A little velvet bow for #colour_collective this week. Have a wonder weekend all!

At a rugby club in small-town Leicestershire. This was on the window ledge in the toilet. Fearing the worst, I scanned the QR & opened it in an incognito window… It’s a link to Amnesty International’s explainer on asylum & refugees 😍

If by "morning person" you mean I wake up at 4 am staring into the inky blackness imagining horrific outcomes, then yes, I'm a morning person.

Happy #kidlitartpostcard day! Don’t forget to post today and reposts others too 🩷

And last but definitely not least... Me (to a little boy beside me in a cafe who is wearing a yellow coat): Nice coat. Little boy: Thank you. It means when night comes I can hide as a star. Art by Penny Neville Lee. Words by me.

Hi #PortfolioDay 👋 My name is Denis, and I'm a #kidlit illustrator from Sofia, Bulgaria. I like bold lines, limited palettes, painterly textures, and crooked shapes. 🌐 www.denisillustrates.com 📚 Represented by Susan Hawk (US) and Emily Talbot (UK) #illustration #kidlitart #Procreate

Well this is relaxing.

My cat's commitment to filling an empty box is heroic. This one was empty for about 30 seconds before she entered the room and jumped straight in.

I bought a set of every size of black Posca pen. The 15mm is taking no prisoners.

Happy June #kidlitartpostcard 🌞 My name is Denis and I’m an #kidlit illustrator who sometimes also writes. I like bold linework, wonky shapes, and limited palettes. 📚 Rep’d by Susan Hawk (US) and Emily Talbot (UK) 🌐 www.denisillustrates.com Brushes by Jason Heeley (linked in the comments)

My #colour_collective Ladybug for Tractor Red week. ❤️

This week's #colour_collective colour is Tractor Red. Post on Instagram on Friday evening using the tag #CCTractor. ❤️

Tracing paper ghost

Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month? Start conversations about emotions, feelings and tough topics with these books. ⛈️ DARK CLOUD, written by Anna Lazowski and illustrated by Penny Neville-Lee

Capturing how depression can look and feel for kids requires a careful blend of text and imagery. 2 years later, I'm still in awe of how beautifully this book came together. @pennynl.bsky.social @kidscanpress.bsky.social

Happy Easter!

I made stickers for every eventuality…

More TetraPak print play. This time with added elephant.

Happy to see Dark Cloud by me and @pennynl.bsky.social included in this booklist from Publishers Weekly. ☁️

TetraPak relief printing with a bit of digital colour. I'd like some tiles of these please.

I started #colour_collective on Twitter in 2015. I've set 100s of different colours during the last decade and it's inspired 1000s of original artworks. Pretty cool! We're up to 67 colours at our new home on Instagram. Here are some of my favourite colour announcements doodles from the last year...

The survey is long and the language is confusing - at the end of the ALCS article is a link to a word template with every question answered I found really helpful to understand what they’re asking and tailor my responses (or copy and paste).

Morning! I’d like to follow as many independent bookshops as possible, especially ones who love their children’s books. Can you help me? If you know a great Indy bookshop on Bluesky please let me know. We are @halfwayupbooks.bsky.social (I’m Events Manager and Trish is the Owner/Manager).

Wow! I am so excited that for the first time EVER, this brilliant piece by @pennynl.bsky.social is now for sale in my shop as a limited edition print! Order by the 11th of December to get one by x-mas! And order by midnight tonight for £5 off! 🎁 Here: www.mirandakeeling.com/category/all...

I couldn't be more thrilled that The Carousel Horse is one of i newspaper's 20 Best Children’s Books for Christmas. I bought 3 copies on the way home and bragged about it to the man at the counter in Sainsbury's. 👌

Happy December, #kidlitartpostcard ❄️ My name is Denis, and I'm a mixed media #kidlit illustrator. I like bold textured lines, limited palettes, and crooked perspective. 📚 Represented by Susan Hawk (US) and Emily Talbot (UK and Europe) 🌐 www.denisillustrates.com #kidlitart #illustration #art

It's National Illustration Day! I'm sharing some of my own artwork from a board book I illustrated for Little Tiger called Hope is a Rainbow, but if you'd like to share an illustration that means something to you or that you drew that'd be lovely too. #NationalIllustrationDay #kidlitart

What a gorgeous give-away! Congratulations on your debuts. #ChristmasPB9 ✨️

Before it was The Carousel Horse, it was The Roundabout Horse and this was my first attempt at a cover for it.

I think Christmas has officially started for me, now I've sat next to Jarvis and watched him show a load of children how to draw Mr Santa. 🥰

Art drawn by people who very rarely make art and think they are “bad at art” is 1000x cooler than AI art. It’s life-affirming. It’s often unexpected. I cannot overemphasize how much I love when people just go for it. You do not need the machine for this human endeavor.

Character development for ‘The Carousel Horse’ by Tony Mitton

Finally having a picture book to promote in the UK is a lot of fun. Here's The Carousel Horse window I painted at my local Waterstones store in Altrincham.

Today I'm starting work on the sequel to Wolf Road, which means I get to spend a month or two away from digital drawing, getting covered in charcoal muck.

This is the first spread from my book The Carousel Horse by myself and Tony Mitton. This is the kind is spread I wanted to make since I first wanted to be an illustrator. Lots of little things hidden for me and the reader.

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Jarvis from his dreamlike picturebook, Mr Santa. A child with a lot of questions meets a beaming Father Christmas. Here, he and the crowd of characteristic soft toys seem to be loving the recorder concert. Cosy use of colour, lamplight and fairy lights. Walker Books

Has anyone found or made a good children's illustration starter pack?

I'm biased, but I think the cover for the current Books For Keeps is awfully nice...

Looky here! I'm Authorfy's illustrator of the week. 🥰 @authorfy.bsky.social

I’ve been painting digitally for a long while now but I feel like I’m getting a bit stale, so to freshen things up I’ve been doing these little gouache paintings. It’s not a material I’ve used much so still finding my feet, but loving it. It can be tricky to handle but such a lovely medium.

What glorious surprise book mail. Children’s book The Ice Children by M G Leonard and illustrated by @pennynl.bsky.social is out from MacMillan Children’s Books on 2nd November and I think I owe thanks to Jo Hardacre for sending it to me. Take a close look at the cover illustration!

Gentle reminder to authors & publishers of illustrated books launching this week: Remember to credit/tag the ILLUSTRATOR, esp if you're using their art in promotional materials. See www.picturesmeanbusiness.com Illus: @sarahmcintyre.bsky.social #PicturesMeanBusiness #KidLit

Boo! I made an etching. In true ghostly fashion, I put the plate down and lost him for 10 minutes.

Peekaboo BlueSky Social…. #introduction #illustration #illustratorsonbluesky

A Greek tavern window from my sketchbook 🪟 #kidlitart

Scandi Nan. Warming up on Procreate.

Girls The main characters from the last 4 books I've worked on. Who says you need one set style?

I got a bit bored yesterday.

Patterns today #art #textiles

Interesting thing I'm learning about myself on Bluesky. I will always press the nudity button.