The Fisherman and the Genie

My depiction of the poor fisherman who found an enraged and malefic genie in a bottle, from a story found in the story collection One-Thousand and One Nights (commonly known in English by the name of the Arabian Nights).

Panto time!

As it's Christmas, here's a bit of panto fun!

Puss in Boots

Aladdin

Mother Goose

Terrorist Sympathisers, or Logic à la Westminster

What popped into my mind when I heard Mr Cameron's remarks yesterday evening...

Les Français, nos pensées sont avec vous...

Dedicated to the people of France and to the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13th 2015. Our thoughts go out to you all.

Tales from the Brothers Grimm: Another preview of things to come

The reason for no posts lately has been partly laziness, partly busyness. Anyway, here's a very small preview of the book I've been working on and preparing for self-publishing...

Ladybird Tuesday: Kings and Queens (Book Two)

No, I haven't vanished; my lack of posts is due to the fact that things have just got in the way as usual. I'll begin again with another Ladybird Tuesday post as it is Tuesday after all (the originator of Ladybird Tuesday being another blogger named Mrs C). I find the concept behind Ladybird books (well produced books economically produced and priced) really interesting, and some of the illustrations also intrigue me, even if they are dated. Rather recently, I came upon a secondhand bookshop in Manchester which was giving away some overstock for free. Among the rubble, I managed to snag some old matt-cover Ladybird books. The endpapers and title papers of the books were admittedly covered in markings and scribbles, but the actual content inside was fine, and they didn't cost a penny after all.

As I've said, while as a child I read many of Ladybird's fairytale or classic story retellings (or at least admired their illustrations), I never grew up reading many of their non-fiction titles. I'm aware that the history books written by L. Du Garde Peach and published by Ladybird have proved to be quite popular, especially among children of the 60s and the 70s. Indeed, my parents can remember these books in their first editions.

Ladybird Tuesday: William Tell

Ladybird Tuesday again - as I've said, I like both the illustrations and the philosophy - cheap yet generally good quality books available to the masses. It's quite nice to see a recent surge in interest of these books, even if they're a wee bit flawed.

Mention the name William Tell and the two things you'll likely think of are the overture by Rossini or the image of a man being forced to shoot an arrow through an apple on his son's head. However, the story of William Tell is essentially the Swiss answer to Robin Hood, a folk legend of how the Swiss people, led by folk-hero and bowman Tell, rebelled against their Austrian occupiers and came to form what became Switzerland. Indeed, the apple incident occurred after Tell refused to bow to a despot Austria governor's demand to bow to the governor's hat atop a pole in a village square. As a do-or-die punishment, Tell has to shoot an apple off his own son's head, and as a good bowman manages to save his son's life as well as his own.

Sandwich Bullying

As we all know that triangle-cut sandwiches look better - and somehow magically seem to taste better - than rectangle-cut sandwiches...

Ladybird Tuesday: Gulliver's Travels

I haven't done one of these Ladybird Tuesday things for some time, so I thought I'd have another go. On a recent trip to an antiquarian book shop, I came across some older Ladybird books from the 1970s. Given how cheap they were (under £3), I picked up a couple, including this one, an adaptation of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels dated from 1976. Flicking through the pages, I vaguely remember this book from when I was younger but it didn't have the same cover. On the back it is listed as being part of Series 770 (I wonder why a publish would label and market each of their series with a number, but anyway...). According to a quick bit of research is a series of retellings of classics, legends and fables. I like the cover of this book - a nice break from the now clichéd image of Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputian army.

Literary Inspirations: Part One - Childhood

This past weekend, I saw an article on The Guardian website where major authors listed the books that influenced them the most as children and young adults. I'm definitely more an artist than an author, and I go through phases of reading lots to reading little (at least in the sense of traditional books, that is). However, I thought it would be fun to have a go at listing the literary works that have had an impact on me. Even though I had to divide it into two parts, it still isn't exhaustive.

Throwback Thursday: Devils

Two distinct takes on the Prince of Darkness I created in 2012. Pure evil is attractive, but to quote Into the Woods: "though scary is exciting, nice is different than good."

Der Teufel (gouache)

Jimmy, or The Façade (pen and ink/watercolour)

Chicken Licken - A Beloved Tale for Election Day

Here's a little thing I cooked up for today's election, based on the old story of Chicken Licken. On Election Day, let's make one thing clear - you make your own decisions, so make sure it's not a stupid one. 

Tales from the Brothers Grimm: The Wolf and the Seven Kids

I don't want to share too many images from my personal project translating and illustrating some of the stories by the Brothers Grimm, but here is another image I'm particularly fond of, which I finished this past weekend. This picture comes from "The Wolf and the Seven Kids", a predator-prey story with clear echoes of "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs" in which good eventually triumphs over evil.

The wolf breaks in

I drew the image traditionally and coloured it in Photoshop. The shadow effect, I feel, works particularly well and adds a sense of menace and drama; having seen it without the shadow, it loses some of its impact.

Happy Saint George's Day

Some of the characters gracing the British political scene at the moment (and the folk whom they fool) drove me to this...proud to be English but proud to be open-minded! :)

Throwback Thursday: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Originally posted here, this is something I created this time last year. A Midsummer Night's Dream was the first Shakespeare play I was introduced to. I came to know it through a series called Shakespeare: The Animated Tales - an anthology series of abridged versions of some of the most famous Shakespeare plays, each animated in a different technique. This was a co-production with the great Russian animation house Soyuzmultfilm, renowned for their use of different animation techniques under one building). I saw the adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream from the series as a seven year-old after my grandmother borrowed the VHS from the library. What has always stood out to me, both as a child and as an adult, are the fantastic scenes and the enchanted yet somewhat sinister imagery. Indeed, the fairies here aren't the flittering female creatures from a Victorian fairy story but the elves and goblins of old English folklore - dubious nature spirits of pagan origin feared by a superstitious population. Of course, as a child, I wasn't able to completely get the sexual undertones of the play (only the romantic ones); I suppose this picture was my way of visualising the sensual themes.

Throwback Thursday (on a Friday): Corporate Wolves

So I realise Thursday has been and gone already, but I thought I'd run a strand to show some things that I've done in the past and shown on my old blog.

"Capitalism has an intense, rich flavour"
- Wolfgang P. Loupine, 2012

I originally posted this in early 2012 - only chancing upon the post again on my old blog did I find the additional caption and my supposed naming of the main wolf in the foreground. I'm surprised to have found that it's the first picture that actually pops up in Google Images as of March 2015 when one types in the term "corporate wolves" (in the plural at least - not in the singular "corporate wolf"). I'm not a huge political activist, but this picture ultimately summarises my feelings on the types of dubious people who often manage to infiltrate banks, political parties and large corporations.

Ladybird Tuesday: Pinocchio

On this new blog, I also want to share some other things such as commentary and works that have influenced me, and maybe have the odd themed day or week. I can admit that there are some Ladybird Books that have influenced me with regards to my interest in folklore and which I also find interesting to look at from a design and illustration perspective. Looking around online, I stumbled across a blog called Being Mrs C, where the eponymous Mrs C posts about Ladybird books as part of a strand called Ladybird Tuesday. I can't see myself posting about Ladybird Books every Tuesday, but I thought it'd be interesting to examine some of my favourite Ladybird titles and share some pictures that otherwise are out-of-print and not on the internet.

I think that the original concept behind Ladybird Books, similar to the original concept behind Penguin Books, is a wonderful one - cheaply priced books aimed at educating and entertaining a wide readership without compromising on quality. In today's economic and cultural climate, I think we need it more than ever. Most of the Ladybird Books I ever had were their retellings of fairy tales, legends and classics. As I mentioned, I think that Ladybird Books definitely have influenced my interest in folklore and fantasy that continues to this day.

Tales from the Brothers Grimm: Cinderella

This is part of a small project I'm working on aimed at self-publishing. Although still far from complete (as a non-professional, it's a spare time thing, and will probably not be ready for another few months), I'm currently preparing some tales from the Brothers Grimm along with my own illustrations. I've chosen some well-known stories as well as some more obscure stories. Here are some of my first completed illustrations for "Cinderella", one of the stories that will be included in the collection.

Of course, this version of "Cinderella" is a bit different to the better known French version by Charles Perrault. Instead of a fairy godmother, Cinderella receives help from a hazel tree planted at her mother's grave and the birds who inhabit the tree. On my old blog, I actually shared some pictures I made of the story and are in some ways a blueprint for these pictures.

These are not the only pictures I've made for the story, but they are probably my favourite. 

A new Jarvworld

Jarvworld has officially moved and started again here. Part of the reason is due to the old blog being registered with an old e-mail address, plus a general desire for a slight change. As well as traditional posts of artwork I've been producing, I'll also include some retrospectives and other little things such as photography and commentary.

For all old Jarvworld posts, click here.