My first book cover! The Mummy Lessons by Helen Wallen - Published by Hodder & Stoughton

Hello there! As you might remember from an earlier post, 2018 saw me get my first book cover commission - and I can finally share the artwork now that it is published (by Hodder & Stoughton, an imprint of Hachette). It was released on the 21st March, less than two weeks ago and has already been named a no.1 bestseller in the parenting chart and no.24 in the kindle chart! A massive well done to author Helen Wallen (aka. Just a Normal Mummy) - her writing style is hilarious and real. But y'know... I'd like to think the cover illustration enticed some of those happy shoppers too :)

I thought I'd share some of my progress drawings. I always love to see illustrators share this, as it shows the amount of work that goes into creating that final polished piece you only usually see. It shows that I sometimes draw things over and over again to get them just right. Letting go of wanting to get it right first time was one of my biggest lessons in the early days and made a huge difference to my work.

Sorry the previews are so small - please click on the image to enlarge.

It started with rough mum and baby drawings in my sketchbook...

...then the hand lettering...

...so that I could arrange the characters around the letters

The design team at Hodder & Stoughton already had the idea of the characters interracting around the letters. Whereas I would usually expect to brainstorm some different layout options, I didn't need to here. I could go straight into creating the rough. The publishers then gave me the go ahead to create the final design - so I then illustrated the characters and icons in ink.

Drawing in ink...

...using layout paper over the enlarged roughs

I'm really happy with how successful it has been so far and still buzzing that my first cover is out. I did some spot illustrations for another pregnancy related book earlier this year - which will be published in the summer - and I have another book commission to start soon! So watch this space - I look forward to sharing them!

Click here to view The Mummy Lessons on Amazon (other book stores are available!).