Bologna Childrens Book Fair!

So last week I made it to The Bologna Childrens Book Fair! It was AMAZING!! Lots of fantastic inspiring art to be seen and lots of wonderful friends were there too!

My agents had a mock up of my Pic Book idea on their stand which was great to see! (Hope some publishers liked it!)

I stayed with my faves ladies Sam Meredith and Fiona Lumbers in a cute little apartment :)

We bumped into lots of illustrator and publishing chums... 

The Steves and Karen :D 

Laura Ella Anderson doing her incredible thing!

We also spotted handsome celebs as an extra bonus!

Bologna itself is super pretty. Highly recommend going up the tower if you can! The views were breathtaking!

Here's some snaps of nice things from inside the fair...

Jim Field at Egmont

Louise Forshaw at Miles Kelly

What's really great about Bologna is seeing the huge variety of illustration styles from all over the world. The fair can be quite overwhelming when you consider the amount of illustrators vying for work, but at the same time there are so many publishers across the globe it sort of reassures you that there's probably enough work to go about! (I hope!) :D

I was pretty rubbish at taking lotsa of decent pictures so hopefully if I am able to go next year I'll do a better job of it!

After Bologna my husband came to join me in Florence for a few days, it's absolutely beautiful there! I'd quite fancy making it a bit of a longer holiday next time! :D 

Belated Easter Tidings!

Late Easter wishes from five year old me.

The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat event stateside!

Stole this from @Margielogues on twitter! She did an event at Unlikey Story, Plainville MA! 

I love how everyone is dressed up to take part of one of the many characters in the book!

"Storytelling magic with a colorful cast @unlikely__story for the debut of The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat. Thanks for a royal time! Great turnout! "

First day of Spring!

It was the first day of spring today! With the help of my thick Batman Xmas jumper, I managed five mins or so of nearly warm weather in the garden at lunchtime.

Publication Day!

*PUBLICATION DAY ALERT* It's #ThePrincessandtheCafeontheMoat 's Book Birthday today!!

Sinusitis AGAIN!

Have hunkered down on the sofa to draw as I'm full of lurgy. I've been really good at only drawing in my tiny studio, but sometimes you have to slob out! 

What do you do when you're under the weather but have things to draw?!

Good Samaritan Day

Here's a lovely post on 'The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat' on Celebrate Picture Books blog!

Doodle

#1 fairy godchild wasn't feeling very well today, so made for an excellent model to do a quick sketch of this afternoon! (He perked up when mam got home )

International Womens Day

A late in the day sketch for #internationalwomensday! I thought I'd pay homage to some of the female characters that had an impact on me as a kid! (Bonus points if you can make any of them out from my pencil scratchings )

Tiny Tiger

Sent this tiger cub off today!

Colour Collective- Gainsboro

Did a wee drawing for a friend earlier this week and it fits handily in with @Clr_Collective Gainsboro!

White Rabbits Day

I always try and say 'WHITE RABBITS DAY!' first thing on March 1st (which I always fail at, for the request for tea is always foremost in my mind) anyways, as it's also #WorldBookDay here's that elusive lucky white rabbit as his fave book character.

World Book Day!

Happy #WorldBookDay! I've just seen that 'The History Museum' I illustrated for Bonnier Publishing: Five Mile Press, is out in June! (Link here) Here's a sneak peek of what you can find in the book :D

And not forgetting 'The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat' is out later this month or next I think! See my previous post with the first review in on the book (Link here)

Some silly paint tubes!

Doodle

Sketchbooky foxy

1st review for The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat!

1st review in for 'The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat' I illustrated last year! Read it here...

It's out next month I think! ...

"Chloe Douglass’ illustrations are kid-friendly and diverse, with an array of characters (including African American) on every page" :D

Sketchbooking

It's a bit of sketchbooking kind of a day

Last dummy rough done!

Last rough done for the dummy! Me and Bear have the same expression right now

Warm up winter olympics doodle

I am enjoying that the girls who do skiing and snowboarding pull the front bits of their hair through their helmets

Sunday Mood

Colour Collective-Boto Pink

Some days are just doggone hard to feel chipper. Especially if you're made to wear a pink tutu. 

Roughing

A loose line  (Am I the only one that giggles at that term?!)

Colour Collective -Delft Blue

sophies choice

when your art imitates life....this is me in my kitchen realising I need to start making some Sophie's choice decisions on what makes the postcards for the book fairs this year... *stirs tea endlessly*

Book Cover

Over on twitter theres a link going on where you get nominated to post a book cover with no reason or explanation.  Off the top of my head I chose this one :)

Doodling

Spent this evening listening to Prof Lauren Stewart’s inaugural lecture @GoldsmithsUoL The hubby got a cracking name drop at the end for his PhD work in upper limb rehabilitation research for stroke survivors @GoldsmithsMSP and I managed some doodling

100 Years

Today's warm up doodle. Here's to those women who gave everything to pave the way for us to have a vote. 1918 saw women over 30 who met minimum property requirements get a vote. The Equal Franchise Act 1928 meant all women over 21 had the right to vote on equal terms with men.

Roughs

Goodness! Colour spread for the dummy is due Friday! Hop to it Duck!

Work in Progress