Procrastinating for profit...

I'm lucky to have Judith Kentish's studio at my disposal for a few weeks. Its previous life was as a church. I have a lot of things to start, drawing mostly, and have bought a large bottle of ink. In the meantime I am procrastinating like a champion. There are many ways to do this:

Pretend you're looking at paper. 

Pretend you're looking at paper. 

Pretend you're reading something associated with what you're about to do. 

Pretend you're reading something associated with what you're about to do. 

Make an urgent phone call. 

Make an urgent phone call. 

I think there's someone at the door. 

I think there's someone at the door. 

Better go to the shops now in case they close early for some reason. 

Better go to the shops now in case they close early for some reason. 

Go to the beach first. 

Go to the beach first. 

Gain a better vantage point. 

Gain a better vantage point. 

A new perspective helps enormously. 

A new perspective helps enormously. 

Maybe not. Try exercise. 

Maybe not. Try exercise. 

Eventually. 

Eventually. 

Sit, dog...

Dog sitting involves many skills including keeping your dog entertained.  Here, Sam's tableaux vivant 'The Five Seasons' occupied the hours before breakfast and after a swim.

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All aboard…

The studio is moving over the next two months. It will soon have a very sunny disposition and I will miss the je ne sais quoi of where i work now.

Bon voyage
david mackintosh studio detail
david mackintosh studio
david mackintosh studio

There's A Bug On My Arm That Won't Let Go is GO…

A new picture book is now in production for publication in 2017. If you like cats you may like this book. If you are a bird, you will hate it. If you like Christmas Beetles (like I do,) you will like to hang about long enough to find what happens to a bug in new and unfamiliar surroundings.

The book is set in a garden, overseen by a black cat and a bird in a tree. It's also set in Sentinel Book and Bold. You'll find a bathtub in the backyard and a garden hose with a life of its own. 

“A weed is simply a plant whose virtues we haven’t yet discovered”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The UK jacket.

The UK jacket.

Garden cuttings.

Garden cuttings.

If you look hard enough you'll find a stink bug.

If you look hard enough you'll find a stink bug.

NEW Sherlock Holmes Adventures…

I just received my copies of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Alma Books, 2016). This edition in the Children's Classics Series from Alma includes a section of notes and extra material at the end. Look for the engineer's thumb which was left on the window sill of the country house.

The illustrations were made in ink and kraft paper.

Marshall Armstrong is the line leader…

Thank you to The Second Grade class at The Diamond Path Elementary School in Minnesota for writing and illustrating their own story about Elizabeth Bell, the new girl in Marshall Armstrong is New To Our School.

Not only are the drawings fantastic, but the story is very clever and takes up where I left off. They even introduce us to their teachers at school.

Perhaps my favourite part is when Marshall Armstrong is declared Line Leader.

Thanks again Grade Two for taking time to make the book, and to send me my own copy for my bookshelf.

marshall armstrong minnesota
marshall armstrong minnesota
marshall armstrong minnesota