Ali Pye blog

Showbiz sheep: more helpful.

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:16:42 +0100

Showbiz sheep: more helpful.

Two bad guys. Are they helping with the many deadlines I have...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:04:00 +0100

Two bad guys.

Are they helping with the many deadlines I have right now?

No.

Here’s the cover of Something Delicious. And here’s...

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:27:00 +0100

Here’s the cover of Something Delicious. And here’s the book on Amazon.

Welcome to the outside world, Little Somethings!

I finished this image last week; at the time I was really...

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:41:00 +0100

I finished this image last week; at the time I was really pleased with it. But then I showed it and the rest of the artwork to a friend and suddenly everything looked wrong: too digital, too polished, too artificial. That’s not the work I want to be doing, it used to feel fresh and rough around the edges. Since then I’ve tried using all sorts of media: ink, paint, charcoal – but nothing seems to work. Chuck in the ticking clock of the deadline, new projects waiting to be started (plus some that need to be finished), and a house move next week, and it’s getting to be a problem. I even dreamt about going to a portfolio clinic the other night. [SAD!] This is the flipside of the whole ‘experimenting is exciting’ stuff of a few posts back; sometimes the experiments don’t work. I just need a bit of alchemy to bring it all together. It will happen; soon, I hope.

Sketch of Little Hogwash, one of the Little Somethings.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:59:00 +0100

Sketch of Little Hogwash, one of the Little Somethings.

I’m back working on a picture book: the artwork for...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:00:55 +0100

I’m back working on a picture book: the artwork for Something Different. I love it so, so much: playing around, trying new things, making mistakes, figuring it out - and suddenly the image starts to work and it’s the most exciting thing ever.

One more snippet from Ellie May book 3. Nearly there with the...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:01:21 +0100

One more snippet from Ellie May book 3. Nearly there with the artwork.

Ellie May: up on the roof.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:23:00 +0100

Ellie May: up on the roof.

Ellie May: papped.

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:28:00 +0100

Ellie May: papped.

Bologna inspiration

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 19:25:00 +0100

My top 3:

1: ‘Sea of Tears’ by Hyan Seo, published by Sakyejul Publishing Korea. I love the simple graphic cover, crazy characters, muted palette mixed with bold black shapes and strong compositions.

2: Work by Japanese illustrator Taro Gomi. Fresh as a daisy ultra-vivid inks, lovely characterisations and some pretty complex subjects (eg ships at a dock / lorries / an airport) portrayed with perfect simplicity. The line work is well-tasty too. Feast your eyes - yum!

3. Anything by Portugese publisher Planeta Tangerina. Fresh, bold and graphic: nothing cute and safe about these books.

Bologna Children's Book Fair

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:03:00 +0100

I had a rip-roaring time in Bologna, from the moment I saw a friendly face on the plane out, to bumping into someone I knew in the departure lounge on the way home, having one last cheeky and delicious vino with them at the bar, [mistakenly] hearing my name over the tannoy and hurrying to the departure gate where I ran into yet another lovely person, who introduced me to Axel Scheffler! Wonderful.

Oh yes, and there were quite a lot of books too. I’ll do a separate post on some of the especially inspiring ones. I looked round Hall 29 (books from Asia, Europe etc) with illustrator Sheena Dempsey and I think we both ran out of superlatives within the first few minutes. By the end I practically had to crawl out of that hall, glassy-eyed and frazzled from exposure to a mammoth sum of talent.

Then I got ill and spent the next week in bed. What goes up…

My wolf on the Hachette (Orchard Books) stand.

Those cocktails were rather good.

With illustrators Jorge Martin and Sheena Dempsey (we all did the Kingston University illustration MA), at S-wine Bar, where the entire British children’s publishing industry appears to congregate after dark.

With publishing director Melissa Fairley and the Little Somethings on Egmont’s stand.

The Crumbs on Little Tiger Books’ stand.

Illustrators’ wall where people can post their work.

The only reason I could go was that my parents looked after the children. So: thanks mum and dad!

Mucking about with a character sketch.

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:14:00 +0000

Mucking about with a character sketch.

Dedicated to someone special, who I’ll always remember xxx

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:49:56 +0000

Dedicated to someone special, who I’ll always remember xxx

I really love my postman at the moment. Today he brought me...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:38:00 +0000

I really love my postman at the moment. Today he brought me this.

In the post this morning: Orchard Books’ Bologna...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:39:16 +0000

In the post this morning: Orchard Books’ Bologna catalogue. Hello wolf!

I’m working on roughs for Ellie May book 3. I got a bit...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:39:31 +0000

I’m working on roughs for Ellie May book 3. I got a bit carried away with this one.

… sort of like this.

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:47:00 +0000

… sort of like this.

Doodle. Later: I have a few deadlines looming up: looking at...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:28:00 +0000

Doodle.

Later: I have a few deadlines looming up: looking at this again, it pretty much sums up how I feel.

My ace Mother’s Day card from Pye Jnr.

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:26:00 +0000

My ace Mother’s Day card from Pye Jnr.

I’ve made a new banner for my website. The characters...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 23:12:59 +0000

I’ve made a new banner for my website. The characters capering about are some of The Little Somethings, a cute and tiny race of creatures who live underground. They are the stars of Something Delicious and Something Different, written by Jill Lewis.

(There’s more about the books if you click on ‘The Little Somethings’ in the tag cloud, right.)