The Three Little Pigs... and the Big Bad Wolf.

Three Little Pigs © Nicola L Robinson 2014 All Rights Reserved.

A new illustration, my take on the classic three little pigs, and the big bad wolf. I had envisaged this to be a more colourful piece, but in the end decided to focus on the action and keep the colours restricted to the pigs and the wolf's long red tongue, with a gloomy grey forest background. (Which seems to match the current weather here)

If you look carefully you can see the ruins of the first couple of pig's houses in the top right behind the trees...


Here are some close ups-

Run little pigs run! © Nicola L Robinson 2014 All rights reserved

Ruins  © Nicola L Robinson 2014 All rights reserved

Run © Nicola L Robinson 2014 All rights reserved

Wolf jaws © Nicola L Robinson 2014 All rights reserved.

Wolf tail  © Nicola L Robinson 2014 All rights reserved.

Also on my illustration portfolio website here - www.nlrobinson.co.uk

Monster Listening Party signed prints now available...

A quick note to all the lovely people who have been asking about my Monster Listening Party illustration, I'm touched to have had so much interest in the piece and am pleased to say it is now available as a signed print in my Teeth and Claws shop.

www.teethandclaws.co.uk
 
Would make a lovely alternative Christmas gift... haha

Also check out the many dragons and other illustrated beasties in my shop :)


Update - April 2015, I have stopped selling prints of Monster Listening Party for the time being, should you desperately wish to have one do get in touch and I will be pleased to bring them back, but in the meantime do take a look at my other illustrated beasties and cards in my Teeth and Claws shop - www.teethandclaws.co.uk

SCBWI British Isles Winchester conference charity print sale...

My monster prints getting ready to go to their new homes...

I was thrilled when my illustration - Monster Listening Party was selected for the illustrator showcase (and travelling exhibition) at this year's SCBWI British Isles' Annual Conference in Winchester alongside lots of other fantastic illustrator's work. I couldn't make the conference myself so it was nice to know one of my monsters would be there in my absence, keeping an eye on things for me :)

This year I was also pleased to be able to donate 5 prints of my illustration for the charity print sale- with all proceeds going to War Child, and was delighted to hear the print sale was a great success (and that my print sold out of all 5 prints.)

Monstrous thanks to everyone who bought one of the illustrator prints in the charity sale and also to the fabulous hardworking SCBWI members who gave their time to running it!

Tree of birds, monster birds, new illustration. Colour and pen and ink.

Tree of monster birds illustration - © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Tree of monster birds illustration Colour Detail 1 - © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Tree of monster birds illustration Colour Detail 1 - © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Tree of monster birds illustration- Pen and Ink - © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Tree of monster birds illustration Pen and Ink detail 1 - © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Tree of monster birds illustration Pen and Ink detail 2 - © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Some recent illustration work of mine, a tree of monster birds, with a deep orange sky, seems apt for Halloween, and now the nights are getting longer and somewhat darker... 

Visit my website to see more of my work - Tree of Birds on Nicola's Illustration Website

The Anatomy of a Monster...

Monster © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Earlier this year I was asked by the lovely folks at SCBWI's Words and Picture blog if I'd like to write something for them for Halloween, and I was delighted to do so. I have written an article all about monsters, under the title, The Anatomy of a Monster, covering some thoughts about monsters and their defining characteristics and some monster drawing tips too, all illustrated with lots of lovely monsters, some of them mine and a few of my favourite classic beasts too.

If you're feeling sinister, hop on over to the Words and Pictures blog to read it!

The Anatomy of a Monster by Nicola L Robinson

Cat art prints and cards are go... Meow :)

Cat art prints © Nicola L Robinson 2014

I've just launched my new range of illustrated cat prints and cards via my shop - 

www.teethandclaws.co.uk

Featuring three of my favourite breed's of cat, a grumpy persian cat, a cuddly british shorthair and an elegant but playful birman cat.


Available now as signed art prints, set of three prints and cat greeting cards both individually and as a set. 

Cats at www.teethandclaws.co.uk

My illustrated cats are fully house trained and very cheap to look after, they just need a nice warm comfortable wall to adorn. In fact they would make the purrfect gifts for the cat lover in your life this Christmas...

Read more about my cat art prints and cards over on my Teeth and Claws Blog

A Monster picture book for Halloween - The Monster Machine

The Monster Machine, a monster picture book...

Halloween is not far away now, which means lots of spooky things are ahead, witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts and all manner of creatures that go bump in the night, for me it means monsters, particularly the monsters from my very own monster picture book - The Monster Machine.

Inside The Monster Machine, a monster picture book by Nicola L Robinson

If you haven't read a copy yet, this Halloween is the perfect time to do so, the monster machine is not a scary Halloween themed picture book (there are plenty of those out there to discover, and we love those too!) but a monster picture book about a boy and his dad and their monster making machine, and it's packed full of monsters.  A great monster read for little boys and little girls too, particularly those who like lots of things to look at in their picture books, and a fun text to read aloud. (approx 350 words)

I love The Monster Machine so much I even built it its own monster website (plus the monsters were getting a bit difficult to handle so they needed their own space) do visit it here, the monsters will be so pleased if you do :)

www.monstermachine.co.uk

There are some monster activities to download including colouring pages, dot to dot and some monster crafts too for children to make with the help of an adult.

The Monster Machine monster picture book is available to buy in your favourite book shops. 

ISBN - 9781843652007

The Monster Machine is written and illustrated by Nicola L Robinson and published by the fantastic people at Pavilion Children's books. It was shortlisted for the Cambridge Children's Picture book award and also selected by the Reading Agency to be part of the creepy house summer reading challenge too! 

The Reluctant Time Traveller by Janis Mackay - Cover Illustration

The Reluctant Time Traveller by Janis Mackay - Cover Illustration

My postman keeps bringing me lovely things... last week he brought me this, a copy of The Reluctant Time Traveller by Janis Mackay, published by Floris Books under their superb Kelpies imprint. I had the pleasure of illustrating the cover for this earlier this year.

This is the sequel to The Accidental Time Traveller- (Winner of the Scottish Children's Book Awards 2014) and is set in World War One...

Find out more about The Reluctant Time Traveller on the Discover Kelpies Website

Available to buy now in your favourite books shops.

ISBN - 9781782501459

Stubborn, hairy & cat shaped... cat illustrations for print

Stubborn ginger cat illustration © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Something stubborn, hairy and cat shaped I've been working on lately, for my new nursery art print range over at Teeth and Claws

Coming soon... Meow :) 

Pen and Ink Ravens/Crow illustrations and art prints

Pen and Ink Raven / Crow Illustration © Nicola L Robinson

The nights are already drawing in and I'm feeling the chill in the air in the mornings, not to mention having to put all my studio lamps on by mid afternoon if not before all week, hello autumn, and hello slightly spookier things... (for a change, haha) I've been meaning to share these inky fellows with you for a little while and so here they are, a few photos of some pen and ink ravens / crows I've illustrated recently... 

 

Pen and Ink in process © Nicola L Robinson 2014

Pen and ink plumage! © Nicola L Robinson 2014

These lovely gothic ravens / crows are drawn in blackest black ink with one of my many scratchy dip pen nibs. I'd also like to add that I didn't set out to draw a crow or raven specifically, there are differences between both birds, my birds are not intended to be accurate depictions, it's just how they came out!

Pair of pen and ink ravens / crows © Nicola L Robinson 2014

For those of you who may be interested these lovely handsome gothic chaps are indeed available as beautiful signed art prints from my Teeth and Claws art print shop here... available in two sizes,  10 x 8 inch and A4. Just in time for Halloween, a lovely gift for the Edgar Allan Poe fan.

Billy Goats Gruff (and a big hairy troll...) Illustration

Billy Goats Gruff illustration © Nicola L Robinson 2014 all rights reserved

When I was a small child I went on lots of walks with my mum and dad, we walked for miles over hills, along river banks and around cliffs and beaches and through lots of beautiful countryside, and when we came to walk over a birdge we would often play act 'Billy Goats Gruff' with the three of us taking our parts as big daddy billy goat, medium sized mummy billy goat and little baby billy goat, with my dad doubling up as the big scary troll...

With this in mind coupled with my love of all things monstrous and fairytale I was inspired to illustrate my own version of the classic tale, set in my own imaginary cityscape a little reminiscent of the Emerald City (if it were left to go derelict) with a little gothic flavour, and a focus on the troll...

I loved working on this piece, all drawn in old school dip pen and ink and painted with watercolour and coloured ink, (with a little digital layering to tidy up highlights and edges, troll is a messy troll.)

Showcase 100 - 100 Illustrations, One Book, One Exhibition

Earlier this year I submitted my illustration work to the Showcase 100 run by the superb Little Chimp Society for members of Hire an Illustrator. It is a juried exhibition and publication of 100 illustrations from some of the best professional illustrators working in the industry today,. I'm absolutely thrilled to be selected as one of them.

My chickens are humbled and proud to be amongst absolutely stunning work from huge names in the art, illustration and design universe... I look forward to the exhibition next year!

Showcase 100

Map Illustration for Men of Letters

Earlier this year I was excited to be commissioned by the AA to illustrate a map of Europe for 'Men of Letters' by Duncan Barrett, a military history book telling the moving story of the Post Office Rifles during World War One. I throughly enjoyed working on this project, which demanded traditional pen and ink illustrations and a lot of research into a fascinating topic. I received my copy of the book last week and have taken a few photos to share with you... 

 

 

 

Men of Letters is available to buy now from all good book shops, and can also be purchased directly from the AA bookshop here- 

Men of the Letters in the AA Bookshop

Pen and ink map illustration by Nicola L Robinson