GRAD SHOW ALERT! MA Children's Book Illustration exhibition at Candid Arts Trust!

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Illustration by Toby Rampton

I have just completed my MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art! More about that another time!
I just wanted to share that our grad show is at Candid Arts Trust (near Angel tube) in London, from 13th - 17th February 2024.

Come and forage through the exciting jungle of work from around 80 graduating children’s book illustration students from Cambridge School of Art! The exhibits on show include picturebooks (‘dummy books’ which are prototypes containing a few finished spreads and lots of rough drawings), posters, lots of book characters peeking from between shelves, and I’m sure there’ll be some character sculptures and other interesting bits and bobs too!

See below for an idea of what the exhibition will be like from a reel I made last year at the same event. The only difference is there are a lot more exhibitors this year. Presumably the lovely cafe will still be next door so I can commence my one-person cake-eating contest.

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I’ll be exhibiting my picturebook dummy ‘A Friend at Fable Hill’, and my comic zine dummy ‘The Neurodivergent Diaries’.

Here’s our grad students’ website.

And our course Instagram account where our work is featured in the lead up to our exhibition!

We hope you can join us and see what we’ve been up to!

Quote By Maurice Sendak to inspire us into the new year

Mail art by Maurice Sendak. Credit: Letters of Note

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Credit: OpenCulture.com

I remember first reading this quote by Where The Wild Things Are writer/illustrator Maurice Sendak somewhere years ago and it truly warmed me up from the inside. I’m sharing it today to spread some warmth around during this cold, bleak January.

Then I shall stick a copy of it above my desk and return to read it often.

Or perhaps I will eat it?

December watercolour observational sketches

Out and about in Cambridge this month with my sketchbook and watercolours. Most of my observational sketches in the cold months are from window views or photographs I take. I prefer to sketch from life directly but not so much when being pelted with freezing rain!

I’m currently experimenting with Kuretake watercolour paints that were a gift for my 40th birthday!

My favourite thing about these paints is the seamless effect of the blended colours when the paint is dry. There is a quality to that blend that I haven’t achieved with other watercolour paints before.

Also they behave nicely on my 140 gsm paper sketchbook pages!

Street musician sketch

Watercolour sketches on location in Cambridge, UK

I’m so used to over-detailing drawings and paintings, so these sketches are a personal exercise in keeping it simple. Trying to avoid outlines and any details that aren’t completely necessary to communicate the subject.

School children at St John’s College

These school children were on an outing to St John’s College in Cambridge. I was visiting someone in the college and saw a gaggle of them striding across the green outside the window, clattering and chattering as children do, lots of skipping along and enthused chats! More of these soon..

Christmas window shopper yawning

Above depicts an evening window shopper yawning. This is what I refer to as too much detail. This is me trying to be restrained with detail but falling back into habits of outlining!

Figure sketches in the street in Cambridge

I’m not enthusiastic about this page, but like the way the man looks shifty, even though he wasn’t in real life.

My attempt at depicting his clothing made him look shady, and that side eye adds to it.

As it’s December and everyone seems to have forgotten their gloves, there have been lots of hands in pockets, which is a shame as I like drawing hands.

Don’t forget your gloves!

Autumn sketchbook: observational drawings in Cambridge

Pages from my current sketchbook, drawing at locations in Cambridge. I find that in some places you can almost guess the location from the people; what they say, how they sit, what they wear, etc. I enjoy catching snippets of conversations as people pass by, or sitting in the bus, or at a cafe. I have notebooks full of these snippets, discovering what my city is talking about.

Kettle’s Yard Garden Kitchen cafe, Cambridge

Above and below are drawings from Kettle’s Yard Garden Kitchen. After pondering the exhibits I sat in the cafe with a bowl of soup (delicious - recommended!) and sketched the staff and patrons. Then walked up the garden path to the quaint St Peter’s Church.

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Kettle’s Yard Garden Kitchen cafe, Cambridge

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St Peter’s Church, Cambridge

Quick line drawings of tourists (and birdies) in the rain by the river at St John’s College.

Cambridge tourists in the rain

Selfie sticks ahoy!

Cambridge central library

In Cambridge Central library I had a little sit down and draw situation in the newspaper and magazine areas. The elderly man on the left was a wonderfully curious character to observe, removing his glasses and peering over the newspaper. Sometimes I see people out and about that I am aching to draw but they are already gone by the time the thought enters my head. At least with libraries they don’t move so quickly!

I have pages of drawings of people punting, but they are not great - it’s so hard to draw not only the people moving very quickly - not just their bodies, but moving along in the boat at speed. I need some more practice and to find a technique of capturing that speed and movement using fewer (and more expressive) lines.

Valentine's Cards - best places to find my illustrated Valentine's Day cards

If you’re interested in buying one of my Valentine’s Day cards (thanks so much!), I thought I’d show where is best to order from depending on location, postage costs and delivery times.

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If you were a bogey, I’d pick you!

If you’re in the UK/Europe, purchasing directly from me via my Etsy shop is the most cost effective way, along with being the quickest! If you’re sending to a UK address, you can order my cards from Thortful and have them sent directly to yourself or your recipient with your message printed inside (I receive a commission/royalty for these and Thortful do the printing/posting.) They also offer add-on options such as sending chocolates, socks, etc.

If you’re in USA, it’s worth looking at my cards on Society6 as they ship from USA so it should in theory be cheaper and faster. Last time I ordered from there my package was shipped from Texas to England. This is another platform that does the printing and posting on my behalf and I receive a commission.

My cards are available on Redbubble with the same commission basis as Society6. They state “we have a global network of 3rd party printers that make your orders. Once you place an order on the site, each item is sent to the independent printer closest to you.”

I love you more than sloths love hibiscus!

I’m sticking with you card.

I also have a Valentine’s mug gift available via Etsy!

If you were a bogey, I’d pick you - mug.

I’m open to suggestions of other platforms to offer my designs via. Please do let me know your favourite place to buy cards by illustrators online!

Nature journal & design sites

Hello!
I’ve been squirrelling away behind the scenes uploading my illustrations to websites such as Redbubble, Society6 and Zazzle.

These platforms do everything from taking your product orders, to printing and manufacturing the items, to delivering the orders.

My most recent illustration, available as the printed front cover of ‘my nature book’, a sketchbook/journal for drawing nature finds, mindful musings, fungi identifications, or what ever one decides to create within.

The designers receive a commission from each product sold. Orders are anonymous and are sent directly from the company to the customer.

The range of products on offer varies from site to site. The products I’m personally offering with my designs are varied too depending on the format and size of the original image files and what the fit onto. If it wasn’t for these sites I wouldn’t be able to offer my images on e.g. side tables or duvet covers which is fun!

‘There’s gnome place like home’ cushion. Click image to see listing on Redbubble.

Time for tea? Click image to see listing on Redbubble.

For future reference, my online shop/product links can be found under Shop —> Stockists in the navigation menu of my website.

Thanks for looking!

New prints in my Etsy shop

Some new prints of my illustrations are now available in my Etsy shop! Click on the images to view the shop listings on Etsy.

Thanks for looking!

Personalised travel/hiking journals

I’ve just listed a couple of new hiking journals in my Etsy shop – inspired by a friend who is currently hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (trail from Mexico to Canada). These are small, lightweight Moleskine brand journals that are easily stashed in a backpack or pocket, and are altered to include a name/place/word above the hand-drawn hiker illustration.

I always carry my own journal to write anything from travel notes to diary entries, and lots of sketches too! I figured these would make thoughtful gifts for hikers, hill walkers, adventurers and explorers ready for their next journey.

Hiker journal with cut-out boots and hiker illustration.

Hiker journal with cut-out heart and hiker/backpacker illustration.

One of a kind personalised journals for hikers.

I have journals just like these from my 8 month backpacking adventure in Central America and several months spent in Canada. I thoroughly enjoy reminiscing with them and reflecting upon those times. Much of what I wrote was day-to-day life observations but it’s those details that set the scene and atmosphere realistically. The bits you might not remember because they didn’t stand out so much, but they help paint the whole picture, emotions included.

Do you write, draw, or take notes when you're out and about?