Billie B Brown- The Big Sister

Here goes another post for those Billie fans! "The Big Sister' is the 9th book in the BBB series and it came out in March 2011. Billie becomes a big sister!
Usually Karri, the lovely editor at Hardie Grant Egmont who has been guiding me from the very beginning, briefs me on the cover illustration before I even get to read the story. This is because the marketing team needs the cover designs well in advance for promotional purposes.

 

I did two roughs. Billie with her teddy Mr Fred was chosen for the final version. Very cute huh.

Then about a month afterward I receive the edited manuscript written by Sally Rippin and I proceed to work on the internal illustrations! :)

I usually do some sketches to work out Billie's wardrobe for the story.

 

Then some roughs to work out how the baby should look...... (read the book if you are curious as to how he/she turned out!) 

  

Then onto the internals! Like any illustration work some changes are always made but I always enjoy working on Billie :)

 

When I did this soccer scene I wanted to convey the loneliness Mr Fred was feeling, thus the illustration is drawn with Mr Fred in the foreground. But Karri suggested for change in perspective. This turned out well and makes the story flow better as Billie is always the central focus of the story. Duh!

I really enjoyed drawing Billie's mum's big bump. Hopefully I will look as good as her if when I get pregnant in the future!

Happy Easter Break!!

Sparkle Creations: Lucy, Josh and Mother's day.

I have been illustrating the designs for Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps store since it's launch last year. These stamps are ideal people who are into crafts, card making and scrap booking!
Sparkle Smith, the store owner, runs weekly and monthly challenges where people can upload their creations and win Sparkle Creations stamps!
Here goes my work process of Cafe Lucy stamp!

 When Sparkle initially briefed me for an image of Lucy with Coffee I came up with Lucy in a teacup rough (holding onto a sugar cube). But Sparkle suggested for a Cafe scenario and we ended up with a stylish Lucy!
When I do these I get the urge to colour them in... but it's more fun seeing how other designers incorporate the stamps into their crafts!

I love how Lisa Hjulberg used this stamp!

 

When I drew Cafe Lucy I also completed Street Corner Josh.

 

The initial rough started off as relaxing Josh on a rocking chair. I like how it turned out. Lisa Seabrook always inspires me with her creations!

Anyway for those who are stuck with ideas for Mother's Day gift why not check out Charlotte stamps. They are ideal for making a personal card! I love these ones made by Simonne Clay!

Wild Rescue Series: Forrest Fire

Before I was in this business of freelance illustration/graphic Design I was clueless as to how much work can be involved for just making one book cover. Wild Rescue series is the first project where I was asked to only do the cover designs as the series already has internal illustrations done by Diane Le Feyer of Cartoon Saloon.
Actually the series has already been published in the UK by Stripes Publishing last year and launched into the market with cover illustrations done by Andrew Hutchinson.
See.

So why am I needed? Well Hardie Grant Egmont decided to relaunch this series in Australia. To give the series a new vibe they decided to remove the beautiful realistic illustrations on the cover, which actually made the series appear as wild life documentary books, and go with something that reflected the inside of the books better- comic style of Diane Le Feyer.

This was my first time where I had to work in someone else's style, quite different to any I have done in the past. Anyway I took on the job. Starting with "Forrest Fire" (the red cover with the Orangutan).
Fist I did some roughs and a quick colour scheme.

 

Going with the right option I came up with some potential directions I could work up the colours and background.

 

Other than the colours and background I started thinking about the new logo design and how the end look can apply to the remaining three books I still had to design. Anyway after this over 30 cover options were pushed back and forth between the lovely editor at Hardie Grant Egmont and I. I could upload them all but that would be a waste of cyberspace.  Here goes some I've picked out so you can get the feel.

 

Anyway the eventually we got there.

And three more followed. But I will talk about those some other day.

The back covers? WELL! That's whole another story!

Anyway the books are great! Suitable for children aged 7+. At the end of each books there are some interesting fact about endangered animals so very educational too! The four books were launched in January 2011. Haven't come across any in shops here (NZ) yet. Hopefully they are doing well in Aussie!

Billie B Brown- The Secret Message

Wow, it has been quite a while since the last blog...
This year has been a busy year, I have 24 books scheduled to come out this year that I have worked on!
Now that 12 of them has already come out in the shops I can share some images and some very late launch updates!
First up, the 8th book in the Billie B Brown series "The Secret Message".

This was released in January by Hardie Grant Egmont. Another lovely story written by Sally Rippin.
Below are some images to show the processes I went through.

As you can see the little girl named Charlotte was a bit too little and young looking in the original rough.

Billie makes a new friend named Harriet  in this story. She started off being rather slim. I like how she is looking in the final illustration, nicely rounded!
Hopefully I will make more effort to keep my blog up to date from now on! I will do another update tomorrow! :)

How quickly time passes. It has already been  7months since the first launch of the Sparkle Creations rubber Stamps. I have been privileged to be illustrating all the stamps, based around eight delightful characters I have designed- Lucy, Chloe, Ruby, Emily, Charlotte, Rin, Josh and Oliver! Sparkle Smith, the young and talented owner of the store, has been releasing new stamps every month. Before we know it, I have illustrated 24 stamps this year  and more to come next year!!! They are cute and whimsical, suitable for all occasions!

Visit the store and check out the store blog. Sparkle does sneak peeks, challenges, and giveaways. Also her talented Design team keep you inspired with their creations using Sparkle Creation stamps!

Xmas Billie

I am happy to announce that Xmas Billie will be in bookstores from November in Australia and New Zealand! I have been so privileged to be illustrating this series. The first four books were published in April this year and as far as I know there will be 10 Billie B books released by mid next year!

Also the lovely editors at Hardie Grant have told me that first six books have already been sold into French-Canada market and will be published there later this year!

Below is a lovely review from the August edition of Bookseller and Publisher:

The Extra-special Helper: Billie B Brown


Billie B Brown’s class is off to the zoo and Billie couldn’t be more proud as she’s going to be her teacher’s extra special helper for the day. Billie needs to make sure that everyone behaves and that no-one gets lost—but is she up to the task? This cute little reader is the latest addition to Sally Rippin’s series for emerging readers that revolves around what the ‘B’ in Billie B Brown really stands for—this time, bossiness. Rippin’s aim is to offer an alternative to fairy and princess readers, and she carefully challenges gender stereotypes through the characters of Billie and her best friend Jack. This story develops their friendship particularly well as Billie learns to juggle her responsibilities as both a friend and helper. Illustrator Aki Fukuoka does a great job of capturing Billie’s quirky and defiantly messy character, complementing the overall bright, modern and friendly series design. Children will want to pick these books up and give them a try—and the layout, with its generous type and fun use of emphasised words, will help keep them going. Short and sweet, this engaging reader for children five years and up also makes a great accompaniment to a first school excursion.


Meredith Tate is a freelance writer, editor and reviewer who has worked for a children’s publisher


Sally Rippin, the author, has written an lovely article on how Billie B Book has come to life. Also she has been uploading some drawings from Billie B fans! Check out the Billie B Brown website for the latest updates and fun games!