Frank! Activities.

Please feel free to download & colour Frank & The Giant Zombie Lizard King. 

Right click or control click to download.

Make sure Frank is on time by helping him get to school, you'll be a-mazed if you get him there on time : )

Have fun!

Frank!

So, with just a couple of weeks before Frank! has his official launch, here are a few items of news to wet you appetites.

Frank! takes GOLD at the Mom's Choice Awards *air punch* *checks no one is watching*

Thanks to all involved for choosing Frank! for Best Children's Picture Book.

I've uploaded a Book Trailer for Frank! over on my Vimeo Page & YouTube Channel Go say hello & meet Frank & special guest.

Congratulations to Wendy Greenley of Blue Bell, PA, the winner of the Signed Book Giveaway through Elizabeth O. Dulemba Blog. Big thanks to Elizabeth for such a fantastic review.

 Frank is winging his way to you Wendy, keep an eye on him though, as he's easily distracted : )

If you happen to be in or around The British Library, pop into the Book Shop & say hello...

Many thanks to Rob Biddulph, who's fine book Blown Away sits centre stage. Honoured to be hanging with such great Picture Books.

If you are looking for a copy of Frank! , please go ask in you local Book Shop/Book Store, it's super important that we support our local shops, so hunt one down & go ask for a copy. 

It would be lovely to see the variety of book shops you find Frank! at; so take a selfie with Frank! & tag me Connah Brecon on twitter or instagram with the #Frank!InTheHouse hashtag I'll repost the best shots.

Lucy Frost Is Lost - Part II

So here we go with the spreads, starting at page 3

So,  in the last post I eluded to a 'switch-up', which is the fact that we don't see the real Lucy Frost until the end of the story. We assume Lucy is the elephant, which of course she is, in disguise, but she doesn't get lost through the story, so what are we referring to here? The characters are so absorbed in their fantasy costume play that they forget who is who inside the costumes.

  This is not the main driver in this story though, what we see is Lucy consistently being left out of or feeling unable to join in the activities with the others, until she draws attention to the fact that 'Lucy' is lost & from there she controls all that transpires. Yes, this win is built on a subterfuge but as you know "if you can't join them, beat them"

  As promised, I'll keep you up to date with the process & what transpires from here. The spreads have been compiled into a PDF & sent off to my agents for comments & feedback, which I'll also keep you aware of as they come in. 

 Even though there undoubtedly will be changes to make I need to start thinking about the colour palette & style for this project. It's always a good idea to start this process as early as possible, while you have that initial huge burst of energy for the idea. & given that there will be changes made to either the story, characters or even stylistically, know that you can only ever improve on the art. So don't be scared, I think that's what I'm trying to get out.

So here we are colouring up a sample spread, clearly unfinished & in a state of flux. & below a quick video of my process from scanned image to coloured up character. For a better look pop on over to my youtube channel.

                                         

Lucy Frost Is Lost or How some stuff comes together to make a Picture Book.

OK. So those of you who follow me on twitter or instagram, will have noticed over the last couple of days that I've been posting spreads from a new Picture Book concept. This is something I've been meaning to do for a while now but I tend to get carried away & before you know it  the moment has gone.

  This is not by any means a way for me to drum up interest in a book concept but more as a diary of the journey from idea to finished art. How this particular concept came about & my very unregimented way of working. This query comes up quite a lot both in & out of publishing circles, 'how do you get an idea?   'what happens next?   'how do you make the book?  'how long does it take?
 
 So this time we'll do it before we reach a point of no return...


This book concept came straight out of a line that popped into my head 'Lucy Frost Is Lost'. At the time I was at my desk & had just been sketching out a character to paint up & send to a friend as part of an art swap. So here was this line of words & here was this character sitting in front of me. Now, PB (picture book), ideas never follow the same pattern in the way they come about or even the manner in which they evolve but when it happens this way, there is always a lot of initial energy. Think of it like colliding atoms. So, in this instance it was what has turned out to be the title & the main character. BANG!

I should point out that as I speak the script is unfinished, the thumbnails are incomplete & this could all turn out to be a great load of pants (rubbish). & that does happen, quite a lot in fact. Some ideas just never fly. It's all a gamble but if you don't try, well...

So, without further ado, I am pleased to introduce you to Lucy Frost

& as a way of showing you how unstructured I am here are the current incomplete thumbnail sketches

& for those of you who are going to ask, no, I don't usually work in red pencil. It happened to be at hand when I sketched Lucy & I stuck with it as you'll see with the full scale spreads. Switching up your tools of choice is a great way for allowing yourself a fresh perspective on how you work. & in any case, what's not to like about red.

 In the next post I'll talk about the second trigger that helped kick this script off, switching up perspectives.

 If you'd like to watch the spreads appear in real time please do hop on over to my twitter or instagram accounts. 

Frank!

Received the best post this week:

Hardback colour sample of Frank! from my wonderful editor Lisa Cheng at Running Press.

And yes, it was perfect from jacket to jacket. Look out for further sneak peeks & much more coming soon.

You can pre-order a copy from Amazon or alternately purchase a copy from your local high street book store, if they don't have it on the shelf, politely ask why.

Frank! hits the shelves 30th September 2014

The Year I forgot.

Well, that's not quite true, I clearly haven't forgotten an entire year as those who follow me else-where would know.  But I most definitely have forgotten this part of my world for a year & my only excuse is work, family, work & work. So, to make up for that unforgivable forgetfulness, I have condensed the last year into what I hope are interesting snippets. & so, in reverse order, the year has kind of gone like this...

SEPTEMBER:  We went home to the UK for some well earned R&R, where I dressed up for a wedding, not mine.

Went to London & stayed behind this beautiful building, The Michelin Building.

Dropped in to say high to the crew at Bright HQ.

Went down underground...

came up again & hung out with some of these guys.

& ate at Carluccio's.

Collected some stuff.

Cobnuts

...

Blackberries & Mushrooms

...

Wooly Mammoth Bone

...

Throughout this forgotten year I've been lucky enough to work on some really nice jobs.

Peter & The Wolf - CJ Educations

Robbie Ravenbeak - Pearson UK

Best of Friends - Quirky Kids Clinic

Oops Owl! - Harper Collins Children

Signed an awesome new book deal with Running Press for the Picture Book Frank & here is my editor Lisa Cheng receiving signed contracts with a twist.

Way back, around March, I was invited to talk to the students at Balnarring Primary school... for a week. That's a lot of talking. 

We talked about books, of course & how we create stories & the characters that inhabit them. 

The students were ace & more than willing to go along with my crazy thought trains. 

We drew, a lot. & Proved that you don't have to be good at either drawing or writing to come up with great stories.

So there is the year. It has been a long year, a busy year & finally a year that's here.

Take & decorate.

So here is a very brief breakdown of how we (me & my daughter), made our christmas decorations this year...

Take some Champagne corks & Gum nuts. Acorns would be cool too if you live somewhere where Gum trees are few & far between. So, that's pretty much anywhere except Australia.

Undercoat.

 Colour

Detail & Varnish

Go Nuts

Endless Fun