The Beautiful Word

I've been drawing musicians again, this time The Beautiful Word, who gave a short free performance on the roof of the De La Warr Pavillion in Bexhill. It was windy, and with the sea views the lead singer (above with the toy piano) said it was like playing on an ocean liner. A great building and a very cute band. Somehow I, er, didn't quite manage to draw the male members. however, while we waited for them to start, I did grab a quick sketch of some of the very Bexhillian audience. Click if you want a better view.

Twang!

I’ve just been away on a sketching/mooching/laughing holiday with some very dear chums, something I’ve been doing from time to time for years. These trips, organised by the very-moose-like Julian Sedgwick, are moments of heightened drawing activity for me – intervals of proper sketching between prolonged bouts of quotidian daily grind moleskine wipe-out. I always come back determined to keep up the pace, but I never manage it for long.

Here’s a sketch of Adrian Reynolds playing his banjo, which he does with great flare (despite my cheesy sound effects). Click for a closer look. I didn’t draw his face because I was more interested in his fingers. In fact, I’m especially interested in his fingers right now because Adrian is, as I write this, illustrating my next picture book in rhyme, due out next year with Andersen Press. I hope he doesn’t break a nail.

Topaz

I've been away for three weeks. There was lots of drawing. Normal intermittent blog service will be resumed soonish...

Character Sketches -- 2

Another character from my novel, this time the gifted but ruthless ‘hero-turned-bad’ Adam Lang. He is the archetypal golden boy, back-slapped off the rails by excessive praise of his talents -- brought up to aim so high that he despises everyone below him. I think we all went to school with someone like that. Adam stalks through the story re-arranging the past so that those who don’t fit his vision of the world were never even born in the first place. And when he’s finished, even those who survive can’t be sure he was ever there.

Click for a closer look, but don’t hold his gaze for too long…       

Character sketches -- 1

My novel won’t be illustrated, but that hasn’t stopped me doodling the main characters. I’ll post some of the sketches here while I wait to hear what my editor thinks of the latest revision. This cluster of heads shows my search for a clear sense of Eddie, a troubled fourteen-year-old boy who spends most of the book (and the year 1940) on the run from a ghost he believes is trying to kill him. He’s right about that, but not in the way he thinks.

As ever, click for a closer look.  

Six Days

Here’s a boost for fellow Chicken House author Philip Webb, whose debut SF novel, Six Days, is about to be published. I was privileged to read this book a year ago (back when it had a whole other title and publication date) and hearing a little of its progress towards publication has been fascinating and very instructive for me. Find out more here.

Six Days is a fine book indeed, with a truly epic scope (prehistoric stone circles, organic space craft, a billion-year old computer with dangerous hang ups…), but its heart is surely in the 'scavs' and their hand-to-mouth existence in the ruins of London. The voice and voices are strong, the questions intriguing, and I found it easy to follow Cass, Wilbur, Erin and Peyto in their struggle. Philip Webb knows how to tell a story and conjure vivid imagery, as well as balance a sentence perfectly. Strongly recommended for readers 11 (ish)+ who enjoy using their brains.