Author: James Foley

James Foley makes children’s books for children who read books. If you’re a child and you’re eating his books, you’re doing it wrong. His books include the Secret Agent Mole graphic novel series, the S.Tinker Inc graphic novel series, and the multi-award winning Stellarphant. James lives in Perth with his wife, 2 kids, and a labrador. He is a massive Marvel movie nerd and comes from a long line of queuing enthusiasts. Follow him on socials ( @jamesfoleybooks ) or at www.jamesfoley.com.au .

SCBWI- Scribblers Cover a Bovine With Illustrations

Earlier this year, myself and other local members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) painted a fibreglass cow.

me painting a cow's bum — me painting a cow’s bum

It was an art project for the Cow Parade, which came to Margaret River in March.

The cow features paintings by SCBWI illustrators Matt Ottley, Frane Lessac, Shannon Melville, Sam Hughes, Karen Blair, Briony Stewart and Wendy Binks. The cow also features cover images from books by SCBWI authors.

The finished cow was on display at McLeod Creek Wines during the Parade…

…but is now at the State Library in the children’s Mezzanine section. Stop by and say moo sometime.

Have a squiz at Frane Lessac’s blog for more pictures of our group at work.

Quokka- Robin Hood

The new Robin Hood film is out, featuring a Gladiator-like Russell Crowe.

This Quokka Robin Hood is more like the Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn version…

20100527 720 Robin Hood — Quokka, issue 720, May 27 2010- Robin Hood

Quokka- Eval Queneval

I hope this doesn’t mean my Quokka covers have jumped the shark…

20100520 719 Eval Queneval — Quokka, issue 720, May 20 2010- Eval Queneval

State Library workshop

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to spend an hour running a workshop with some talented cartoonists. We covered facial expressions, bodies, movement and animals.

The expressions section resulted in some interesting photos: see below.

Thanks to both the State Library and the Wild West Comedy Festival for having me along.

workshop photo 2 — “I can smell it. I hope they didn’t hear it.”

workshop photo 1 — “I’m going to grow an afro THIS BIG!”

Quokka- Days of Change #2

Here’s a second cover supporting the Days of Change campaign, sponsored by Quokka Press.

20100513 718 DaysofChange2 — Quokka, issue 718, May 13 2010- Days of Change #2

Digital colouring in photoshop

Here’s a rundown of how I colour the Quokka cover each week. I’ll use the Easter cover as an example.

I use Photoshop CS3 and a Wacom Intuos 3 graphics tablet to do the colouring.

I do quite a few things to get to the colouring stage:

1. I draw a sketch at final print size, and get it approved by Quokka Press
2. I set the sketch onto my lightbox, and lay over some watercolour paper (190 gsm smooth)
3. I ink the lines in using ordinary black ink and a Hunt 120 nib