• I had an email from Galya, an art student from Wales, wanting to ask me questions for her dissertation. I made a video for her, which I thought might be interesting for others to watch too.

    Here are her questions:

    1. Do you think that the different areas of illustration(picturebooks, editorial, etc.) differ a lot in terms of the methods you use to visually communicate the idea or message that you want to convey and how?

    2. Focusing specifically on your children’s books illustration, do you have to adapt your methods of illustration individually for each book? If so, in what way?

    3. How do you select the colours that you use and is there a specific meaning or message in the colours you choose?

    If this suggests questions you would like me to talk about on a video, please feel free to ask.

    Here are the links to other videos mentioned in the video:

    How to draw in Adobe Flash/Animator

    Greyscale painting

    Euclid Videos

  • Have a look inside my current sketchbook books. I’ve got a few on the go. Some I prefer using some days and sometimes I just want something small to slip in my pocket and be discreet with.

    I’ve been very busy recently, out and about, here and there, so it’s all a bit messy but shows what is filling my mind at the moment.

    You can find out more about James Mayhew here:  and here: 

    You can buy the Gaspard the Fox book book here in the uk https://amzn.to/2PhTbfC
    and here in the USA https://amzn.to/2JQ68Y4
    and here in Canada https://amzn.to/2RJjvfr

  • Mrs Rayner and I went to Brighton this week. The idea was to go to the Lewes Bonfire – an extraordinary pagan fire festival – but, even with all my research, we were unable to get there and back as the train station was closed to keep hoards of visitors out of the town. If you want to know more about the Lewes Bonfire night see this video:

    In the end we did some Christmas shopping and ate too much and watched the amazing murmurations of starlings that fly in overnight and swoop around the old, broken pier as they come in to roost for the night. We stopped at Wisley Gardens on the way home