• eggchicksmalRecently smiiliimoon, on YouTube, asked me how to draw Kawaii. What is Kawaii (pronounced a bit like Hawaii) ? Kawaii is the Japanese word for cute but it has also come to mean a soft cute style of illustration too.

    Many have asked me to draw this before. I thought maybe it was a bit childish, but then I realised that when I went to Japan, Kawaii is just about all I bought as gifts and souvenirs! I’m beginning to see it as a serious art form… crazy but serious!

    So, as it is Easter this weekend, I thought I would draw an egg and turn it into a Cute Kawaii Easter Chick. I hope you like it. If you do, let me know as I’ve now got all sorts of ideas going round in my head.. What would you like me to turn into Kawaii?

    answers in the comments box below.

  • hotcrossbunsmallLearn to draw a hot cross bun real easy. Wonder what a hot cross bun is? Its a sticky fruit bun that is traditionally Eaten on Good Friday, the friday before Easter. You can get Hot Cross Buns pretty much all year round now in Supermarkets but they are still delicious – especially if split, toasted and covered in butter! mmmm.

  • KipperAlexBrychtaSmlThis is part two of my interview with World Famous illustrator, Alex Brychta, who has illustrated over 500 books for the Oxford Reading Tree. If you are under 30, you probably learned to read with Biff, Chip, Kipper and Floppy the dog. In this video, Alex shows us how, through 30 years of practice, he swiftly lays out a page ready to do the ink drawing.

    We discuss various techniques, but Alex photocopies his ink drawings onto conqueror paper and then stretches the paper onto drawing boards by moistening the back of the paper and sticking down with gummed paper tape. I do it dry with masking tape – you can see how in this video.

    Alex scans his own work with a high end scanner and makes final corrections in Photoshop. the he sends digital files to the publisher.

    Sit back and relax and learn from a master and his years of experience.