Modern Faerie Tales – Holly Black

So this was fun! I was asked to design a single header for each of Holly Black’s three novels in the Modern Faerie Tales series: Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside, for this omnibus edition.

They are delightful novels — as is the new The Folk of the Air series (The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and The Queen of Nothing), which is lightly connected, and for which I did the maps. Holly has a gift for (and works hard at) balancing a rather gritty 21st century mundane with a stunningly wondrous (but cruel) magical world. If you grew up on the urban fantasy of the 80s and 90s, you’ll know the feeling of Holly’s worlds — grit and glitter and death and magic.

Which is to say, I recommend them all, as well as having had a Grand Time drawing in them.

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Note re links: I’m experimenting with affiliate links, which means I might get paid a small commission if someone buys something after clicking a link on my site. This is early days, so I’m really just testing out the program links at this point!

Stray Bats — a chapbook

Dachshund droids, sinister crones, shapeshifting children, a plethora of witches, dragonstalkers, familiars, slithering eels and, of course, bats, flit and fly through these pages, aided and abetted by Kathleen Jennings’s inspired pencil drawings. Stray Bats is a madcap miscellany consisting of fifty vignettes based on poems by Australian women. Lanagan delights in playing with language, rhyme, and rhythm.

This could be the perfect gift for that slightly otherworldly person in your life—or for yourself, when you need a moment of magic, a dip into darkness, a spark of light.

For the reader who would like to explore further, there are a list of poems that inspired the author and notes on where those poems might be found.

Small Beer Press have just announced this new chapbook, which Margo and I have been secretly working on — it’s so exciting that it will be a real book in the world in November! Pre-orders are open now on Small Beer’s website, and Margo and I will both be at World Fantasy in LA.

September Calendar: Dragons!

Somehow — somehow — here is the September calendar. I hurt my hip badly and have been largely horizontal for over a week, which is more than inconvenient for a self-employed artist — if you’ve ever considered supporting the calendar through the Patreon (or the tip jar at Paypal.me/tanaudel) this would be an incredibly helpful time. Even better, there’s a backlog of stationery and stories on the way for supporters at those levels, once I’m on my feet.

But this afternoon I managed to prop myself up at a standing desk for long enough to ink a few dragons, and then sprawl over the bed to construct the rest of the calendar — and it isn’t even (quite) September yet!

Below — for personal use — are two versions of the calendar: pre-coloured, or to print and colour yourself.

I have… quite a few extra dragons to work out what to do with now!

Magic and Marillier

Some very exciting news…

I will be illustrating a book of tales by the wonderful Juliet Marillier, from Serenity Press next year.

Queen of Air and Darkness — Banner

This is a banner illustration I drew for Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in her Shadowhunters trilogy, The Dark Artifices.

It was of course a lot of fun (mitred corners!), but also an interesting challenge to do an illustration of an object that contains an illustration by a character, which is itself in a different medium (and not the first such Shadowhunters illustration I’ve done, either!). But there is a reason, after all, that I love sketching in art galleries.

I was also able to drop into the Simon & Schuster offices and admire paperstock. Shout-out here to Art Directors Russell Gordon (now of 1000 Jars) and Nicholas Sciacca, who have been a delight to work with.

Finally, here is a glimpse at the process behind it: rough positioning and ideas in my notebook; pencil layouts and different treatments; test for a woodcut effect in scratchboard; pen and ink tests.

And now it’s out as a patch from Topatoco, too!

Photo pinched from Cassie Clare’s instagram

December Calendar – Ships a-sailing

Welcome to the December calendar (brought to you, as ever, with your priceless support on Patreon – we’re $10 short of restarting the Dalek Game again over there, should you wish to help!).

Due to all the maps of recent days, I’ve been wanting to do a pseudo-nautical calendar (again — there’s a cameo appearance from August 2017‘s cast this month).

It was not intended to be a festive calendar (although I might make a sea-serpent garland this year), mostly because I was travelling and forgot this would be for December. (I am home now, and reminded of it constantly.) However, should you require a carolling connection, just pick any three ships (or check out the Patreon, for occasional stationery from this and previous years).

The calendar page is below, pre-coloured or to colour at home.

The Writers Book of Doubt

Hello from JFK Airport (I’m heading home!) and welcome to Submissionland! This is a map I have been working on for Aidan Doyle’s Writer’s Book of Doubt, the kickstarter for which has just opened (and nearly funded). You can find out more about the map, essays, etc on the campaign page: The Writer’s Book of Doubt.