The Perils of Archibald Toddle #5 - Cannibal Hat

The Story so far...

and then!

Existential detail.

'The hat will grow spider legs and eat Ziggy, and the spiders will kidnap Archibald.'

Thanks to Diana Probst for the crazy idea that I've put into a Victorian style comic page. I improvised a little to get Archibald into a new environment and a good place to ask 'What Happens Next'?

He's inside the ship! Is the interior like nothing we've ever seen before, will it go somewhere, is there anybody else within?

 I'm gonna go for a single full page image on the next one (probably) so SHORT AND SNAPPY suggestions below please.

Fire away! The weirder the better....

Idea for Archibald #5

Can't resist this one by Diana Probst which came via twitter:

'The hat will grow spider legs and eat Ziggy, and the spiders will kidnap Archibald.'

I'll get drawing! Unlikely to finish before the Xmas chaos but you never know...

Thanks for the fantastic ideas everyone. Please please keep it up!

Lost at E Minor

I've written some 'Guest Posts' of some of my favourite web finds for 'Lost at E Minor' in which I praise:

Grayson Perry, Kitty Daisy and Lewis, Jon Ronson on The Shaggs, Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowisc, Walton Ford and Terry Gilliam.

Oh and I might have slipped in a mention for Archibald too.

Audience Participation #4 - The Hat Thief

The story continues but first a recap!

And then....

Thanks to Michael Kirkham for the idea!

Calamities! What will happen when Ziggy puts on the hat? 

Will he transform, will the world end, will our hero's perception of reality be twisted beyond recognition...

Suggestions below please for the next exciting episode of The Perils of Archibald Toddle.

*A reminder that all chosen participants get a copy of the illustrations as a handmade book. Jolly good, carry on.

Flavia De Luce

Cover illustration for the new Flavia De Luce Novel by Alan Bradley for Orion Books (hardback) which was a lovely job to work on. The plan was for me to illustrate the back catalogue of paperback re-editions but it didn't work out in the out in the end and they went for something much more graphic. I like the sketches though and I've included them below. Disappointing for me as I would have loved to work these up to final.

Hope you like!

Pencil work

First sketches for the above hardback

Sketch for 'The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' (paperback).

Sketch for 'A Red Herring Without Mustard' (paperback).

Chosen idea for Archie #4

I'm going for Michael Kirkham's great suggestion: 'Upon Ziggy's command the spiders web Archie to the floor (in a Gulliver-esque manner) and make off with his top hat".

Thank you for the support and wonderful ideas. It was a tricky one as the image didn't have an obvious angle to work from so I'm gonna change tactic slightly for the next stage and move this adventure into a perilous cliffhanger.

Stay tuned for the Perils of Archibald Toddle.

To be continued......

Audience Participation #3 - Ziggy

'Archibald notices hundreds of spiders surrounding him and a man on top of the capsule. He has a thunder on his forehead. It's Ziggy Stardust!' (click for a larger version)

Thank you to FEDRA for the idea and all who posted.

Victorian meets Glam Rock! Where could it go from here? I await more of your suggestions as to what happens next. 

Keep the ideas 'short and snappy' please and a reminder that every chosen participant gets a credit and copy of the handmade book. 

Here's a recap of the images so far and a quick thought for the intro page which will have a collage of some of the alternative ideas:

So What Happens Next? Suggest below......

Don the Talking Dog

My cover illustration and typography for the new Fortean Times magazine inspired by vintage circus posters. Lots of fun to work on this cover helped along by the Art Director Etienne Gilfillan.

Final

Rough sketch

Rough colour

Final close ups

PS: Half term chaos and work have put a hold on Archibald but I'll be getting back to him shortly....

Chosen Idea #2

This is the first time I've been so open with my work and invited people to join in so firstly, thank you for  responding and secondly for being so inventive! A great range of ideas including the poetic, the crazy and the enigmatic. 

This weeks selection process involved -  

5 favourite ideas printed and cut out, 1 'lady woman' for her unbiased opinion and 2 daughters hiding in the 'play tent' where the, then wife-filtered, slips of paper were thrown in. This is the ticket that emerged:

'Archibald notices hundreds of spiders surrounding him and a man on top of the capsule. He has a thunder on his forehead. It's Ziggy Stardust!' Suggested by FEDRA.

I'm looking forward to it! Watch this space..... (in a week or so)

Audience Participation #2

'A large metal object falls out of the sky and crashes at his feet.'


Thanks very much Allan Sanders for the idea and all those who posted. The range of funny and weird suggestions were a pleasure to read. Please continue....


SO, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?


Post ideas below! 
Short and snappy suggestions please and remember 'the stranger the better'.....

The Art of Literature

There's a celebration of the The Folio Society's illustrated books over at the Guardian website which talks about the tactile quality of a beautiful object:

"In this age of e-books and e-readers, many of us yearn for books that can be bought and held, kept in a home library and handed down to future generations. It is something that The Folio Society, which will celebrate its 65th anniversary next year, understands very well"

*You can vote for your favourite book too and you're under absolutely no obligation to vote for mine. However, when voting, think about where you heard of the article and do whatever your conscience tells you (if your conscience tells you to vote for mine that is).

Chosen idea.

THANK YOU for the great responses!

 To keep my choice pretty random I put five of my favourite ideas in a hat then my daughter plucked out this one:

'A large metal object falls out of the sky and crashes at his feet.' suggested by Allan Sanders. 

Lovely stuff. I'll post the next stage soon and look forward to hearing your crazy and brilliant suggestions again....

Audience Participation

I need the help of YOU the loyal and lovely readers of this blog. 
Please post a comment below with an idea of 'what happens next' to this character . Just a short and snappy idea for a wordless narrative. Along the lines of: "He gets attacked by..." or  "He meets a...." or "His trousers fall down..." etc...

I'll then choose one idea and draw it. Then I'll ask for more suggestions for the following image. I'm thinking of maybe 8-12 illustrations which I'll then make into a handmade book. All those people whose comments make it into the story will be credited and will receive a GIFT COPY! Oooh.

It's an experiment in improvisation and new ways of thinking. I hope by the end to have created some work that I would never have expected of myself and I also hope that it could be an interesting organic project for you to interact with.

It's an open brief!  Do what you will with him, be merciful or horribly wicked, the stranger the better.

SO, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

*NOTE:

Please don't post anonymously if you'd like a copy of the book. 

Also, I'll wait until there are at least 10 comments before I choose one for the story so please don't be shy.

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Also, I've started tweeting so please follow if that's your thing: @jonathanburton

The Wild Wild East

Nice art direction from Mark Stammers for this piece  about “Investing in the Wild East”.


Eastern Europe is still dominated economically by Russia and whilst money can be made in the region it still has the air of lawlessness mixed with get-rich quick entrepeneurs that draws comparison with the US gold rush.
Mark briefed, "I think the overall piece would have maybe a quite dark and threatening overtone to suggest a level of danger beneath the fascade."


After some discussion added "Russia certainly allows western entrepeneurs and investors to come in, but once you are there you have to play by their rules which just happen to include bribery, corruption, murder etc. So entry is free but you might not get out with your investment intact and in some cases with your life."