This one's for Keith!

Just to prove that i did do some drawing on my jaunt to London on Thursday as promised Keith. Didn't do as much as I should - sleep and lack of other passengers being a major factor (that and inebbriation on the return trip...)
Here is a pic of someone's reflection on the back of the driver's cab..


Also went to a Bristol Drawing Club event - here are a couple of scribbles of peeps there....done pretty much without taking the pen from the page - although slightly beefed up later as I had to use a pretty horrible pen when my 'trusty' fountain pen (see pic) let me down on the night -had to add some heavy lines so you could pick shapes from the scribble!

Sam's back on the telly!

The lastest episode of Driver Dan's Story Train to feature my illustrations aired this week. Of the three I worked on this was my fave! My scribbles pop up about 7 mins in...

It's behind you!!

Eyop, as we're not quite approaching the Christmas season I thought I'd put this up on the blog - it's from a couple of years back (hence the info on it is now all LIES!) but I've always quite liked it. Not the handwritten text though - that's a bit pony, but hey I was in a hurry!

Spot the deliberate mistake...

Spike Island Big Draw

He he! Just got back from the Big Draw event put on at Spike Island by Bristol Drawing Club - it was ace! Hoping someone took some decent pics as there was some killer drawing going on by all involved -props particularly to the Brillustration bunch, and all honorary child members! Here is my favourite picture from today - it is the sun getting in a huff and going on holiday (copyright of my boy).

More clearing out of photo drawer

Some more modelly things both carved and otherwise. Also a rare view of my old studio -sorry about the cans, I really should have tidied them up...

Whittley whittle

I do not spend as much time whittling as I would like (ie I think other members of my household may have issues with living in a house 2 inches deep in woodshavings). This is quietly one if my favourite things - a scrap of wood I had a play about with seeing how many twists and turns and things I could carve into it. I carry it round quite a bit- it's wound up becoming like a kind of wooden security blanket. If that makes sense.....

On the buses part 5 (scraping the barrel perhaps...)

Last of my 'bored on a bus' jobs (sort it out Sam, it's not even a drawing! .ed). This I think scribbled just before falling asleep passing junction for Reading (oh the glamorous life of an illustrator....)

On the buses part 4

Erm, a bloke chewing gum...
Really wanted to capture the weather systems being charted by his hair but don't think I quite pulled it off..

On the buses Part 3

A bit of nearly asleep bus doodling. As you maybe able to tell I was playing round with the idea of working on some typography. I can pretty much explain why everything is there except the ice cream ( I do like ice creams though - is that a good enough reason?)

On the buses Part 2

This was a guy in the coach next to mine waiting to leave Victoria Coach Station.

On the buses Part1

Went on a trip to Eastbourne recently, and spent a fair amount of time either on National Express buses or waiting for them. I did quite a few scribbles along the way, and as a cunning way of looking like I do a sketch a day, I thought I'd spread them out over a few days. Let me know if you get bored!

At Victoria.

More zooey gubbins

Probably shouldn't be putting these out just yet but I'm quite pleased with them...

Book news......

It's been a while since I did them now, but I can finally go on about them as they have both come out this month.
The first one is called Turbo Tortoise (by Steve Cole, for Picture Corgi), and it kind of does what it says on the tin! It's good fun, although the slugs I've talked to didn't like it much...
The next one is called Knights And Castles (By Rachel Firth for Usborne Children's Books First Reading series). The slugs had no problem with this one!
copyright Usborne Children's Books
copyright Usborne Children's Books

Day out in Bristol

Went to town today, ostensibly to sketch Bristol landmarks for a "Weyhey - it's Bristol!" type commission. Quickly decided that that is what cameras are for and started drawing people instead.

It was a good day for buskers - this guy was playing some really lovely blues/slide guitar. He also had really cool boots - maybe that's why noone was giving him any money (well if he can afford nice boots..). Tight buggers. Later in the day there was a guy getting amazing sounds out of what looked to be an upturned wok - but I was too knackered to draw by this point, and he looked a bit serious.

The next one is straight out of Howards Way - sat outside a pub by the marina drawing marina types. Nearly rumbled several times by kids coming up and shouting 'Look he's drawing those people!' PS answers on a postcard as to what it is in the foreground...

Grumpy alt rock lump.

Here's a bit of a scribble done at work t'other day whilst thinking of something else entirely - smiling cars in fact (told you). Not sure quite where it came from, but Arcade Fire seem to be on the radio a hell of a lot at the moment.

A day at the zoo

One of my best mates proposed with his head in one. Amy Winehouse reportedly put her head, beehive and all, through one (damn I wish I had a photo). What am I talking about? Well unfortunately I don't know what you'd call them except 'those seaside thingies that you put your head through' - there are quite a few of them round Bristol Zoo at the moment and it was me what dunnum. Here's the most recent one, snapped today. They seem pretty popular, but as you can see some like them more than others..

Normal service resumed soon..

'Er indoors has been busy again...

My lovely other half Mel has disgraced herself again by dashing off another load of brilliant linoprint images seemingly without thinking about it ( I mean where is the lightbox, the mound of roughs.. it's not right!). Also I can't eat my breakfast at the table this morning.
Go check out her website www.melaniewickham.co.uk
for it is ace....

Not the pics I planned to show but as is often the case I can't find the right sketchbook. Absentmindedness is a curse! Any way these are two guys I started drawing at a recent lifedrawing class (it's good to draw peeps drawing as they don't move much - ditto my series of 'People playing Playstation', to follow..) Ta ta..

Blimey - postarama!

I must have found myself with a spare few minutes, as i'm posting my proverbial off! Here're a few from the Birsotl Drawing Club night I mentioned earlier. Check their blog for more..

Monster I up!!

Just seen a blog called monstersinrealplaces (somoene please show me how to do links!!) which is ace. As i haven't yet sorted any pics to go on it, I thought I'd bide time with a cover I did for a band I was in (further enquiries will be met with wall of silence!).

An oldie (but goodie?)

Here's one of my personal favourite pics -getting a bit old now but then so am I! One of the reasons I like it is that I'd forgotten doing it and I'm not really sure what the thinking was behind it - it was a surprise when going through one of my sketchbooks. I dimly recollect that it was an experiment in drawing with the lights out.....

Jesse's sketchbooks

This week oi av been using mostly.. Moleskine sketchbooks! They are great but you can always see what you drew on the last page through the one you're drawing. Sometimes it works alright mind.......
I'm very into doing quick journalistic drawings at the moment - these ones are of the house band from the other night - more stuff to follow...

More Drawing club....

Hello again! Went to Mr Wolfs for the live drawing thingy with Drawing Club t'other day, doing a big collaborative drawing on a big paper covered wall, which wasn't half as scary as i'd imagined! Having spent a lot of the year at the lightbox tracing faint pencil lines to be 'just so' it was great to have a marker shoved in my hand and told to draw something. In fact I may have got a bit carried away - apologies to anyone who got caught in the path of my flailing arms...

Bristol Drawing club

Hello peeps, and sorry again for being away soo long. Here's a pic i did at last week's Bristol Drawing Club meet at the Full Moon in Stokes Croft (done upside down - sketchbook not me - from a mag cover that was also upside down.......pretty arty eh). Never been to the Drawing Club before, but thoroughly enjoyed drawing, drinking and chatting with nice folks so will go again. I will try not to pose for any more photos mind. Captions on a postcard to........

You can see more of the scribbles done on the night on their blog http://bristoldrawingclub.blogspot.com/

Mmmmmmmm - Nice.....

Here's a little pic I did for a Jazz type flyer I did for a friend a little while back.

Sam gets whupped by small child!

Spent most recent commission struggling to do dynamic cartoon battle scenes for a book called Knights and Castles - a couple of weeks later my son did this. Is it wrong to steal ideas from a 5 year old?

I have been working honest!

Sorry again for the long gap between posts... Just to show you that I am still here, here's some sketches I did earlier this week. They're for a couple of story ideas I've had knocking round in my head for longer than I care to mention (more to follow hopefully). Also bought a half decent camera the other day, so the days of crappy 6 scans pieced together photoshop efforts like this one could be numbered (yay!)

Life drawing disasters

I've recently started going to lifedrawing sessions again which has been great. I've been mostly drawing really quick 5 min sketches (I'm a bit of a tightwad, and I get more sketches for my money that way!) and the results have generally been alright. I say generally........

Lazy lazy Sam!

Went to the London Book Fair last week to peddle me wares, which was by turns fun and scarey (Earl's Court very big). Here're some of my wares! Yes yes, I will do some new work soon.

Sir Tiny Doodles

Feeling lazy again so here's another one found during my big clear out. These are some edge of page doodles I did whilst working on the Sir Tiny story for Storytrain. A visit to my old friend the 'Big Book of How to Draw Horses' swiftly followed.

Sam Church, boy genius

Through some amazing technological feat I have somehow wound up following myself on blogger. I'm sure there's mileage for a picture in that (but not tonight I'm afraid)- in the meantime remember; not vain, just baffled by computers.

Little things please little minds....

Clearing out the fortress of solitude this weekend I found this picture I did of a sloth. I turned it upside down and it looks like he's dancing. Makes I chuckle.

The Tortoise has landed (nearly)

Here's the cover for the picturebook (my first!) that I spent a good chunk of last year working on - due out in autumn.

What I did this weekend....

Big thanks to Lauren Tobia for bigging me up on her blog - it's only fair that I should do the same. Check out Lauren's 100 days of drawing. whilst there are still a few days left!

Lord 'elp us I'm on the telly!!

This blog I've noticed needs some colour! This is a bit of work I did for 'Driver Dan's Story Train' on CBeebies - you can see the whole thing by clicking this link . A big thankyou to all the lovely peeps at A Productions by the way...

And another couple..

I went with the big bad wolf for the last post -heres another from the 'popular tales' file (from the vault I'm afraid).