Some hand-lettering

I was breaking in a new nib today and thought I'd scribble down a few carols to make myself feel festive. We've had a recent studio disaster as an upstairs neighbour went out and left his taps on, causing a giant flood. Luckily we got the computers and books out but I lost some artwork. No studio for me until 2010 now- it's got to dry out!

The Rainbow Thief

Last night I was just drifting off to sleep when a story began to grow in my mind. I woke up remembering something about a magpie and colour. The general gist of it is- a magpie likes to steal objects of various colours and a little girl (or possibly boy) figures out why and brings it all to a happy conclusion. I like magpies, I like their latin name Pica Pica and I like the lovely flash of blue/ green colouring on their wings. As ever, this idea is under development whenever I get the time but I just had to do a quick sketch of my proposed main character. So here he is...

By the way, I hope everyone is enjoying the nicely freshened up website. I'll be doing a mail-out soon to alert people to the changes!

New website on its way!

If you've visited this blog before you may have noticed it now has a new header and colour scheme. This is a sneak preview of the direction my new website will be taking and I hope to have the real thing up at some point this week (fingers crossed!).

SPAM

Based on the title of a piece of spam that landed in my mailbox today...

New Heights

This piece is actually quite big and very long, not in the dimensions I normally doodle about in!

Because everyone loves a spotty dog...

Here's today's doodle :-)

Bear Obsession

Yes, I know, I've drawn a lot of bears recently. But look how cute he is!

Stamp design

I'm thinking of getting a new stamp made for my stationery and this little guy seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

Christmas is coming!

Pirate Cat

Spot the Difference

Just found some old drawings for a children's book idea I had about the differences between animals. I still like the artwork (unusual for me!) so I thought I'd give it an airing!

Hooo's there?!

I've got a new project under development featuring my old favourite topic of Scottish words. I'm thinking a book, perhaps some framed prints in an exhibition and some fun goodies to sell...

Autumnal Greetings!

Not long now until Halloween and the start of the slippery slope down to Christmas! I've had a bit of a breather today so I've had time to doodle (please see above). To be honest I just fancied drawing a bulldog...

Cupcakes!

Baking is my therapy and cupcakes are my favourite tasty stuff to bake. Here's my favourite recipe (the simplest ones are the best!). In other news, I'm currently scribbling away on an exciting new book project for my lovely American clients! I'll give you all a little peek once it's published and on the shelves!

Truman the Tiger

Busy, busy, busy over here but still enough time for a quick doodle. This is Truman. Maybe one day I'll give him a story, until then he remains a lone character on a page (on a side note please remember that all of my images are copyrighted to me- so no borrowing!).

Black Sheep

I was working on some sheep designs and had a sudden desire to make them into a quick pattern. So here it is!

Bear Essentials!

I've been playing around with my bear character for a little while now and today, despite the rain, I'm feeling a bit festive apparently! These designs are currently available to license.

Liberated Gnomes

I was reading this on the BBC website and I took a fancy to the title of the article. It's all systems go over here at Vicki's desk. I'm super busy, hence the non-posting, but should hopefully have some lovely new work to show for it soon!

Scheming Mice...

See I always thought it was 'the best laid plans of mice and men', but apparently I was wrong!

New Card Designs

Just a few things I've been working on. These designs are all currently available to license.

A quick update...

Hello, I've been busily scribbling away and not had much time for updates recently. Last Friday Cate and I helped out with a Storytelling session and had some great fun sitting on the floor drawing on bits of paper with a friendly bunch of kids. I'll be posting a blog on this soon on our exhibition website. Aside from that I've been busy working on two children's books and tidying my flat as my parents are coming for a visit :-)

Hello and welcome to Edinburgh...

...that is if you can see it through the rain! Peak tourist time is creeping up on sleepy old Edinburgh once again. I love our tourists, they are always so helplessly lost on an endless quest to find the castle ("it's up there on that huge rock, you really can't miss it")and so endearingly willing to wear bright yellow 'emergency' plastic ponchos. However, for their sake and mine, I'd quite like to see a little bit of sunshine please!

New Design

I keep doodling cute little designs at the moment and thinking 'this would look great on a bag/ mug/ t-shirt'. I've made a few bags and greetings cards to sell at the Storytelling Exhibition but I'm thinking it's time to find someone to supply/ print these things for me. Any takers?

I saw this and it made me laugh...

It refers to a survey of some sort in the US. My boy is an indoor kitty so I'm pretty sure we're his only family, but I can remember a cat called 'Kibbles' who used to sleep on my brother's bed when we were little. He definitely wasn't our cat. Our cat was the crazy one we got from a rescue sanctuary who ran away two days later and never came back...

The Storytelling Exhibition is up folks!

It's at the Scottish Storytelling Centre and will run throughout July and August so go take a peek! Or at least check out our blog.

What I've been up to today...

I'm working on a commission from the nice people at Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig and I've been researching Roman outfits. Oh and I ordered a few bits and pieces for the exhibition- scary stuff!

A little doodle...

How cute is this wee guy? I'm stupidly busy at the moment getting the drawings done for my joint exhibition and keeping up-to-date with work for my lovely clients. I still have time to doodle though!

Rumble in the Jungle...

I've become slightly obsessed with drawing cute zebras recently and today I branched out into other wildlife. And yes I know that technically not all of these animals live in a jungle environment, but they look cute together so there you go.

One month to go!

It's only one month now until the hanging date for my joint exhibition. I'm busy scribbling away to get everything finished and off to the printers in time!

Boo!

Bet your weren't expecting that? I'm back after a little break- I've been posting over at the Storytelling Blog as my exhibition draws alarmingly close. Most of my recent work has been geared towards that, although I've updated my website with some nice new projects- including two from BEAM Education and Scottish Natural Heritage. The zebra above is a little guy I've been playing around with. I'm thinking of calling him Ace. Unless anyone has any better suggestions?

Exhibition Blog

We've now got a blog up and running in preparation for the Storytelling Pick & Mix exhibition. Check it out here.

Arabian Princess

A sneak peek at one of the images I'm working on for the exhibition...

Storytelling Pick & Mix exhibition!

Hello everyone, I've been super busy the last few weeks working on various commissions and starting preparation for my joint exhibition with illustrator Cate James. We're working with the lovely people at the Scottish Storytelling Centre to create an interactive children's exhibit. We'll also be taking part in a session with a storyteller, so if you're in Edinburgh from July- September this year pop along to the Royal Mile and check it out!