Showing posts with label picture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label picture. Show all posts

Monday 7 November 2016

'Bluebird' Children's Book Illustration - Speed painting

Bluebird Illustration Speed painting



I love watching speed paintings, and now I'm addicted to making them too! There's something very satisfying about watching a blank canvas transform before your eyes, I cant help but watch it over and over.


I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it!










This illustration was created for Laura Bullock's book; "Where Do You Live, Animal Friend?" and is available on Amazon here; Where Do You Live, Animal Friend?


If you need an illustrator for your children's book, you can email me at izzybean@izzybean.co.uk



Tuesday 17 March 2015

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?





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!


Tuesday 30 December 2014

Racing Pigs, Rescue Dogs, Chameleons and so much more! - 'End of the Year' Blog Post by Izzy bean Illustrations!


2014 has come to a close, and what a fantastic year it has been!

I've been lucky enough to work with some incredible people on such fantastic projects - every time I get an email from a potential client I can't wait to see what adventures I might be getting up to next! 2014 did not fail to deliver, so let's see what it brought...

Racing Pigs!


The year started off with a new Fairy Tale Trail book from a long time client Evergreen Creations LLC. Adding to an impressive line of books I've illustrated for this super company, including 'Beauty and the Bees' and 'Ciderella', The 'Three Racing Pigs' was a great way to start the year!


The Fairy Tale Trail is a great series of modern twists on old classics - all in the name of promoting agriculture education! Check out these pictures of children following the stories through corn mazes and farms across the US.





Doesn't it look like fun?!

You can find out more about the Fairy Tale Trail by visiting their website;


And you can purchase the books through Amazon;



The Three Racing Pigs set the standard for 2014 and the rest of the year whizzed by! 





I couldn't possibly talk about all of them, in fact I couldn't even pick out my favourite as they are all so fun! Here are a few random highlights that I'd like to share with you. 


The Sea Creatures are back!


Do you remember the loveable Sea Creatures battling the tide in Grandma PaintPot's beautiful book? Well they make a second appearance in Book Two - Leonard Limpet Makes A Splash!




Grandma PaintPot doesn't disappoint, this book is packed full of action, adventure and daring acts! 

You can buy this, and the first book in the series, through Amazon

Featuring the letter L...


2014 saw a lot of repeat custom, with Elinor Hamilton bringing me another book from her delightful range of 'speech therapy' sing-a-long nursery rhymes. This one is a favourite I'm sure you will all know, go on, have a little sing!



You can visit the official website here;


A Promise and A Pledge...


I had heard of '1000 Books Before Kindergarten' before being contacted for this project. However when I started to find out more, I really appreciated just how great it really is.

"The concept is simple, the rewards are priceless. Read a book (any book, including this one) to your newborn, infant, and/or toddler. The goal is to have read 1,000 books (yes you can repeat books) before your precious one starts kindergarten. Does it sound hard? Not really if you think about it. If you read just 1 book a night, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That is 730 books in two years and 1,095 books in three years. If you consider that most children start kindergarten at around 5 years of age, you have more time than you think."


You can find out more about the project on their official website, which features articles, advice, reviews and tips!


They even have an iTunes app!

Candy Chameleon...


In all my years of illustrating, I get to draw all manner of things. However, I had yet to draw a chameleon. So when Roxanne Dial contacted me about her book, I couldn't wait to get started! 

Candy Chameleon is the story of a lizard who has to find a way of standing out when she naturally blends in. I loved the premise and I loved using all the colours to bring Candy to life. This was a project I really enjoyed! 






You can buy the book right here!


The Missing Cakes


Last, but most definitely not least, is Policeman Paul by Chris Cader. A well written story about missing cakes - with loveable characters and a great plot twist! I'm not giving the game away, you'll have to read it for yourself!






So that's it for 2014. It's been a fun ride, thanks to everybody who shared it with me! My diary for 2015 is already starting to fill up fast, so I'll be sure to share some updates with you very soon!

I'd like to say and extra special thank you to all my clients - thank you for bringing me such fun and interesting projects to illustrate - you're the reason I love my job!

In the meantime, if you have a project you need illustrating, you can email me at izzybean@izzybean.co.uk

I hope you all had a year as good as I did, and I hope you have an even better 2015!

Izzy Bean