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Blog
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Waiting for the studio to open…
Well, I feel that I need to write a quick post because otherwise anyone visiting the site will think it’s been abandoned… We bit the bullet last year and forked […]
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Tower Hamlets Creative Writing Competition 2022
Phew. Well my self-penned picture book is still requiring more revision and The Squeeping Catterwhip is still awaiting publication, and now’s my traditional December deadline for the creative writing poster. […]
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Half a competition is better than none?
I expected to see more discussions on the SCBWI social media pages in regards to why the illustration category of Undiscovered Voices was dropped. In fact, I at least expected […]
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That nagging self-doubt
The worst thing about subbing to agents ISN’T the rejection letters. It’s looking at the talent already on the books and thinking “my work is nowhere as good as that”. […]
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New proof of Inn From the Cold
Inn From the Cold is set in the far north during winter, so aside from the snow, moon and lamplight was originally very dark. The first proof was almost unreadable […]
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First proof copy of the Catterwhip!
Incredible! The proof copy of The Squeeping Catterwhip has landed, and now it’s just a case of adjusting the colour and brightness of a few pages that are just too […]
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Timetabling!
As work on The Squeeping Catterwhip comes to a close (and I’m looking forward to actually posting the completed art here!), I’ve been bitten by the book-illustrating bug once more […]
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Pixel art = virtual lego
Yeah, so I hadn’t expected this to be dead easy, but I hadn’t realised just how many new assets I’d need to draw from scratch for my pixel Nevermoor! Here’s […]
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Making a videogame
Okay, so this won’t be the first game I’ve started making (or even the 5th). I’ve been playing around with GameMaker studio for years, and did actually complete a game […]
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Returning to pixel art
I can’t wait to be able to properly post the competed work from “The Squeeping Catterwhip” – a poem that I’m currently illustrating. The finishing touches are being added, as […]
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‘I am not alone’
Another creative writing competition! When I planned this one last August, I honestly hadn’t anticipated our glorious government being quite so incompetent as to take us back to square one […]
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Revisiting and revising
Not being able to visit friends and relatives, I’ve instead been revisiting some of my art from last year and quickly changing it’s status to ‘pending review’. Most of it […]
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Not quite ‘doing a Thanos’
Hasn’t Thanos worked his way into the public consciousness recently? His callous wiping out of a seemingly random 50% seems to have resonated with us in these uncertain times – […]
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Teacher’s book blog
A big part of my work with the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services is recommending and evaluating books. My colleague started a teachers’ reading group a year or so ago, […]
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The Mighty Thumbslurp returns…
…well, I hope it does. I was inspired to (finally) get around to finishing off the revised manuscript for You’re a pest Betsy Thubslurp by a tweet from an agent […]
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A lovely email
Cheering me up on a grey, rainy day, ‘Wildings’ author, Nilanjana Roy emailed me asking if it would be okay if she could share my sketch for her book. Of […]
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SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Interview
https://www.wordsandpics.org/2019/03/undiscovered-voices-interviews-jacob.html Has it really been a year since the UV 2018 launch? This interview was actually completed last July but it’s only just been published as there were so many […]
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Creative writing workshops
The day job has recently involved an awful lot of work making sure that the annual creative writing competition goes off without too many hitches. I’ve been working with the […]
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Winding down at Christmas
That was rather a self-indulgent last post, but I guess I’d been having a duff few months. I’ve been indulging more in mince pies and chocolates over the last week […]
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It’s been a long year
Sometimes time catches you out – 2018 has been like that. It seems like an age ago that I was getting my portfolio printed for the Undiscovered Voices launch and […]
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The Wildings
I keep on writing ‘Wildlings’ instead of ‘Wildings’ – this is a scene from Nilanjana Roy’s book, not George Martin’s. I’ve never quite gotten the art style right for this […]
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Another review
I recently attended another portfolio review at the House of Illustration arranced by the SCBWI – in attendance were representatives from the Plum Pudding agency, Hachette childrens and Walker. Feedback […]
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London Book Fair 2018
I’d never visited the LBF before, so it was an interesting experience taking part this year and having some of my art on display at the Illustrator’s Gallery. It’s the […]
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Dealing with ups and downs (and 2 unpleasant stories)
J K Rowling will most certainly go down in history, but when she does, I’m positive that it wont just be down to the success of Harry Potter. Ms Rowling […]
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Canvas prints
Wow – I must be doing something right, because I got a repeat customer! I also got a lesson in canvas printing thrown into the deal. I was asked to […]
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Wow – I made it!
I reached the Undiscovered Voices 2018 final lineup! Well, firstly a big thank you to Working Partners Ltd and especially to Chris Snowden. And many, many thanks to everyone at […]
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I’m on the longlist!
Now, firstly, the important stuff. Is ‘longlist’ even a real word? Every spellchecker I use says ‘no’ (but they also say spellchecker’ isn’t a word either). It’s certainly annoying when […]
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That December feeling
Well, it’s getting close to the close of 2017 and it’s been a rather interesting year. Aside from getting lots of extra duties and a big dollop of job insecurity […]
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2017 Booklists
I’m not sure where the geometric idea came from – probably just the requirement to differentiate the lists as much as possible from the 2016 set. The backgrounds were originally […]
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2016 Booklists
These designs ended up looking really striking and allowed for the covers to be a decent size. The tidy design made them stand out from last year’s posters which would […]
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Harry Potter Sketch
I’ve been running in ever decreasing circles since a portfolio review earlier this year which could be summed up as “we like the work, but no one will want to […]
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Going back to pixels
Well, I took part in a portfolio intensive critique earlier this year via my SCBWI membership, and it was an eye-opener for sure that knocked me sideways for a few […]
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London Calling : Canvas Print
I was very kindly sent these pictures of my London Calling pixel city canvas print. I was – to be quite honest – waiting with baited breath for feedback on […]
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The truth is a cave in the black mountains
A live sketch for a Radio 4 gallery, for the ‘Book at bedtime’ story by Neil Gaiman. The nearest I’ll get to doing an ‘official’ illustration for his […]
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I’m entering Undiscovered Voices!
http://www.undiscoveredvoices.com/ Run by the SCBWI, this is a competition to showcase the work of unpublished and unagented authors and illustrators. I found out about it from Sarwat Chadda, a previous […]
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Iron Cat
I only had a couple of short sessions at John Scurr primary school and most of the workshop was drawing improvised picture book illustrations for an on-the-spot creative writing activity. […]
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First author/ illustrator visit!
Well, the Mighty Thumbslurp has been printed at last! To celebrate this momentous event, Janet and myself have just completed our first afternoon of workshops at John Scurr Primary School, Tower […]
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Task 3: Vanquish dragon
The final task for our heroine before she can sit down and enjoy the nice cup of tea
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You’re STILL a Pest!
In honour of the imminent (well, fairly imminent) publication of the printed edition of You’re a Pest, Betsy Thumbslurp! here’s a sample of artwork from the upcoming sequel. The print […]
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My first interview!
Well, I’m rather chuffed that someone actually wanted to interview me! http://www.taletrove.com/blog/illustrator-interview-with-jacob-turner/ TaleTrove looks to be on it’s way to becoming a great little online resource and I wish them […]
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Task 1: Clean out the pond
You know what it’s like when you get to spring. The garden needs weeding, the lawn’s a patchy mess, the fence needs straightening, and the Something-nasty-and-slimy-with-tentacles REALLY needs to be […]
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The mighty Thumbslurp!
WARNING! This book is full of YUCKS, GGRRRRAAHHHS and SNNOOSSEEFFUUPPs.(Not to mention a flying hippopotamus!)
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Must Read Booklist 2014
The Must Read posters are the sister set to the Teen Booklist and generally follow the same visual teme. That meant another 5 doodle art posters to draw. And I […]
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Tower Hamlets Teen Booklist 2014
So my manager decides that we need a different design to the last few years, which have been rather clean and tidy, so I decided to return to the grunge […]
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Black skies
I wanted at least one opening line that could be worked into sci-fi. This is a bit of a John Wyndham apocalyptic sci-fi, but I think it’s quite atmospheric. This […]
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Apples in suitcases
I’m not sure whether any entrants have interpreted the ‘apple’ as an iPhone. I like this design but it’s certainly the most leading in terms of genre, but then again […]
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Jumping from windows
Being totally unused to Adobe Illustrator, this was the toughest of the 4 posters given the amount going on, but the crisp lines leant themselves well to the movement. The […]