Zara Slattery - The Blog

The day Mrs Prune became Prunella

2012-03-07T04:16:00.001-08:00

After creating Mrs Prune I sat back, ever so contented, and admired her. I admired her until a little comment about noses burst open a little niggle that had sat quietly brooding. A week went by with quiet indecision - life rolled on, but with a higher than normal propensity for distraction. And then it came, more with a pop than a fanfare - Mrs Prune would become Prunella, her nose would be different and all the characters in the story will be children. Bingo! I slept well in my bed that night.

The Apple - Mrs Prune

2012-02-10T06:20:00.001-08:00

The first 6 pages of the Apple are painted, Mrs Prune 'enjoys' a brief encounter with the apple before it bounces off into the bright grey yonder. Still very much a work in progress, there's a lot more I could do with Mrs Prune, although when all five characters are done, it may well work to keep them short and sweet. Am going to give myself time for a few more um's and arrhh's with this one.

Starting with The Apple

2012-01-18T05:34:00.000-08:00

The cover! And the rest will surely follow!

The Apple

2012-01-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

The Apple is a short graphic story that begins in the garden of Mrs Prune. From it's hazy days growing amongst the leaves of an old apple tree to its crunching end, the apple lives a brief but fruitful life amongst the inhabitants of Windy way. Or at least I think it's called Windy way, haven't quite decided yet. Anyway, this is an initial sketch of Mrs Prune, the first of five characters that encounters the apple and she has a penchant for sherbet lemons.

Dickens 2012

2011-11-10T05:01:00.000-08:00

Some new work for The British Council and their DICKENS 2012 celebrations. This is a modern interpretion of Dickens' 'Sketches of Boz' - 'THE STREETS - Morning'.

I've featured the spread plus some details of the frames and some initial pencil sketches.
http://literature.britishcouncil.org/projects/2011/dickens-2012/sketches-by-boz-sketching-the-city

Despite an early and somewhat chilly start, wandering about the streets of London, this was a great job - one which has been a joy to do.

Was I talking about colour?

2011-09-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

Was I talking about colour? Here's the greyscale - long story or not so long story. Anyway the long and short of it is that I'm rather liking greyscale, just a smidgey.

The first 16 pages can be viewed below.

Summer Days

2011-09-21T02:42:00.000-07:00

I've spent the summer up a welsh mountain, mid-winter, illustrating a book for Harpercollins. The book is called 'Wild Cat', written by Berlie Doherty and is part of the Big Cat series. The book has about 47 colour illustrations, I can't show all of them so here are a few of my favourites. http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles/64840/wild-cat-berlie-doherty-zara-slattery-9780007428335

Fitting a square illustrator into a graphic novel shaped hole.

2011-07-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

When I posted my last blog I thought I knew how my book would look, but and it was a huge BUT, something wasn't working. Apart from the odd pic the gouache and ink just wasn't telling the story and the line was just wrong. After a few navel gazing weeks I dumped it all and started again. I lay down my dip-pen and picked up the most splendid brush and suddenly I was transported back into the story.
After finding the right line the next question was colour - 'to colour or not to colour?' I hate making decisions when I have time to make them. I thought a little colour would be nice because I like red hair, and that would probably be reason enough but for the fact its for kids and I think kids like colour, just a smidgey.

It begins

2011-05-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

The first draft of my graphic novel for children, The Paper Bird is complete!!!!!
I can't help tinkering though, itchy fingers and all, so...
I'm going to colour up one or two more spreads and then leave it for a while to allow fate to take a hand. This is page 2 which is sort of where it begins.

Meanwhile Popa Bill is waiting-

Going back to my roots on Brighton Sketchcrawl

2011-04-18T04:38:00.000-07:00

I ventured out for the latest Brighton sketchcrawl on Saturday and hooked up with some fellow artists in Pavillion Gardens. Admittedly I did more talking than sketching there, however, the next stop was far more productive. We headed over to New England House for a spot of life drawing with Jake Spicer, which was great!
I think it must be eleven years or more since I last did a spot of life drawing and I remember really enjoying it back then. Am going have to try and fit a session or two into my week me thinks.

Introducing Popa Bill

2011-04-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

Introducing the star of my next Graphic novel, 'THE STORY OF POPA BILL'. I think I must be bonkers, even before the last tweeks of the last GN are complete, I'm compelled to start the next beastly book. I'm only two pages in and it's not taken over my life yet, so I can still look upon him fondly. It'll be a different story after I've plunged him into the erksome unknown beyond the pail!!!

Colouring the old GN

2011-03-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

After spending so long scribbling away in pencil and tweeking on the computer, it feels really good to be working in ink and gouache again. The pencil sketches seem to work so I wanted to carry that feeling through to the next stage. Gone are the days I used to paint with gleaming, pristine brushes - now, the tattier the better - this might change before too long when the control freakery kicks in again.

Tópé Arrives

2011-03-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

When not working on the Graphic Novel!
This is some recent work for self-publishing author Wendy Hue. It's a great story about a little boy adjusting to life in England after loosing his parents in a motor accident in Nigeria.

After the critique comes the hard work

2011-03-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

Big thanks to Laura Atkins my writing Guru and guide through this at times jumbly process.
After pouring through the notes of Laura's critique of the old GN, I'm finally getting to work editing/amending it. I thought this bit would be easy after the somersaults of writing it in the first place!!!! It feels a bit like an episode of 'Heroes'- tieing up all the loose ends of the plot and then thinking of a hundred more I could add and all those missed opportunities.
In the meantime I'm trying to keep it together and find that there is a lot more drawing to be done, a couple of spreads and the odd page or two.
This being one of the odd pages. I found myself squinting and holding the paper about a foot away and talking to myself when doing this pic. Mmm...

Magnificent kids and their flying machines

2011-02-18T04:15:00.000-08:00

Magnificent kids and their flying machines. Artwork for a childrens workshop at Shoreham Airport with writer-in-residence, Suzy Joinson.

Flying Rough

2011-02-08T03:54:00.000-08:00

This is a rough for a 30's themed poster that I'm going to paint later today, perhaps. Having delved into the world of 30's picturebooks, I love the characterisation and simplicity of much of the images from the period. The style might well morph its way into the rest of my work, if it hasn't already.

Doodling

2011-02-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

Something I Doodled when I should have been doing something else-and I really did have other things to do and still do.

The First Draft

2011-02-01T03:32:00.000-08:00

Page 84 of what is currently 115 pages. The first pencil draft is written and drawn. Afterwards I put my pencils down and gave myself a few days break, although I couldn't get it out of my head. Am thinking about the big edit of which I'm about to embark on. No doubt it will be the first of many.

Another year, another week, another page.

2011-01-12T01:45:00.000-08:00

Very nearly there, these are pages 66 and 67 or possibly 68 and 69. It's all becoming a bit of a blur. I do believe I'm embarking on page 73 which is has heart stopping drama within it's frames. Just what any young whipper-snapper needs in a fairy tale. Trying to trot to the end rather than gallop, although in reality it feels a little more as if I'm crawling.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

*MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR*

I wish, I wish

2010-11-22T05:34:00.000-08:00

I wish, I wish, I wish that Fairy Tales didn't take so long to write/draw/compile. I feel like I'm living a slightly absurd double life, with one toe permanently dipped in a far away place whilst the rest of my body gets on with the practical day-to-days. Probably better that way round than the other.

Another day another few pages along.

2010-11-12T02:25:00.000-08:00

Sketch page 53 of 55 of what will be ? pages. This is something of a breakthrough page in the old GN. I was limping along from page 51, getting a tad lost when suddenly it/I started to pull together again. Can see the wood for the trees now-I know exactly where we're going now and how to get there, I think.

Painting a giddyeyed O

2010-10-20T03:21:00.000-07:00

Having combated many a distraction in the form of tea-drinking, biscuit eating and radio listening, I've finally painted page 10. Whoop!

Painting a gogo

2010-10-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

The latest version of my graphic novel in gouache and ink. Ever so slightly different from the last.

A page 10 frame

2010-10-01T03:49:00.000-07:00

A frame that was great fun to paint and one that I really rather like.

Digital page 6, now where's my brush

2010-09-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

For a creature of inky habits, it's been a fun exercise and I rather like this. One might say I'm a little slow with the old PS-it has taken 5 days out of my life and if I had painted it probably only 2/3. I have a wacom blister and the old groove at the end of my middle finger is missing the feel of a brush.
I'm still asking myself the question:- Do I want to hand paint a graphic novel of something in the region of 100 pages?

Like a dog with a bone

2010-09-16T01:20:00.000-07:00

Think I'm slowly getting there. Rather like this little morsel of a page. Still going to paint a version, tis an itch that must be scratched even if in vain.

A previous incarnation

2010-09-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

A previous incarnation of an earlier draft in gouache.

Marsh digisketch 2

2010-09-10T04:49:00.000-07:00

Toying with the idea of colouring in photoshop or painting by hand, hence another not so late experiment with another frame from the novel. As yet, I'm undecided.

Mistress Pate at Images 34

2010-09-08T02:37:00.000-07:00

I had a good evening at the AOI Images 34 exhibition last night. The quality of the work was great so it is especially nice to see good old Mistress Pate hanging there.

Dum Dum Girls for Spindle magazine, Brighton.

2010-09-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

A brief dalliance with photoshop and a little flurry into indie pop for Spindle magazine. Could have done with a T-pot, a few cups and saucers and a bit of cake, but that would have been too much. Very happy with the bugs instead.

The 'Paper Bird' or the 'the House on the Marsh'

2010-09-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Am up to page 44 in sketching out my graphic novel, there are possibly another 44 to go, who knows. I'm still really excited about it although I'm taking my time before I start page 45. To get my head into gear with the pace of the story I've just started pulling the text from sketchbook and adding it to the illustrations, which is quite satisfing.