Mykonos, by day…

Is this the moth thing?…

The local council had a Moth Fanciers meeting in a meadow in the shade of a towerblock in Camden.

I was expecting to catch hundreds of moths, only to learn they don’t come out in the daytime, and especially not on a 30 degree day. We looked at already caught moths, and learned what the council was doing to promote the spread of moths and butterflies in the area.

The difference between moths and butterflies is to do with their antennae and the way they position their wings when stationary (according to my guide). If you ask me, butterflies are far more colourful too.

The moth scene.

There’s one.

This is one.

For the fashion unconscious…

There are now t-shirts available at the Little Shop. Based on my favourite notebook, with hand lettering on the front cover.

As long as it’s black, you can have any colour you want, but there is a choice of sizes: M and L. The shirt is unisex and in a heavy cotton. Buy four because they also make excellent goal posts.

A word in your shell-like…

Five years ago I recorded Becky Smith reading my picture book Waiting for Chicken Smith, then I started work on another book. Then I moved house, then there was Covid, – and now it’s 2023.

I remember how pleased I had been when I heard Becky make the original reading, so when I listened to the recording again recently, I wanted to be sure to publish it in a video alongside the pictures.

It’s not easy to get a good reading of a picture book. In my picture books, the text is wholly dependent on the illustrations and vice versa. My illustrations extend the meaning of the words, and weave and dodge around them with their own message, making the book a sum of the parts. Introducing a human voice to the mix is like a distraction, but not if it feels right. I think it works well here.

I wrote this book with my childhood summers in Australia in mind and although that’s not apparent in the text, the illustrations make some direct references which probably only have meaning to the author. However, Becky’s voice captures the youthful spirit of the characters and it transcends any sense of place.

I think we recorded it twice, and used the first one. Thanks Becky.

Becky Smith. No relation to Chicken.

Ink on paper…

Painting in ink on newsprint is one of my favourite pastimes.

The paper is a little unforgiving, and the ink doesn’t dry fast enough for my liking, but it’s not bad all the same. I use Artist Spectrum ink and also a big bottle of Indian ink of unknown origin. Well, I know it’s India, but I don’t think it was made there. The label came off the bottle which suggests the ink isn’t the best quality, but I like it and it’s plentiful. I’ve had the bottle since 2015 because I dilute it with tap water.

85 Fleet Street…

I made a drawing of Edwin Lutyens’ building at 85 Fleet Street for a commission.

Built in 1935, it was the London headquarters for Reuters until 2005 but now it looks as though it’s a restaurant (on the ground floor at least). It sure looks like a Lutyens building: austere (with flourishes), classical, monumental and built to last. It has fine art deco touches too, especially the entrance on Fleet Street.

But compared to the giants he created in India and elsewhere, this building is quite neat and tidy. Like the Cenotaph here in London.

The half finished drawing of 85 Fleet Street.