More Sketchbook drawings and a little bit of Sunny Greece!

Our new relaxed life in Greece is going great!!!!  Did I tell you we moved to Greece for a few months?? Well, yes we did! We live on a small island called Kalymnos. It is not far from Kos and Turkey. The island is very pretty, the weather is fantastic and we are very happy!

Here is the proof!

My son is writing about our life in Greece in his own BLOG here!!!! Please have a look and leave a comment is you find it interesting! He is looking for new friends!

In the meantime, I am still drawing in my sketchbook every day, and here are some new creations!

Let the new sketchbook begin!!!!

I have started a new sketchbook! I have also made myself a promise to draw in it every day.

It goes great so far and I am really enjoying the process! Every day I give myself a topic - crocodiles, rabbits, animals in jail (yeah, I know, a weird topic), space, me in childhood, cats, and so on....

Here are my efforts so far:

The Pet Itch is Finished!

Another great book is finished! This one was a real gem!!! Very funny! I wrote about this book before in my article "How a Picture Book is Born". Now I can show you some final drawings and even a little video of my work in progress.

Also, here is a link to the Author of the story - Elli Woollard. I think she is a very talented lady! You just HAVE to read some of her poems! They are hilarious! I hope I will have a chance to work with her again!

Here are some of the spreads! Enjoy!

And here is a small video that sort of gives you an idea of how I work.... It is my first attempt to record my drawing process, so please don't judge too strictly. I am sure I will do better next time!

The book should be available in august from all main book shops and Amazon. The book is great! I am not just saying it, because I have illustrated it. It is really GREAT!

Illustrating a Miracle

Remember from time to time I was showing you some paintings I was doing for my friend's girls bedrooms. There were 10 paintings in total - 5 for each bedroom. All 10 are finally finished! It took me half a year to complete this project, but both me and my friend were very keen to get the picture right!

Every scene, every dress and toy is real!!! Everything means something to the family. These pictures are very special and I am very proud of this work. It is not just illustration work. It is somebody's life, somebody's feelings...

Here are all the drawings together:

All 10 of them were signed and sent out to Moscow to meet their owners a week ago. How exciting!!!

Bible

I have finished illustrating the Bible!!!! That was a monumental work!!! 97 full colour spreads! That is 194 pages!!!! I can't believe I did it! The book was illustrated for Lion Hudson Publishing and I expect it to be out by the end of the year.

Half a year ago, when I started this project, I was scared. Scared that I will never do it on time, that I will run out of steam drawing similar 97 spreads, That I will not be able to introduce enough diversity into pictures, that I will simply not do the book justice, since it is only the greatest book in the world...

I am not religious, but I still appreciate the importance and significance of this book. Especially - the first Bible for children. The book that gets the kids acquainted with religion.  It is Sunday, 31st March today. Easter. A perfect day to write about Bible.

I wanted my illustrations for this book to be WARM! I wanted them to be kind and simple and easily understandable by kids of all ages and nationalities. I didn't want my drawings to be pompous or pretentious. On the contrary, I wanted them to be very homy and humble, and down to earth.... Very close the children's hearts.

Of course, I will not show you all 97 spreads, but I will show you a few random ones from the whole book to give you an idea of what I was trying to achieve. Please let me know what you think! Any feedback will be very much appreciated!

It took me half a year to do this project and I enjoyed every day working on it. I didn't have to be scared after all! It was fun!!! It flew easily and I didn't even notice when all the spreads were completed...  I am even missing it a little now...  The Publisher was superb giving me a complete freedom with the stile, colours and composition. There were very few amendments and lots of support!

I was able to draw my favourite big noses and choose warm, pastel but bright colour pallet that I think suits the book very much!

The Littlest Bird

I have finished another picture book for Piccadilly Press! And it is fantastic! It is about one very cute little green bird, who felt a bit squished in her nest with all her brothers and sisters borrowing her stuff and nudging her around....

 Here is the bird by the way! Isn't she a cutie?

So, the Littlest Bird decided to look for a bigger nest!! I will not tell you the rest of the story. You will have to get the book and read it, BUT! I can honestly say that you will not be disappointed. The story is great! It is sweet and funny and very warm...  And I hope that my illustrations have done it justice!

Here are some more drawings for this book! I hope you will enjoy them!