AUTHOR, ILLUSTRATOR, SCHOOL WORKSHOPS AND FESTIVALS
School sessions & workshops
I run a wide range of creative sessions, workshops and projects and I love this aspect of my job. I've worked extensively with pupils of all ages (including SEN) in primary schools, secondary schools and libraries – most widely in Scotland, travelling to cities, towns, villages and island communities up and down the country, as well as to numerous places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – and I'm always energised by the enthusiasm and imaginations of the young people, teachers and librarians I get to meet and work with.
I've also carried out sessions at many books festivals, including Bath, Cambridge, Dundee, Edinburgh, Hay-on-Wye, Islay, Lincoln, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Wigtown, often for all-age family audiences.
And I sometimes carry out workshops for adults too, such as teachers or illustration students (and, occasionally, people in prison).
All my sessions and workshops are interactive and fun, sharing the scribbly imaginative processes behind my illustrated stories, and giving loads of tips and encouragement for participants to create their own, without fear of getting things "wrong". My visually-led approach seems to work well for enthusing pupils who don't see themselves as confident writers or readers, as well as expanding the skills of those already keen.
Below is an overview of the different sort of sessions I can offer – and I'm always happy to tailor my events to particular requirements, and always open to new and different sorts of projects!
The Get in Touch page will give you an idea of my fees and tell you how to book me. And on the Endorsements page you can read some of the lovely feedback I've received from teachers and children.
INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION SESSIONS
These sessions work well with any numbers and age ranges, from single classes to whole schools, and are also great for all-age family events at libraries and book festivals.
They feature lots of joining-in activity and loads of tips to enthuse everyone to create their own illustrated stories following my visit, but with no individual working materials required during the session itself.
They generally last around an hour (though this can be flexible as required).
Such a session will typically include:
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exploring fun ways to get started, such as mixing imaginative daydreams with real-life favorite things, and doodling ideas visually rather than necessarily having to begin with writing;
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a quick interactive reading of one of my books, with PowerPoint illustrations and lots of joining in;
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a “behind-the-scenes” look at how such a book comes together, sharing all my stages of sketchbooks, rough drafts, model-making, layouts, final artwork, etc, with lots of encouragement to enjoy trying out ideas in different ways;
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a collaborative visual story-creating activity on a flipchart to demonstrate the fun of putting the above techniques into practice (often children's favourite bit of a session!)
COMIC STRIP AND ILLUSTRATION WORKSHOPS
These workshops (which can be single or double sessions) work best with single classes or smaller groups, since participants will be getting started on their own individual pieces of work within the session itself.
I’ll often start workshops with similar sorts of presentation activities to those described above, though with the collaborative flipchart activities more directly focused on technical tips for page-layouts, comic strip frames, speech balloons, etc.
And in the second half of a workshop session (or in the second instalment of a double session) I’ll get the participants working at their own tables with paper, pencils, pens, etc, to get started on their own ideas, with walk-around help and encouragement from me.
My workshops can either focus particularly on comic-strip/graphic-novel forms, or cover a wider range of illustrated fiction styles too.
RESIDENCY PROJECTS
Sometimes I’ll carry out projects involving multiple sessions with the same class (or with two classes in parallel) with visits spanning several weeks, taking the pupils through all the stages of developing their own stories, from initial imaginings to completed self-made picture books, exploring a variety of materials and techniques.
These projects, where pupils have the time, space and encouragement to develop their own choice of style and subject matter into finished work, always seem to generate a terrific buzz of self-motivated enthusiasm and a real increase in confidence.
Often a residency begins with a whole-school session before I start working with the project’s particular class, and finishes with another assembly, so that the pupils can show their work to everyone – including their families – and receive due recognition and praise for their work (along with the special bookmark certificates I present).
SKETCHPEDITIONS
My "sketchpeditions" can be part of a longer residency or project, or single sessions in their own right. On these, I'll lead participants around a local place of interest, encouraging them to gather real-life visual inspirations for their own illustrated stories. I find getting out of your usual work environment to fill some sketchbook pages with things that excite your interest can be a great way of finding fresh narrative ingredients and sparking imaginative starting points. And it's also a fun way for pupils to engage with any place of interest they're already planning to visit.
I've conducted sketchpeditions in a wide variety of locations – museums large and small, historic ruins, town centres, harbours and beaches (in all weathers!) – and I'm always up for new ideas and places for this kind of work.
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