‘Out To Get You’! Story 10: ‘Mighty Comfy’

I’m posting one of the original artworks created for 'Out To Get You' every day; that’s one story a day for all 13 stories, plus the extra story that the author Josh wrote as a 'bonus-ball'. You get to see all the gnarly pen-and-ink details close up, which are often not seen when printed in the book!

"I leaned out the truck window and wondered what sorts of things had been on that couch. Crusty food? Flea-ridden animals? Something worse?

        "Uh - Dad." I spoke quietly. "Whoever put that couch here probably had a good reason for getting rid of it," I said, trying to change his mind.

        

        "What do you mean, little pardner?" Dad looked up from the couch.

Little pardner. It was one of my nicknames. I had a lot of them, all from Dad's westerns. There was also Dead-Eye, Shim and Wrangler..."

The trick here was to make the couch look as grimy and disgusting as possible, while also suggesting its comfort and softness...and how inviting it is!

More about the book, including where to buy it and how to get its fabulous accompanying freebies at outtogetyou.run

‘Out To Get You’! Story 9: ‘The Colour of Ivy’

Day 9 of the 'Out To Get You' artwork posts is this one, 'The Color of Ivy'.

This one I loved especially as it was about a glittery green marker pen with evil intent!

"The marker's glittery colour and perfumed scent told her the marker was different. 

Special.

On the back of her hand, she drew a strand of ivy. She started by making a curving, twisting vine just under her knuckles. 

The ink came out warm, the exact same glittery greenish black as the marker's cap..."

More about the book, including where to buy it and how to get its fabulous accompanying freebies,

at outtogetyou.run

‘Out To Get You’! Story 8: ‘Goodbye, Ridgecrest Middle School’

Day 8 of the ‘Out To Get You’ artwork series — an illustration a day from the new book.

This one, appropriately enough following yesterday’s school post (I got a star on the Hall of Fame in my old school!), is ‘Goodbye, Ridgecrest Middle School’.

Made with ink, pencil, charcoal and fineliners on paper, it accompanies a story about a malevolent paper towel dispenser. No, really…

“Wally swallowed hard. Whatever this dispenser was saying to him, it seemed to be saying it only to him. Whatever fate was on the horizon, it was his.

Two days left? For what?

Suddenly the whole Johnson-Johansen thing didn’t seem so important.

The universe, it seemed, really was out to get him.”

More about the book, including where to buy it and how to get its fabulous accompanying freebies,

at outtogetyou.run

‘Out To Get You’! Story 7: ‘Shadow Curse’

Day 8 of the 'Out To Get You' artwork series - an illustration a day from the new book.
This one, appropriately enough following yesterday's school post, is 'Goodbye, Ridgecrest Middle School'.

Made with ink, pencil, charcoal and fineliners on paper, it accompanies a story about a malevolent paper towel dispenser. No, really... 

“Wally swallowed hard. Whatever this dispenser was saying to him, it seemed to be saying it only to him. Whatever fate was on the horizon, it was his.

Two days left? For what?

Suddenly the whole Johnson-Johansen thing didn’t seem so important. 

The universe, it seemed, really was out to get him.”

More about the book, including where to buy it and how to get its fabulous accompanying freebies,

at outtogetyou.run

‘Out To Get You’! Story 6: ‘The Crossing’

I’m posting one original artwork a day for all 13 stories in ‘Out To Get You’ PLUS the extra story that you get FREE when you order the book (*while swag stocks last!) 

This one (day 6) is ink and pencil and contains the only bits of ‘non-organic’ matter, in the form of some bits made in Procreate.

It’s for the story ‘The Crossing’: 

“For a week, the sign had been beckoning him. It had started when it had shown him a boy in front. Even now he felt sign coaxing him nearer and nearer.

Why?

But he couldn’t stop him himself. He had to touch the sign. It was all so strange. He just had to. 

So pushing past his fear, he reached up and pressed a finger to the girl’s tiny, reaching hand...”

More about the book, including where to buy it and how to get its fabulous accompanying freebies,

at outtogetyou.run

'Out To Get You'! Story 5: ‘The Vanishers’

I’m posting one of the original artworks created for 'Out To Get You' every day; that’s one story a day for all 13 stories, plus the extra story that the author Josh wrote as a 'bonus-ball'. You get to see all the gnarly pen-and-ink details close up, which are often not seen when printed in the book!

‘The Vanishers’ is about best mates Jacob and Jakob (who were based on real-life namesakes!) 

There’s a lot of hidden detail in this one which struggles to be seen in the book - a combination of the limitations of print and the paper used, and not unexpected (this one really needed more contrast - I’ll know next time!) But here are some closeups.

You can buy a copy from 🇬🇧 Blackwell’s, Book Depository or Amazon in the UK

🇺🇸 Indiebound or Amazon in the USA

More about the book, including where to buy it and how to get its fabulous accompanying freebies,

at outtogetyou.run

'Out To Get You' Story 4:' Sorry, Froggy'

“She’d remove the scalpel, she told herself, when the time was right. She just couldn’t bring herself to leave it I’m the poor frog’s heart forever.

But Brady was a stubborn boy. She closed the supply closet and returned to her seat, where she gently stroked her own half-dissected frog. It would take him days - maybe weeks - to learn his lesson.

The weirdo.”

Of all the stories on the new book by Josh Allen, 'Out To Get You', this is one of my favourites - gory, explicit and with a shocking ending.

Created in ink with a Nikko G nib on paper, and some fineliner, this was a real pleasure to...execute!

I’m posting one of the original artworks created for 'Out To get You' every day; that’s one story a day for all 13 stories, plus the extra story that the author Josh wrote as a 'bonus-ball'. You get to see all the gnarly pen-and-ink details close up, which are often not seen when printed in the book!

More about the book, including where to buy it and how to get its fabulous accompanying freebies,

at outtogetyou.run

All The Impossible Things

Published this week - on the same day as 'Out To Get You' - was this beautiful debut novel by Lindsay Lackey, whose cover I worked on last year.

I met Lindsay for a pint/cupatea in London in May, and I learned all about the mammoth effort involved in taking a book from idea in the middle of the night to a published reality. We all see best-selling books which seem to just pop out fully formed - the Stephen Kings, Dan Browns, the Andy McNabbs and Sophie Kinsellas - the next one in the series hitting shelves with what looks like an easy regularity.

But it was probably JK Rowling who first drew the curtain back on the enormous amount of work and dedication - you might even say belligerence - that turns a book from a nice aspiration to a saleable product. Her story of writing in an Edinburgh café with baby in tow, making a single coffee last for hours, have passed into legend and become part of the canon of literary history. That she then had the first HP novel rejected so many times is also part of that story, and since then, story after story has appeared of novels being written on buses, after the kids have gone to bed, between shifts and after class. Lindsay's was no different - a long, patient road to finishing a WHOLE book, then finding an agent, then the journey to publishing.

Lindsay's currently hash tagging 'NotMyImpossible', encouraging people to share their own stories of a struggle to overcome something - the thing in their lives that seemed impossible to build, achieve, overcome or solve, starting with her own history of a jaw condition that left her in daily, almost unbearable pain. Throughout it, and despite it, she wrote her novel anyway, and little by little - 'little' being sugary physiotherapy and dietary changes - she came to where she is now: pain free, and with a first published novel on the shelves.

The story itself is "a tearful, heartfelt, hope-filled tale of an eleven-year-old girl navigating the foster care system in search of a place to call home. Lackey’s soaring debut reminds us that family can be found in surprising places and love can achieve the impossible" (borrowing from the perfectly summary by Goodreads' Hannah Greendale). The cover needed to be magical, aspirational, but with a hint of the serious nature of the story arc. Many versions of the cover lettering were created, a mixture of letters created on my iPad with Procreate, and ink on paper solutions. The final, star-scattered one seen here is a combination of 'real' ink with digital stars, laid over designer Elizabeth Clark's shimmering background imagery. Just how many versions there were I lost count of - but I like to offer PLENTY of options!

You can see the finished book, printed CMYK on pearlescent paper, at the bottom. 

The work was commissioned by Elizabeth Clark, Macmillan USA.

And you can buy the book in the UK here, or in the US here.

'Out To Get You' Story 3: 'Nine Lives'

Today's 'Out To Get You' artwork is...'Nine Lives'!

What happens when a little black cat takes revenge into its own paws?

The nine one-eyed, old, limping, sharp-toothed, clumsy and mean cats were created in pencil and ink, and placed into an A2-sized ink and gouache roadside with the waving corn in the background. We can ascertain that it's around September-October, as the corn is high, and the sky...well, very autumnal (FULL OF RAIN)!

The one staring right us with the bent ear is the star of the story, 'Licorice'. Since this is a story for 8-12 year olds, the cats couldn't be TOO scary or threatening...tempting as that was. And because I have spent my life being Really Bad At Drawing Animals, managing to make nine creatures which actually look like what they're supposed to was a total triumph. (It helped that they were all supposed to be a bit on the wonk - see below.)

Close-ups of the ink work are below - everything's made on A2 and A3 heavyweight white cartridge, and scanned at mega high res for reproduction.

Here's an extract from the story:

"That night, before switching off my light, I peeled back my curtain and peered outside. They were still there, in the front yard, facing my window. 

Only now there were nine of them. one of the new cats had a crooked scar running down its face. All nine looked think and hungry. All nine were broken in some way. 

I remembered what my Mom had said when we'd dumped Licorice.

 Cats have nine lives.

Nine cats. Nine lives. 

And then I remembered what I'd said when we'd dumped Licorice.

Nothing."

You can read all about the book, its author Josh, and where to buy it, at outtogetyou.run