"Lazy Jack" by Tony Ross (1985) - part 2

Three more from Tony Ross's take on this traditional story...

"Lazy Jack", Tony Ross, published by Puffin Books, London 1985

Possibly my most favourite of Tony Ross's books. It's full of subtle visual jokes, quirky characters and hilarious scenes - which makes it a pleasure to read to the kids. There's so much to be learned, as an artist, by looking at Ross's deceptively simple drawings. The playfulness in the shapes, the light source, the landscape in the background are an inspiration! Here is a link for a brief biography of the great artist http://www.horridhenry.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=102

Crime Fiction Magazine Covers from the 1950's, part 2

Crime Fiction Magazine Covers from the 1950's

Discovered these in a dusty cupboard at my parents' house where I'd left them some ten years ago! These were published in Greece from the mid-thirties onwards and I imagine they would have been quite popular because they ran for decades. Each issue had a collection of serialised famous crime, spy and science fiction stories (mainly American and British). Some of the characters featured were Flash Gordon, Nick Carter, Lemmy Caution, Poirot and even James Bond! Great stuff. I can't see who the illustrators were for these but I just love the quality of the printing, the style and the energy in the pictures. These covers are from 1956.

"Eloise In Paris", Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hilary Knight (London 1958)

More from this wonderful and funny book...

Submission for the "Infectious" design competition

Thought some of you might like to vote for my artwork entry to last month's www.infectious.com design competition - I don't believe that the design with the most votes wins anyway. I think they just select the design that could potentially sell the most products. Some interesting illustrations on this website on the whole though. Here's the link to mine:http://www.infectious.com/voting/harris13/cannot-commit/8781

"Eloise In Paris", Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hilary Knight (Max Reinhardt - London 1958)

These drawings are such a pleasure to look at. I was so pleased to find this at a local book-shop some months ago. The book has dozens of illustrations full of amazing details of people, streets and buildings in funny stories. The artist gives us a brilliant account of what life and fashions would have looked like in Paris of the 1950s - seen, of course, through a rich girl's eyes.

There were four "Eloise" books published from 1956 - 59 and all became best sellers making both writer and illustrator famous and - I imagine - wealthy. Here's Hilary Knight's link on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Knight . The character of Eloise was inspired apparently by Kay Thompson's goddaughter - none other than Liza Minnelli according to Wikipedia!

I'll post a few more pictures from it tomorrow.

"You've Got Dragons" Kathryn Cave & Nick Maland (illustrator), Hodder Children's Books, London 2003

Back to blogging after a very busy summer - not had a holiday yet... Blogger is acting really weird the past few days and hasn't been letting me publish my posts! Maybe it's just a hick-up.

I've been meaning to post this one for a long time. The quality of the illustrations as well as the printing of the book is really stunning. The atmospheric style of the artist is ideal for taking us through the dream world of the young boy. A very interesting inter-play between reality and the imagination full of the massive dragons. Nick Maland's work does remind me a bit of Maurice Sendak's work but these are more "serious" looking monsters and quite intimidating too. I love the way he shows the scale of the dragons next to the tiny child and how they are made to fit in the landscape or in the room he happens to be in. Beautiful decorations, patterns and details in every picture.