Busy busy!

Hello! I hope you haven't forgotten about me! Since I started illustrating The Shopkeeper's Apology, I have been incredibly busy. And I mean, like, crazy busy! Obviously, my little girl comes first, but everything else has been about working on this project, whether that means pushing pixels, or learning more about the craft of creating children's books.

In fact I have learned so much from The School of Visual Storytelling, (www.svslearn.com) that I have had to completely rework some of my initial pieces.

It's been an amazing process though and now that I can see the finish mark, I am feeling a little reflective. I feel like I have definitely found my bliss in doing this and would love to do more.

Another great aspect of disappearing into fairy world is that it's a lot more colourful there than it has been outside in the real world. Cornwall is only just beginning to lift its shroud of grey and whisper promises of Spring. We have had a few sunny days and it feels like there is a world out there that needs to be explored.

Tabitha actually had a paddle in the sea at Perranuthnoe yesterday, oblivious to the cold and delighting in rock pools and the feel of the water. I'm so excited to be able to share such a rich and beautiful playground with her and can't wait to get in the water myself!

It was my birthday at the beginning of March and I now have an iPad pro as a result. It is really good and is enabling me to pay attention to details that I couldn't quite reach before. It's hard to explain, but it's made work so much easier and pleasurable and that makes me very happy.

This is one of the first pictures in the book and it has undergone quite a transformation! There is room on the right for text.

The picture below is how I initially did it, but it wasn't working as it looked like the prince was kind of floating and there was no real sense of drama!