The Fox the Crow and the Cheese (Aesops)

Some new illustrations using the original text from Aesops.

1. A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of
cheese in its beak and settle on the branch of a tree

2. "That's for me as I am Fox," said Master Reynard
as he walked to the foot of the tree.
"Good day Mistress Crow," he cried.

Sketch (Anna Violet)

The Crow lifted her head and began to CAW her best,
but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of
cheese FELL to the ground...

sketch (Anna Violet)

"Do not trust flatterers!"

Illustrations for Bolton Museum

Thrilled to have drawn the black and white illustrations for Bolton Museum’s Animals & Us exhibition, including Leopold the mouse. Exhibition opens 3rd December.

Promoting the exhibition are five fun animal displays with a story-theme, set up in the foyer and library (see below). Stuffed animals from Museum's Victorian collection.

Leopold the Mouse (before colour)

Leopold the Mouse

The Fantastic Mr Fox

The Fantastic Mr Fox

The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs

Little Red Riding Hood

The Owl and the Pussycat

Character development using clay - colours added

Hoink has been fired with iron oxide for orange-colour plus a satin glaze over white slip around his eyes. Clod, the badger, has white slip stripes and manganese dioxide for blackish colour.

Flying Pig

April Fools Day today.

Crows

The crows are nesting in our chimney again, I can hear them chuckling through the wall.

More character development with clay

Badger character

alpine goat character

Character development using clay: Hoink

Using clay to develop character of Hoink

Seasons Greetings

Yikes, it's December already! Meet some of Santa's helpers.

The Enormous Crocodile

I've been drawing a lot of crocodiles recently!

Tweet a micro-story

Tweet a micro-story each day up until xmas at Words & Pictures
http://www.wordsandpics.org/2014/12/december-9th-anna-violet.html

Tiny wren

Tiny wren featured in scbwi's Word & Pictures celebration feature last Monday
http://www.wordsandpics.org/2014/03/now-we-are-one.html

Happy christmas

This little wren features on the scbwi Words and Pictures advent calendar today - see
http://www.wordsandpics.org/2013/12/19th-december-anna-violet.html#comment-form
Some wonderful tweetable stories going up each day in response to each image.

Promotional Mailer Challenge

Just found out I won the scbwi promo mailer competition challenge (at the scbwi Winchester Conference last weekend) and I'm thrilled to bits! Here it is, a never-ending fold! Great fun to make, too - apart from lining up the printer to double-side print in exactly the right place. With thanks to Trish Phillips who showed me this template a while ago at her workshop - I've been itching to put it to use ever since.
More about scbwi conference illustration winners here
Words & Pictures - Online Magazine of SCBWI British Isles

Party sketches

Some fast-sketching for a friend's 50th birthday party, with band, ceildh, card tricks, roll-a-pound-at-the-whisky, singing, candles, bar, cake and good company. What a wonderful evening!