from me, and back to work now.

Hope you are having a happy Monday too. x

Been Doggy Doodling

Well I know it's been a while, but I have been busy drawing many things... guinea pigs, alpacas and lots of spotty dogs! Sharing with you a couple of of illos that introduce two new characters who I have a real soft spot for so watch this space. x

News About a Bear!

It was an exciting moment today when I discovered that my new book for Harper Collins had been put up on Amazon. Unfortunately it is not available to purchase yet but you can pre-order! I really hope you all like it when it comes out x

It's taken a bit of a marathon effort for me to get here but I have been working hard to get my fitness back into order after becoming a mum. So to celebrate and to give me a goal I am doing a 10k race on 8th May and using the opportunity to raise some cash for the fantastic Sick Kids charity. If you would like to sponsor me, you can click here no donation is too small and every penny counts and will help keep me going!

Thank you!! xx

Happy Easter

Rubbing Noses with the Book Sniffer!

I've been having great fun talking all things children's books with the utterly charming Book Sniffer, as well as trying to do a bit of doggy match-making! Read it all on this fantastic blog, and follow it to get the heads-up on the what's new and exciting in the field of Children's Books.

March Hare (just running a bit late!)

Continuing in the spirit of Spring, I came across this drawing in a sketchbook the other day which was part of a series of sketches I did watching a field full of Mad March Hares a few years ago. I love coming across things like this, it reminds me to go out and draw from life more often!

Spring Lambs!

In the spirit of Spring, I thought I'd dig out something a bit seasonal!

I did this little painting in 2007 when I lived in the beautiful Scottish Borders and there were lambs aplenty to draw. I miss that aspect of country life, in the city you miss out on all those gorgeous seasonal changes in the landscape like lambs appearing in the spring and fields being harvested in the autumn.

Today though it is unseasonably chilly and windy and I feel very sorry for all the little lambs braving this weather - what a shock to the system that must be!

Zoom!

Just a quick sneaky-peak at part of a lovely commission I'm working on at the moment. Still totally in love with drawing those guinea pigs!

Yay! Giclee Prints At Last!!

I am so excited to finally be able to put some gorgeous giclee prints up for sale on both etsy and on notonthehighstreet.com.

The images are from "About a Bear" which is being published by the lovely Harper Collins, and is released in September.

I am just so pleased with how the illustrations have translated onto a large scale format, printed on the most gorgeous heavy weight archival papers, you can see every texture and detail. The colours have reproduced fantastically too which is just as well because when you see the book, you will see that it is particularly vibrant!

Hope you likey!

Dancing Guinea Pigs

Just to prove that I am still alive and kicking, here is a dancing guinea pig I drew today!

I have been busy busy busy with lots of exciting things, (hence the lack of blogging). Apart from dancing guinea pigs, my brain is working overtime developing my second book for the lovely Harper Collins whilst trying not to think about the fact that the first, "About A Bear" is shortly off to Bologna to try to impress. Keeping fingers and toes firmly crossed!

More Little Birds

I thought I was done with these little bird collages, but then I got this lovely commission to do a pair of Goldcrests for a golden wedding anniversary present.

To be honest I love making these little pictures. There is something quite therapeutic about all the cutting out of leaves and then carefully figuring out their placement, which is unusual for me as usually I like to work really quickly. I should add here that it is therapeutic until, ones husband comes alone to have a nosey while on his own and accidentally drops a crisp onto the picture and then, instead of carefully picking the crisp up, he tries to blow it off, along with all the leaves which had been set in place but not yet glued down! I kid you not this actually happened - I didn't know if to laugh or cry (I laughed!), as the picture was actually double the size of this one - so many leaves! All I could think was, "Silly me, there was me thinking that I just had to focus on keeping our toddler away from my artwork, and in doing so, took my eye off my husband!"

So, that's what I've been up to this weekend, hope you've had a good one too.

New Personalised Prints

I've been working on some new things to sell in my Etsy shop and have had great fun with this little character which is being sold as a personalised print. You can have any letter and colour combo you like - it would make the perfect gift for any little person!

You can also find all of my prints, as well as beautiful cards, mugs and double-sided wrap designed and produced by me in my Marbles Ink shop on notonthehighstreet so please check out my full range and let me know what you think.

Got some other new things coming very soon so watch this space!

Etsy...here I come!

Ok, so I have taken a deep breath in and entered the world of Etsy! Esty is a fantastic place to buy all sorts of original and unique gifts, and now, you can purchase a range of prints by me!

I have been uploading some super cute guinea pig prints, including some that can be personalised and will be adding more variety soon, so please keep checking up on my space and hopefully there will be something there that takes your fancy!

Do let me know what you think, and if you know someone who might like my prints, please forward them this link!

Thanks xx

Love is in the Air!

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought I would spread a little love with the help of this little fellow...because nothing says 'I love you' better than a cute guinea pig!

As you can see, am still playing around with guinea pig characters, both for book and greetings card designs. Once again, the above available to license.

Wish I could do this today!

Having the sort of week where I wish I could float away from it all, holding on to a balloon! However, due to the impossibility of my finding a balloon big enough, I did the next best thing and drew something! x

Back to the Drawing Board!

Well it's been a while since I posted anything here, I admit, but after a lovely Christmas break I have been back at the old drawing board working on character development and concepts for some brand new books!

This is the most exciting and frustrating, and tricky process all wrapped up into one! I always find I have a weird nervous energy while I am working through this stage; one minute you think you've come up with something new and exciting, and the next you are full of doubt and fretting about what the publisher will think...it's exhausting!

At the moment I am mostly concentrating on images of spotty dogs but last week I had a flash of inspiration for something totally different which is where this little guy comes in! Will keep you posted on how things develop, but in the mean time I will keep on doodling while I hope you are all enjoying the start to a lovely new year. xx