Happy Winter Solstice!

It's the first (official) day of winter, so have a happy winter solstice! :)

Aurora borealis

Grim Lairy Tales - The Billy Goats Gruff and the Troll: 2016 Edition

Decided to revive an idea for satirical takes on fairy tales and other classic stories, often pertaining to current events and trends. I've actually made a Tumblr for them here (Tumblr isn't a place I usually use, but seemed fitting for a web comic series).

In the light of the 2016 US election, the rise of the alt-right and the problems caused by fake news sites, this take on The Three Billy Goats Gruff only seemed appropriate to kick them off.

The World Tonight

What the world is doing/how the world is feeling right now on Tuesday 8th November 2016...

Inspired by Stravinsky

Tried out some of these gouache brushes from Kyle T Webster, and came up with some pieces inspired by "The Firebird" and "Petrushka", two Russian themes adapted into ballet scores by Igor Stravinsky at the beginning of the 20th century.

Somewhat Mary Blair-esque, but I also wanted to capture some of the bold colours of Russian folk art.

One Thousand and One Nights

Once upon a time...

A piece inspired by The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (commonly known in English as the Arabian Nights), in particular the intelligent queen of stories, Scheherazade. I will admit that I took liberties with culture - it's a mix of Turkey, Morocco, Iran, Oman and Armenia...

Little profound to say, except...

...saying that I fear for a lost generation.

Vote Remain

There are countless reasons why to vote remain today. Whether you're an economic realist, critical of previous government's failings to provide satisfactory welfare to those who need it most or against Rupert Murdoch getting his way, there are many, many reasons to vote to remain. However, perhaps the best reason may have been pointed out by actress Sheila Hancock last night. The video in this link isn't in full, but the full clip is making the rounds on social media. In any case...VOTE REMAIN!

Happy Easter!

Throwback Thursday: Various book-related things

Since it's World Book Day today, here are a few book-related items...

Grim Lairy Tales (2012)

The Clever Prince (2012)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Epiphany

Happy Epiphany! / Bonne Fête des Rois! / ¡Feliz Día de los Reyes Magos! / Frohes Dreikönigsfest!

Now go and put all your Christmas decorations away or the Spirit of the Christmas tree will haunt you and cause you bad luck for the rest of the year! And have a slice of galette des rois too.

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.