Pencil Pocket

So You Want To Be A Rock Star?

2012-02-01T13:50:00.018Z

I'm really pleased to say that my first little book is finally on it's way! Written by the wonderfully witty Audrey Vernick, and published by Walker Books for Young Readers, this book goes out to all the budding little Rock Star's out there (and all us big ones!). It's out later this month in nice shiny hardcover, and already available to pre-order via Amazon, Barnes&Noble and IndieBound in the US, and in the UK via Amazon, or The Book Depository. I'm so excited... Check out the latest reviews, or pick it up here!

Can I Play?

2011-11-09T10:28:00.003Z

Stripes

2011-11-08T14:18:00.007Z

You heard it here first...

Halloween Fuel

2011-10-25T10:00:00.006+01:00

Time for a Picnic!

2011-10-21T11:10:00.004+01:00

I'm super excited to announce that the long-awaited Picnic book from Promopress is here! The exceptionally talented duo Retina & Retinette (aka Júlia Solans & Juan Cardosa) have put together a stunning selection of contemporary illustration (including some pages from Pencil Pocket- yipee!). It's such a beautiful book, and such an honour to be included. I can thoroughly recommend curling up with a big mug of tea to enjoy the finished article - it's delightful from start to finish!

If you'd like to have one too, you can find it here!

Halloween is coming...

2011-10-12T15:34:00.004+01:00

mwah hah hah.

Oh, to be in a folk band...

2011-10-04T13:09:00.004+01:00

owl and pinata

2011-10-04T13:06:00.000+01:00

Pretty Kitty

2011-10-04T13:00:00.002+01:00

cheep, peep, chirp...!

2011-07-26T09:41:00.003+01:00

Afternoon tea anyone?

2011-07-07T16:41:00.005+01:00

Stir...

2011-03-15T20:22:00.003Z

A quick one so I could join in all the illustration friday fun! :)

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus!

2011-03-01T16:23:00.006Z

Happy St David's Day to all the Welsh!

Hello friends!

2011-02-02T15:36:00.011Z

Hi everyone, and a super happy new years to you all. I'm SO touched to see so many old friends, new friends and talented faces following … It's been such a busy few months, so I've been practically invisible in blogland, and the real world alike. Who knew how intense bookmaking would be! I've been very blessed though. After a very steep learning curve(!), there's now 2 wonderful children's books in the pipeline and I've been lucky enough to work with some seriously talented authors and publishers, alongside my super-agent Teresa. I can't wait to share it all with you (keeping the art quiet is SUPER tough. I'm terrible at secrets!). Keep checking back for news! I'm going to try and get myself into a more regular doodle routine for the blog and twitter, and as soon as I can release any exciting sneek peeks, be sure that I will do!! Hope you're well!! Thanks for following, and lots of love x k

The Adventures of Christmas Star

2010-12-02T12:30:00.006Z

Took a quick break from painting this morning to come up with some Christmas card ideas.... I think there might be story potential here!
"happy snow day everyone! - star. x"

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

2010-11-25T17:02:00.002Z

Just wanted to 'post' a little best wishes from us... enjoy the holidays!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-29T17:23:00.004+01:00

Happy halloween everyone!! Have a fabulously spooky weekend! Things are going well here; super busy but I'm creeping into colour on one of my projects - hurrah! I can't wait to get back to the blog to share more with you soon. Where has the time gone? I hope everybody's well!! I spent the last few days creating a crazy collage of guitar picks so here's a quick little halloween edit for you... happy holidays! xx k

I [heart] Lemon Tart

2010-09-09T15:01:00.011+01:00

Hurrah! I managed to squeeze in an Illustration Friday. Yummy... dessert-themed! Lemon tart is my favourite. Hello to everyone! Hope you're well :)

How green was my valley?

2010-09-08T09:22:00.012+01:00

Very Green! We're just back from a spectacular week in North Wales. Lots of mountains, forests, lakes - such a great getaway and I found some great monster forest inspiration! There's so many photos, it'll be weeks before I search through them, but here's a few for your morning coffee! p.s. extra special mention for the cartoon mushroom in the last photo (red top, white base and spots... I thought they were fictional until we stumbled upon this little fellow and the rest of his family in the forest!).

Postcard from Snowdon

2010-09-08T09:00:00.005+01:00

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) is incredible. We took the last photo from our iPhone and it looks just like a postcard ...but we were there, honest!

Nellie

2010-08-23T15:08:00.005+01:00

...in a little birthday card.

Lady Chipmunk

2010-08-05T16:22:00.007+01:00

Hervé in Love

2010-08-05T16:21:00.000+01:00

A little preview of a recent piece I did for a children's charity in Israel.

Tales From The Sketchbook Archive

2010-08-05T15:58:00.009+01:00

Thank you Kinnon!

2010-07-14T09:17:00.004+01:00

Kinnon Elliott has written a really nice little profile about me on her blog! Check out the post here and you can see more of Kinnon's beautiful work on her blog at http://kinnonelliott.blogspot.com/ Thanks Kinnon!

More Book News...

2010-07-12T16:18:00.007+01:00

I have something extra-super exciting to announce.... not only do I have this wonderful project on the horizon with Henry Holt Books and the uber-talented Tiffany Strelitz Haber... I can now officially announce that I'm going to be illustrating my second book, So You Wanna Be a Rock Star, with Walker Books and the fabulous author Audrey Vernick!

Does it get any more exciting than this!!

I'm positively thrilled to be a part of both, and I can't wait to share more about these projects with you. Keep popping in for news and thanks to everyone who's been supporting me. Lots of love, Kirstie xo

Nellie

2010-07-02T16:12:00.009+01:00

Hi all! Just made it back safely from Spain and thought I'd spring back into action with a cheeky little elephant pic! Had a wonderful holiday with my bestest friends in the world, camping under the stars and enjoying some nice long walks on the beach. Hope you're all having an excellent summer too! xo Kirstie ;-)

Flamingos

2010-06-04T15:00:00.003+01:00

I did this for a project I'm working on, but we didn't need it in the end (altogether now ...aww!). I thought it might like to have it's premiere here instead. Parump-pa-pa-pa...! (that's my trumpet!) Have a nice Friday all! ;-)

More Animals

2010-06-03T14:29:00.002+01:00

I've got so many of these now... need to think of something clever to do with them!

Slither, the festival snake...

2010-06-02T16:19:00.003+01:00

Wedding Bells

2010-05-27T18:08:00.014+01:00

Our friends are getting married this weekend - Congratulations Chloe & Andy!! There's a nice little story behind how they met too... Chloe is one of my friends, and Andy is one of Jonathans'.... so about 3 years ago, after accidentally writing their names together on the invite list, Jonathan and I shamelessly went about trying to set them up at my moroccan-themed birthday dinner (belly dancers included)! It worked - we ended up chaperoning their first date a week later and they've been together ever since... they've even beaten us down the aisle! ;-) Aww. It's very nice to see them graduate from our highly successsful school of matchmaking! Here's a little peek at our card:

Animals

2010-05-25T13:09:00.000+01:00

Frustrated

2010-05-25T12:00:00.004+01:00

A little colour test for a project I'm working on. I'm so sorry the blog has been so quiet lately - it will be woken up from it's hibernation very soon, with some exciting new bits! Promise!

Nancy

2010-04-30T11:20:00.013+01:00

Nancy makes jewellery.... and it's her birthday on Sunday ;-)

Ahead

2010-04-23T19:05:00.002+01:00

Quick one for illustration friday :) Have a lovely weekend all!

Birthdays

2010-04-15T09:01:00.013+01:00

It's a big birthday for my little sis this weekend. She's turning 21 and we're off to Wales to celebrate with her - hurrah! It's been a while since I've seen her (or my other brother and sister for that matter), so I'm very excitable today! Happy Birthday little sis!

Ooh, and if you're ever in Wales, don't forget to pick up some welsh cakes! (click here for some background). They're our best kept secret - I can't seem to find them anywhere in London!

(welshcakes by zingyyellow via flickr)

Book News!

2010-04-01T17:21:00.010+01:00

I am SO proud to announce that I will be illustrating my first picture book with the wonderfully talented children's book author Tiffany Strelitz Haber!!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am - Tiffany is brilliant, and it's such an incredible book! The working title is "The Onster" and it's a wonderfully funny and touching story about a monster who loses his "M", telling the tale of how, sometimes, when things get lost, even bigger and better things can be found.

It's going to be published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, and the expected release date is Fall 2012. I'm so proud to have been asked to illustrate and I can't wait to tell you more, so please keep checking back for other news and updates! I can't wait for you to see it!

p.s. Make sure you check out Tiffany's website and author facebook page!
p.p.s Extra special thanks to my agent, Teresa Kietlinski at Prospect Agency for making this happen!

Happy Easter everyone! xx

It's my party....

2010-04-01T17:09:00.004+01:00

It was my birthday yesterday, and my mum and dad sent me this amazing card with all these old photos of me on it (in this example, I'm the one on the right). Check out my socks, sandals, my amazing outfit and my personal favourite, the blue "Care Bears" watch. My sister is the rather unhappy looking one on the left. I don't think she took well to my lesson on the importance of picture books and reading and all that....

Expired

2010-03-24T15:52:00.006Z

The sandwich was most definitely off...

Subterranean...

2010-03-17T10:14:00.005Z

Brave

2010-03-12T11:14:00.009Z

Beaver's Birthday

2010-03-03T09:49:00.025Z

Ok, so I know it's a teeny tiny bit of a stretch, but from Beaver's 'perspective', the cake looked very tasty...

(Happy birthday Mark!)

R is for....

2010-02-23T13:49:00.004Z

...Ralph!

Elisha in the garden

2010-02-22T18:18:00.006Z

Elisha was teaching cat how to propagate the plants...

the monkey that didn't make it in...

2010-02-01T15:26:00.002Z

(from Thomas' pirates illustration). The bottom version made it, but it'd be a shame to waste the other little guy...

Red Riding

2010-01-26T21:56:00.015Z

Confined

2010-01-13T14:48:00.008Z

Boy told monster not to leave the box...

Monsters

2010-01-12T17:55:00.005Z

Getting back into the work groove with some hairy, scary monsters...

Cream Tea

2010-01-12T10:22:00.004Z

Yum.

The aforementioned fiance...

2010-01-12T10:10:00.009Z

This is him hobbling away after I hit him with a snowball (giggle). You can see how pleased I am with myself.

no, it's not Narnia...

2010-01-12T09:51:00.011Z

...or iceland even! We found this icy landscape high up in the brecon beacons.

Engaged!

2010-01-11T14:45:00.013Z

Okay - so now you know why I've been so quiet. After five years together, my partner Jonathan proposed to me whilst we were staying with our 4 best friends in Wales on NYE 2009. At 11:45pm and during a game of homemade "pictionary" he drew a ring, turned to me in front of all our friends and asked me to marry him, and I, in my new years dress, a black lace glove and bright red lipstick, graciously accepted. Hip, hip, hoorah!

A cowboy and a pirate

2009-12-26T17:05:00.011Z

Thought you might enjoy seeing these two 10 x 12 portraits commissioned for my best friends nephews... I'd like you to meet cowboy jojo and his rather adventurous bro, pirate thomas... :)

Merry Christm"aargh"s!

2009-12-22T13:28:00.006Z

Happy holidays everyone! No, I've not been kidnapped, I didn't trip over the fairy lights, or fall through a hole in the snow... I'm still here! Hurrah! Hope you have a super Christmas break. Thanks so much for sticking with me. I'm looking forward to sharing lots of new work here in the new year.... :)

Music

2009-11-26T00:05:00.020Z

My other half only does the hoovering if he can listen to music too....

Boys and cars

2009-11-19T17:04:00.008Z

Who knew that drawing a Scalextric track would be so time consuming...!

Unbalanced

2009-11-13T21:21:00.002Z

TV goes 3D

2009-11-12T16:43:00.013Z

TV goes 3D next week on Channel 4. Sainsbury's is handing out those free card glasses - so I picked up a pair for Beaver and mouse, and they seem to be enjoying themselves...

Blur

2009-11-11T00:14:00.013Z

Bear and beaver got some really blurry pictures from their new camera....

R is for a raccoon caught in the rain...

2009-11-03T18:45:00.012Z

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T16:53:00.010Z

A really quick one from me - just to say Happy Halloween!! I've been way too distracted baking pumpkin pies, creepy cupcakes and ghost biscuits to get any other illustrations done today, whoops! :-/ Have a lovely weekend all. Hope you're having lots of fun!

No Henry, Stop!

2009-10-27T16:00:00.018Z

...Not so fast! Henry really just doesn't know when to hit the brakes...

It's raining again...

2009-10-23T19:53:00.009+01:00

...and Stella didn't realise how much she enjoyed it! Happy weekend!
[click on the image to enlarge]

Pencil Pocket @ Cargo

2009-10-22T12:42:00.007+01:00

I've got a little selection of recent work up at Cargo. Check it out: here.

Winter

2009-10-21T23:14:00.009+01:00

The rabbits were completely frozen, so bear said,
"Let's make a fire."

Happy Birthday Jonathan

2009-10-15T14:16:00.011+01:00

I totally forgot to say, it was my other half's birthday recently. I made him this card... It's not an exact likeness... just very close. ;)

Flying

2009-10-13T22:00:00.011+01:00

I actually missed last week's topic [whoops!] so I was bounding with enthusiasm for whatever subject came up this week. So here's my effort... I've sneakily blended two ideas into one here... hope you like it! :)

Birthday wrapping paper

2009-09-30T13:24:00.007+01:00

Sorry for all these birthday posts! My goodness. I'll get some new work up here soon, you have my word! Just couldn't resist this for pattern... and, okay you got me, I needed some wrapping paper! ;) [click for full view]

Keira's Baby Naming Day

2009-09-24T23:19:00.006+01:00

Birthdays, weddings, baby naming ceremonies'... you name it - it's all happening over here! So here's a little card I did for my friends' little one, Keira. We're looking forward to her special day on Saturday :)

Infinite-ly... making screengrabs?

2009-09-23T21:42:00.009+01:00

Some behind the scenes from this weeks effort! [click to enlarge]

Infinite-ly going nowhere

2009-09-23T21:12:00.010+01:00

One happy hamster on an endless journey to the unknown!
View the sketch and some work in progress shots here

It's Birthday Season...!

2009-09-22T13:33:00.007+01:00

And so, on the advice of one of my good friends, I started making my own greeting cards... (now you can see where the monkeys fit in!) Here are a couple of recent ones. I've got plenty to keep me busy... we've got 8 birthdays in the next 2 weeks - the Libran's are taking over! Hope you like them. I'll post some more at a later date. Best , k :)

Friday night monkeys

2009-09-18T18:40:00.008+01:00

monkey time...

Welcome home Papa...

2009-09-17T00:13:00.009+01:00

Daddy's home... hurrah!

and for a closer look... :)

Waiting, watching...

2009-09-17T00:07:00.003+01:00

A quick sketch which formed part of the prep for Illustration Friday's 'welcome' topic...

Strong Man

2009-09-10T15:43:00.015+01:00

Meet the frighteningly hairy Ian Strong. I had to give up on my first, rather more elaborate 'strong' idea. I don't know how you guys do it! There simply aren't enough hours in the day..., have a great weekend all! Thanks in advance for any comments - they make me smile !

Congratulations Rebecca & Mark!

2009-09-07T21:59:00.014+01:00

Two of our closest friends in the world got married this weekend... Congratulations guys!! The wedding was gorgeous, and they're so clever they managed to do pretty much everything themselves; flowers, invites, cake, fascinators, bridesmaids outfits. It was beautiful. I was so proud to be a part of it. Here's our little handmade wedding card and a few snaps from my camera. Bear with me, there might be just another post or two to come on this. I'm so chuffed for them - it's all I can think about today. Ahhh ;)

Magnify

2009-09-01T19:11:00.012+01:00

Quick one this week - wish I had some free time to go looking for ladybugs! :)

Haunted

2009-08-27T11:39:00.027+01:00

Uncle Frederick told her to take caution in the old house at night...

View some related sketches and prep here... 1. girl 2. witch

Bears and Books

2009-08-24T16:59:00.022+01:00

One from the archives - linked to this series.

Purple-faced witchy witch

2009-08-21T18:47:00.009+01:00

Well, Halloween is coming up...! This is part of a larger piece, but I got too excited and thought I'd share a bit of it now just in time for the weekend... :) Have a great weekend all!

Wrapped for winter: behind the scenes

2009-08-20T09:12:00.023+01:00

Hi all! Firstly, I just want to say a great big thank you to everyone that's following. It's so encouraging, and I'm really grateful for all your comments.

This is for Jason who asked to see some work in progress shots from the previous post. You can see how much changed along the way; the skirt colour, jacket buttons, eyes open/closed, even the overall composition. Weirdly, the red bench in the background was the last thing I added. I work pretty organically - there's no science involved, not even by way of the colours ...but you're right, I naturally lean towards the warmer shades. I'm a great fan of warm browns and greys - you should see my wardrobe!

[click image to enlarge, and see the final version here]

Wrapped for winter...

2009-08-19T22:18:00.012+01:00

2-for-1 this week... hurrah :)

Wrapped: work in progress

2009-08-19T16:15:00.006+01:00

Wrapped

2009-08-19T16:03:00.010+01:00

Giant inflatable swan

2009-08-17T16:51:00.005+01:00

How fun! But I need a swan... then a pool... and then some Louboutins to make this a reality.
[via oh joy. photo styled by emily mcgregor]

Impatience

2009-08-12T19:13:00.027+01:00

My dad is very impatient after years of being late at my mum's expense. They've never got to an event on time! My Dad once went to great lengths to turn all the clocks in the house forward in an attempt to speed things up, but it didn't work. I think my mum was born to be fashionably late to everything!

Measuring Meerkats

2009-08-06T17:51:00.005+01:00

Genetically modified...?

2009-08-05T23:13:00.012+01:00

Take.2... [click image to enlarge]...

It's quite different to the version I lost, but still nice in its own way, I think...?
Maybe I need to add in a cat or something... I'm definitely going to do a banksy-style version where the vegetables have faces :). That'll be a good thing to do on Friday, to pave the way for the weekend :)

Genetically modified?

2009-08-04T08:50:00.030+01:00

Well there's definitely something going on...
[click to enlarge]

Aw, I lost 7 hours work on this one :( Somehow I managed to corrupt 3 files, versions 2 through 5... and lost a whole manner of extra details... oversized veg, a bewildered judge on the left, another participant with significantly less impressive produce, soil in the foreground, a little worm wriggling around in the front and some big rolling hills in the background...
Remember when I was singing the praises of digital...? Well, I'm going to have to take it back...
[you can now see the re-worked final version here...] :)

Yorkie Walking

2009-08-02T20:33:00.011+01:00

Based on an old sketch, see here.

Josie sleeps

2009-08-02T17:02:00.009+01:00

See the original sketch here.

Cat vs. Shadow

2009-08-02T14:20:00.004+01:00

Another quick painterly image. I think this might be my last one in this style for the moment. I've been exploring a more graphic treatment, which seems to suit me better... I may be wrong though. We'll see.

Taking a break from the race

2009-07-30T18:05:00.010+01:00

...for the illustration friday topic 'idle'. [click image to enlarge]

Wedding cake birds

2009-07-29T14:35:00.005+01:00

One of my best friends is getting married this autumn, and I'd been rooting around for all things wedding to try and help. I have to share this delightful bird cake topper project from peoniesandpolaroids. Gorgeous!

Caitlin

2009-07-24T15:51:00.003+01:00

This was the first thing I drew after my holidays. It was a quick ten-minute jobby, and I'm not sure whether I like it even, but I thought I'd throw it up here for you to decide. It's quite frightening picking up a pencil after a week off :-)

There's something in the woods...

2009-07-24T15:43:00.003+01:00

Been away so long I thought I had to add a quick something... anything...
I really should stop rushing to put things up here, but I never learn. There's obviously more to this piece... but so far i'm afraid it's only manifesting in my head. One day, I'll get the finished thing up here and then I shall reward myself with a packet of custard creams.

Vintage 1950's Swimwear

2009-07-23T16:00:00.016+01:00

I'm so in love with vintage swimwear. I saw a girl on holiday with the most enhanting white polka dot swimsuit. Since I got back I've been bursting to find out where she'd got it from, and after some frantic searching I found out it's from a vancouver company called Cuche . They have the most lovely pieces. It got me going on a hunt for other vintage seaside inspiration (bottom 2 images). Oh what I wouldn't give to look all lovely and vintage every day.

top two images via cuche
vintage photos via myvintagevogue

Tango

2009-06-30T15:54:00.021+01:00

I'm dancing my way into digital... [sorry - couldn't resist] I still can't quite get my head around it, but it's good fun trying. It's even better knowing you don't have to clean up after yourself :)
[click image to zoom]

p.s. For anyone that's been following - sorry I've been away so long!

Some of you might recognise this image from a few weeks ago, in which case you'll see that I've shamelessly squashed it into this week's IF topic - please, I beg your forgiveness. I actually took on a new identity of late, one that forced my drawings into the back seat; for the last few weeks I have been 'Kirstie the brave,' a pale-faced island explorer on a mission to enjoy sun, sand and sea...

You'll be pleased to hear the voyage was a great success.. and a thousand freckles and two sore shoulders later, I'm back.

Hope you're all having a great summer.
Look out for more updates soon!
All the best, K

Worn

2009-06-29T23:18:00.003+01:00

And, of course, the sketch :)