02 March 2011
World Book Day
The World Book Day, the 5th of March, I will be appearing with Colin Bateman at the Waterfront Hall, here in Belfast. We're one between 2 and 3pm. The tickets are 2 pounds, I hope we're worth it.
26 February 2011
Sea Creatures from Queens
Hello to everyone I got to meet during my events in a couple of Queens libraries this month. Some drawing was done and I include a selection of the creations below.
The Hydra Tooth.
Bell Jelly Monster.
Red Rose Rooted Monster.
I didn't catch any name for this, the stringy shark maybe?
The Monster of the Broken Heart.
Broomfish.
After this beast has eaten its fill it stores spare meat for later consumption. It stores it by sticking in onto one of those black hooks along its rear section.
The Hell Spike Fish.
I like the delicacy of this one. Didn't catch its name though.
The Red-Handed Looker has many eyes. It catches you red-handed, hence the name.
The Many-Mouthed Beast.
The Hand-Feet Beast maybe?
The Hydra Tooth.
Bell Jelly Monster.
Red Rose Rooted Monster.
I didn't catch any name for this, the stringy shark maybe?
The Monster of the Broken Heart.
Broomfish.
After this beast has eaten its fill it stores spare meat for later consumption. It stores it by sticking in onto one of those black hooks along its rear section.
The Hell Spike Fish.
I like the delicacy of this one. Didn't catch its name though.
The Red-Handed Looker has many eyes. It catches you red-handed, hence the name.
The Many-Mouthed Beast.
The Hand-Feet Beast maybe?
30 January 2011
The Truth about Lighthouses
Last week I meet with students in both secondary and a primary school. The secondary was Methodist College, Belfast. This school is more commonly known as Methody. Hello to everyone there.
May on her boat.
The next day I visited Crumlin Integrated Primary. The students there had done some drawings of Ballydog. I was particularly taken with these impressions of May, throwing fish fingers from the Sunny Buoy to her friend below.
Ballydog's lighthouse.
Quite a few drawings featured the lighthouse and I asked one boy why he, and everyone else, had given the lighthouse red and white stripes. “Because that’s how it is on the cover of the book,” he replied without hesitation. He was right of course, I had forgotten the illustrator had painted the lighthouse on the cover of The Badness of Ballydog in that way. I had asked the question because in reality Irish lighthouses are simply painted white from top to bottom. They are never red and white.
Sticks of Rock, also known as Candy Cane, and a barber's Pole. Sadly, lighthouses don't get painted this way.
Apart from the lighthouse, I also really like the big smoke filling the top of this drawing.
The young artist behind one of these drawings took the stripes one step further. The red and white bands have been thrown to 45 degrees. I wonder was the image of a barber’s pole mingling in her/his mind. Or maybe the sticks of rock sold at the seaside. I have definitely never seen a lighthouse painted like that in reality … although I’d love to.
May on her boat.
The next day I visited Crumlin Integrated Primary. The students there had done some drawings of Ballydog. I was particularly taken with these impressions of May, throwing fish fingers from the Sunny Buoy to her friend below.
Ballydog's lighthouse.
Quite a few drawings featured the lighthouse and I asked one boy why he, and everyone else, had given the lighthouse red and white stripes. “Because that’s how it is on the cover of the book,” he replied without hesitation. He was right of course, I had forgotten the illustrator had painted the lighthouse on the cover of The Badness of Ballydog in that way. I had asked the question because in reality Irish lighthouses are simply painted white from top to bottom. They are never red and white.
Sticks of Rock, also known as Candy Cane, and a barber's Pole. Sadly, lighthouses don't get painted this way.
Apart from the lighthouse, I also really like the big smoke filling the top of this drawing.
The young artist behind one of these drawings took the stripes one step further. The red and white bands have been thrown to 45 degrees. I wonder was the image of a barber’s pole mingling in her/his mind. Or maybe the sticks of rock sold at the seaside. I have definitely never seen a lighthouse painted like that in reality … although I’d love to.
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