Yokai Party

Recently I made this drawing for the Fieperdepiep magazine, who I have to thank for giving me almost complete carte blanche. Which basically is illustrator's dream, isn't it? I had been wanting to draw some Japanese fairy tale monsters for ages, so of course this assignment was a real gift. I went through whole lists of descriptions and pictures of traditional creatures from Japanese folklore, and later had a lot of fun with putting them all in there.

I was also hugely pleased to find out there's a very old tradition in Japanese art of depicting monsters' parades, called Hyakki Yako. So what I made is essentially a continuing of that.


Here's a version of the drawing with every creature named and numbered.


If you live in Holland you can pick up the Fieperdepiep magazine at any good bookstore or well stocked Albert Heijn supermarket for 5 euro.
Otherwise you may also purchase it from the Fiep Westendorp webshop.

Once I have a webshop myself prints of this one will of course be available. And as S. Britt suggested perhaps jigsaws as well!

Finally, here's a somewhat embiggened version for your perusal.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1170/4622341489_fc6593a22f_o.jpg

Picture book report, part 1

This is my first illustration for The Neverending story. I posted it last week on picture book report, and I'm just going to quite myself for a bit.

The Neverending Story starts with the theft of the book named The Neverending Story by Bastian Balthazar Bux; a fat little boy who was hiding in an antique bookstore from the bullies that chased him home every day. Finding himself fascinated by an old leatherbound book with two serpents entwined on the cover he surprises himself by putting it in his schoolbag when the store’s owner, mr. Koreander isn’t looking.
Realising he is now a thief, he decides he can never go home anymore and hides himself in his school’s giant disused attic. He puts an old musty blanket over his shoulders and starts to read the mysterious book.

Which whisks him away to the land of Fantastica, where a Will o’the Wisp named Blubb is making his way through the vast Howling Forest to the Ivory Tower of the Childlike Empress. In the woods he meets a Rock biter: a giant whose kind eat nothing but stone, a night hob and a tiny. All three have come from different regions of Fantastica with the same mission, to tell the Queen about the Nothing that is eating away at their land, and to ask for help.

Sitting in the forest they share stories of how the Nothing suddenly appeared. Where once there were lakes, trees and hills, there is now absolutely nothing. The eye can’t even see it. Scariest of all is that those who come close to these areas find themselves irrevocably drawn to the Nothing, coming closer and closer until they are swallowed by it.

At first I had meant to make a fully coloured drawing, but obviously that didn't happen. I'll post more about the whole process later. In the meantime I'm looking forward to tackling the next drawing soon.

New Book!

These past months have probably been the busiest time I've ever had. But this week I wrapped up work on my current assignments, though the picturebook I'm making is currently sort of on hold.
But I did finish the illustrations for another book this week. It's for the striped books, the series of children's books I've previously illustrated two other books for.

Unfortunately as is usually the case, I can't show you everything I've done yet. I don't know when the book will come out, and the other stuff I've done will have to wait for the summer.
But here's a tiny preview from the striped book. It was the first time I've had to draw for a book for toddlers. Which was somewhat of a challenge.

Still I'm looking forward to the moment where I can show you what I've made, I think some of the pictures for this book are among the best work I've done.

Before I forget, next week I'll be posting my first illustration for Picture Book Report!

Querido poems

Like last year, I was asked to make some illustrations for the children's poetry anthology published by Querido. Here's one of them.

Also take a look at what Sebastiaan and Pyhai made, so you know you have to buy this volume when it comes out later this year!

Sneak Peeks

Here are some parts of things I've been working on that can't really be revealed yet. Well, not entirely.