How To Draw for Children - A Christmas Reindeer face! (10 simple steps)

How To Draw A Christmas Reindeer face in ten simple steps

A Step by Step Guide for kids!

Last week we drew this cute Christmas penguin;

(Click here to visit the penguin guide if you missed it!)

This week, we're going to draw his friend Rudolph! 

This guide is designed as a step-by-step tutorial that you can use along with your kids. Simply load the blog post, and scroll down - it's not only a great way to keep your children entertained over the Christmas holidays, but it also promotes creativity in children and helps you bond together! 

Kids of all ages can join in, if they're too young to follow the guide there is a free downloadable colour in sheet at the end of the guide for you to print off and use.

Are you ready? 

You will need a piece of paper and your favourite tool - whether that is a pen, pencil, paint or felt tip!

Let's go!

Step One 

Draw a U shape 

Make it wider at the bottom

Step Two 

Attach a circle to the top of the line

Start at the top of your U shape, and leave a little gap at the bottom of the circle. 

Step Three 

Do the same on the other side

Can you guess what these will be?

Step Four 

Make a V shape Make a V shape in the middle of the circles

Step Five 

Add the antlers
You can be creative and design your own antlers! 

Step Six 

Add a big circle in the middle
This will be Rudolph's nose!

Step Seven 

Add a little U shape
This will be Rudolph's mouth. 

You can use your imagination here and make him have a big smile, a sad mouth, 

or even a wobbly line for a mouth! See which one you like best.

Step Eight 

Add two circles
Draw two circles inside Rudolph's ears

Step Nine 

Add two little dots
These will be Rudolph's eyes - so add them just above his nose, at either side

Step Ten 

One more line
Finally, add one line that connects the ears in the middle to complete your face.

Well done! You've just drawn Rudolph the Red Nose reindeer's face! Did you have fun?

Now you can colour in your picture, and give it to someone you love this Christmas.

If you used this guide, I' love to see how you did! 

Send a photo of him to izzybean@izzybean.co.uk and I'll upload your work online!

Here is a large version of the Reindeer face, you can download him, print him out and hand him out to kids to colour in! Just right click and 'Save Picture'

Kittens, Asthma and new sketches!

I have to admit, I love my job. 

Working late into the night, eating dinner at my desk while I work and working weekends - it's all worth it to be doing what I love every day. 

Here's what I've been up to recently...

KIT KITTEN and the TOPSY-TURVY FEELINGS

    It was such a privilege to illustrate for Jane Evans for her book 'Kit Kitten and the Topsy-Turvy Feelings' and I felt as if I had learnt something new whilst doing so. Jane is a trauma parenting specialist and her books are not your average children's books, they are carefully written stories about parents who aren't always able to care, or children who come from homes with violence. Each book features questions, games, advice and suggestions that encourage the adults to listen and the kids to talk in a way that they feel safe and without pressure. Something that makes Jane's books unique and essential in so many ways.

When I received my copies of the book in the post, I was delighted to see they were of a very high quality and felt great to read. The pages were thick and glossy, and the hardback cover works wonders for little hands to hold. 

Jane is currently releasing her third book, 'Little Meerkat's Big Panic' which I am proud to have illustrated also. To find out more about Jane and her incredible work, you can visit her via;

Website; www.parentingposttrauma.co.uk

Twitter; www.twitter.com/janeparenting2

You can order Jane's first two books through her publisher Jessica Kingsley or with Amazon.

I HAVE ASTHMA, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Wendy Chen's book was inspired by her own family, but is perfect for any child who might know someone with asthma. It's explains what happens during an asthma attack, how it is managed and how it can be part of a normal, active lifestyle. What a great idea!

You can find more about Wendy by visiting her website; www.wendychenbooks.com

And you can buy Wendy's book on Amazon.

SNEAK PEEKS...

I should really share more sketches of new projects with you, I absolutely love sketching and the process behind designing a new character. It's so fun! Here are some friendly faces you will be seeing more of soon!

  

NEW LOGO, NEW WEBSITE!

I've been busy re-vamping Izzy Bean Illustrations with a brand new logo, and a new website too! 

A lot of you loved the old logo and it got a lot of positive comments, but I felt it was time for a re-fresh and a change... plus I love the new logo a million times more! What do you think?

Thanks for looking, as always!

Website; www.izzybean.co.uk

Author Interview! Matthew Evans talks about his children's book and why he is donating 25% of his royalties...

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Matthew Evans

Matthew Evans, author of 'Lucy's Loo-Loo La-La land' talks about his process and how he started writing for children.

Let’s start with some introductions, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Of course, I am 38 and have been married for 10 years, we have a daughter, 5, and a son, 2. I work in Technical pre sales at a large IT vendor and my role is pan EMEA. Away from the office I enjoy sports, I am keen runner and in the last few years have completed a 100km and a 50km ultra marathon, I am planning on my third later this year. As a family we enjoy travel both in and outside the UK, it’s good to experience different cultures but also experience those things on your doorstep.

How did you get into writing for children?

Unintentionally if I’m being honest. In August of 2011 we lost our first son following a premature birth. Since then I have entered a number of running races and undertaken challenges to help  raise money for a number of charities, Tommys Baby and Daisys Dream to name a couple. To date I think I have raised in the region of £5,500 but there is always that desire to do more and that’s where the idea of a book came in.

What process do you follow when writing?

I have only written the one book so I am not sure how much of a process I followed. I started with the overall storyline and then worked on it page by page, read time and time again and tweaked the words and story until I was happy. I then had my wife read it and then applied a few last edits. If I am honest I don’t think anyone if ever completely happy, if I could make a couple of edits today I think I would.

What gives you inspiration and who are your influences?

My kids. The whole story started out as written down things that my daughter had said to me, so the book is very much through the eyes of a child. As an example, we were on holiday a couple of years ago and visited a town just outside of Pool, I recall the town square was paved with these shiny white tiles and my daughter turned and said “look at the ice” and started skating around on it, that’s when the loose story started to form, it was lovely to see something normal and day to day to an adult mean something completely different to a child. Over the next 12 months I made notes and formed a we ideas around what else would happen. After our son was born I could see these little partners in crime, hence why the story is based on a little girl called Lucy and her brother, Jack.

What problems did you find when releasing your book?

I first published it as an ebook. On reflection this wasn’t particularly problematic but when you’re new to the process it is nice to get a guiding hand, I seem to recall I send you a few emails looking for advice. The formatting of the ebook was a little challenging, again if it’s all new to you. In the end I used a company called ‘Ebook Partnership’ as they were reasonably priced and provided an excellent service.

However, I found I didn’t get much traction with my ebook and that’s when I stumbled across Amazon Create Space. Create Space is a company owned by Amazon that allows you to self-publish as paperback. Again this wasn’t hugely challenging but when you are new to the options and settings it requires a little research. After a few attempts at formatting I decided to use a company called ‘Sleeping Cat Books’. They provided an excellent service and were great value.

What was the best part about releasing your book?

Seeing it live on Amazon and then showing it to my kids for the first time.

What was your favourite childhood book?

I enjoyed many of the traditional Ladybird books, such as the Magic Porridge Pot and the Enormous Turnip. I also have a copy of a book called ‘Podgy and I’ which was released around 1925 by Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd, given the state of my copy it could well be an original. I read this to my children who think it’s quite fun that I am reading them a story that I had at their age.

Who are your favourite designers and/or brands?

The books we get now are very much decided on by the kids, we have quite a few books by Nick Sharratt which we enjoy, as well as a few by Julia Donaldson such as The Gruffalo and Room on a Broom.

Do you prefer ebooks or physical books? Why?

Physical, not sure why, there is just something about holding book compared to holding and eReader.

How much does your book cost?

£1.99 for the eBook and £5.99 for the paperback, 25% of all royalties are being donated to Tommy's  (http://www.tommys.org/)

Where can we find your book / where it is for sale?

Ebook - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucys-Loo-Loo-Land-Matthew-Evans-ebook/dp/B00O96HSYW/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424103135&sr=8-1&keywords=Lucys+Loo+Loo

Paperback - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucys-Loo-Loo-Land-Matthew-Evans/dp/1507747217/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424103135&sr=8-1&keywords=Lucys+Loo+Loo

Is there anything else you want to add?

Due to some guidelines from the Create Space service my book didn’t have enough pages so I added a version of the book with no colour or text which means this is a book and colouring book all rolled into one.

Thankyou for reading, and a huge thank you to Matthew Evans for the interview!