New year post with dead pan paper crown selfies.

Hello friends and strangers. You will be pleased to know that I recently achieved my fully evolved, ideal self, my fully realised form, the epitome of my existence, my pinnacle of being, I have found my spirit animal and it is the dead-pan selfie in a paper crown. 

Ironically, this has been a year where I have actually felt quite a lot of emotions. More than the average year certainly.  

Not that I'm saying I have been living in a frozen husk of largely muted and suppressed emotions honed by a combination of positivity, privilege and progesterone. 

It's not so unusual now for us to express surprise when our technology presents us with a highlights reel of the last 12 months, and somehow the smiling faces in the photos don't reflect the turmoil we remember. Though the algorithms are new, I think it was probably ever thus. We're far from the first generation to live through interesting times, or under governments we wouldn't trust to carve up a turkey, let alone a continent. All times are end times. And beginning times.

2018 began with me writing the beginning of Biscuits. 

Longer ago than a year, in fact two and a half years ago, I made a deal with myself. I signed up with a supply teaching agency and I decided I would stop using so much of my time chasing short term gains and small scale illustration commissions and try to make something. I gave myself until Summer 2018 to get a book deal, or be in a position to self publish a graphic novel. In those two years a bunch of stuff happened beyond my control that meant I didn't have as much time or mental space for that project as I had projected. Family stuff. Emotions. Life getting in the way type of stuff. That's ok. I didn't give up. Competition deadlines helped.

The Laydeez deadline was in January. And they specified that it had to be the beginning of a graphic work in progress. The beginning. Biscuits is an overlapping and fragmented narrative, so I hadn't made myself think about the beginning and what it could be. But to enter the Laydeez prize I had to. So that was important. Then the Myriad deadline was in February and they wanted 15-30 pages. So I did the first 30 pages. 

I already blogged a fair amount about what happened after that. I signed the book contract in August, and Biscuits (assorted) should be coming your way in twoish years. I now have a script written of 230ish pages, and 130ish pages still to draw. 

Life might still get in the way some. Maybe even world events will. But this is happening. 

Some other things that I did in 2018 include but are not limited to:

I made a snow-cat. 

My first attempt at hourly comic day and you can see my whole 24 hour comic here. 

I got to do lots of cool drawing for my friends Andrew and Susanna's wedding in Scotland, it was a wildlife theme for the invites and stationary and stuff and I even got to do animals for the beer pumps and menus and a fox on a box.

 

 It was a really really beautiful wedding. Also, just a few weeks ago it was featured in the times, so now I can finally say that my tits have been in the paper. 

I was so lucky to be part of such a lovely event. Hooray for Friends. 

We went to see They Might Be Giants at the Barbican. It was amazing. 

I got to help Andy out on the Broken Frontier table at ELCAF this year, and did this sketch of the Broken Frontier panel discussion.

In other BF related life content, as well as writing a few bits and bobs for the site, I also got to design the cover for this years Broken Frontier Yearbook

This Clara and Hana one page story is in the inside too. 

If you want to see everyone else's awesome work for the yearbook you can buy one here.

I also did a number of illustrations for the UCL alumni magazine Portico this year, including this one depicting an overworked teacher. There may be a very small amount of exaggeration for comic effect in the amount of paperwork here. Only slight tho. 

As well as my talk at London Laydeez do Comics in May which I blogged about here. I also made two public appearances doing a talking and a powerpoints at two big comic art festivals this year, in my capacity as Myriad winner.

Here I am on the Laydeez panel "Prolific" at Thought Bubble in Leeds in really excellent company with Kate Brown, Priya Kuriyan, Katriona Chapman and Louise Crosby. 

Thought Bubble was especially good this year. Everyone said so. 

A month later I was off again this time to Kendal (where the mint cake comes from) for LICAF. (all self respecting comic festivals are acronyms. Except Thought Bubble, but you can call it T.Bubs to make yourself feel better) 

I got to hang out a lot with the amazing Sabba Khan, my fellow Myriad shortlistee and book contractee. You should check out her work you will not regret it. And with our estimable editor Corinne Pearlman. The theme of our talks was on the importance of locality in comics, which was awesome to talk about, but slightly awkward that both me and Sabba are making comics about London, when the festival was in the Lake District. Luckily the third speaker was more local - the talented and lovely Owen Michael Johnson

Also this year I got to see Adriene, of Yoga with fame at a giant yoga cult event at Ally Pally with Wallis and Danny.

And speaking of Wallis I also had the honour of helping her put up her exhibition in collaboratoin with Double Jab gym to celebrate her awesome residency there and the comic she made about it. 

I've still been doing bits and pieces of the usual too

 Here's a purple heron

 Here's a facebook portrait of the amazing Katy Wagget, you should check out her photography too. 

Here's an Australian themed name commission. 

These two continue to be the loves of my life and I am very blessed to have them.

If you want to know what my favourite comics are that I read this year I wrote about them for The Quietus here. 

I also went to Devon, and Brighton, and Rye, and probably some other places and did loads of other stuff with lovely family and friends. But this post is already way too long.

So I am going to wish you all a very merry happy new year. 

2015 in summation, adventures, makings, illumastrations. PART ONE

 Is it 2016 already? 

It seems like only a year ago that I was making that joke about it seeming like only a year since 2013. 

Last year my round up of the last year before that last year went really well, in the blogstats sense, I just went back to reread it and I spotted TWO typos, which I have now corrected, if you want more roundupness after reading this, why not go and read it and see if you can spot the typos I removed. I also added a panda to one of the pictures. I didn't actually do that. 

And if you thought last last year was a busy one, WELL, 2015 was even more busytimes. Or maybe it always feels like that. Like how you are meant to forget the pain of childbirth. No childbirth on the horizon for me btw, although a lot of my nicest and similar agest to meist friends have been taking the parenthood plunge recently. Prompting a range of babywear from yours truly, about more which later. 

In fact I have done so much stuff that I am going to have to release this blog post in several parts. To avoid giving you thumb swipey strain or losing attention syndrome. You know like when you click on a video then you realise it is longer than 3 minutes, so you panic and planbandon and watch five 2 minute videos instead. On the toilet. That's embarrassing. So we don't want that. 

Anyway there have been too many words without a picture already, so here's a picture

This was the only new Christmas card design I made this year,it was made especially for the alternative Christmas fair run by London Below. 

But that's way too recent. Let's cast our brains back into the seas of yesteryear, and January 2015

I don't remember much happening in January actually, I had given up both alcohol and caffeine at the time, so that might be why.

I did do this picture of the wonderful Jennifer King in January. But other that that I was beavering away at the new website and filing my tax return. I have to do that again soon. Yay. 

In February I officially launched my newly revamped illustration website. 

I had streamlined my portfolio into 6 simple sections: Illustration, Drawn Words, Collage Design, Birds, Fashion and Real TV Wisdom 

As an illustrator I've always battled with my creative's desire to do a million different things. What one is supposed to do is streamline one's practice into a cohesive brand that enables clients to see what it is they are getting. And this website is my style streamlined, I worked hard to make sure it all looked consistent and colourful, putting forward the brand of Jenny Robins. And then of course this year, while those featured sections have certainly FEATURED in my practice, I've really made more money doing comics and murals and portraits than any of them. HO HUM.

To celebrate the launch of the new website I did a competition for two people to get a free portion of my time to draw whatever they wanted. The winners drawings are below, as I realised I never blogged them proper. 

Karen Kelleher requested a Granny (who is an international spy) skateboarding with her pet Jack Russells, Charlie and Benny down a London high street. (she has some other specifications too).

Smithy wanted a manga style portrait of his dog.

Your wish was my command, contest winners.

Also in February I did a comic in favour of Marriage Equality, here it is all over again. 

Awwwwww, monogamy eh? Technically this was for the Irish vote, which came out in favour of marriage equality (woo), although I guess you could use it in any pro same-sex marriage context. Although I did Google common Irish names for the gravestone. But big up for Switzerland and Denmark this year guys, and fingers crossed for Australia! I mean, I just looked that up on Wikipedia. so hopefully that's the right countries to big up. Feel free to update me. 

Also in February I had a tube strike adventure. 

It's always best to see these things as adventures I think.

Speaking of adventures, since Alex and I were trying to buy a flat all year we decided we weren't allowed to go on any mini breaks or foreign escapades because money. Being gazumped is expensive. But to make up for this we made an effort to go on London adventures instead and walk places and see things. So we did some of that in February. There are so many good things to do for free in London, some for researching and planning and booking, and also lots for serendipitously happening upon if you just go for a walk around and see what you encounter (It's best to leave space for both plans and serendipity I think, and for the two to combine. In art too). 

Like for example we discovered you can go to the fish shop on Great Portland Street. Which has as many fish as the Sealife Centre (may not be true) and costs nothing to visit. Fish are pretty.

Or this tree that has mysteriously grown up through a star-burst arrangement of gravestones, right round the corner from King's Cross Station. I like how it is called the Hardy Tree, because maybe Thomas Hardy had something to do with it, although maybe he didn't. History eh? 

In March I ran a workshop for some 'disadvantaged' children with St Helen's School as part of the Shine Trust's programme in Middlesex. We built a city out of cardboard and paint

Also in March I turned 30 years old. It's like a milestone or something.

I went to God's own Junkyard with my bestest childhood friends Ellie and Frances. That is where they keep the neon. It is the best place. Another example of a brilliant free thing to do in London, although when I go there I usually do buy an overpriced teacake. 

Ellie also launched a new website in March this year. She has a hand drawn text section too. 

Awesome Stuff like this:

Then on the Birthday Sunday I got some more of my peeps together for all you can eat Dim Sum. 

I look well popular here right? But also Dim Sum is delicious. So maybe they all just came for that. 

At one point I emerged from a tower of dumpling steamers like a stripper from a cake.  

In February and March I drew these two awesome artist Jos. As in the multiple of Jo. More than one Jo. Plurals of small words look funny to me. 

Jo Cheung on the left and Jo Lawes on the right.

After my birthday I got heavily into Zentangling. Which is to say, I saw some zentangle stuff on Pinterest, didn't read about it at all and just started drawing patterns. So it turns out I wasn't really zentangling 'properly' which you are supposed to do by only using black ink and 3.5inch squares of card. And you are not supposed to plan anything. 

I didn't do any of that. But I like the word zentangling, and the idea of meditative non figurative drawing with lots of fiddly detail. 

I don't like the idea that drawings have to follow rules. 

Except when I am teaching you in which case you should do what I say obviously.

Mostly I will tell you to break the rules. Although sometimes you have to learn the rules first in order to break them. 

Anyway I drew a lot of patterns. This turned into a thing with clouds and roller-coasters. I am not entirely sure why. (plans and serendipity, control and chaos, intention and inspiration etc.).

Which ended up being the back cover for, and inspiring the front cover of the new zine I brought out in April - What Birds are Really Thinking 2! I blogged about it here.

Some other things I did in 2014 spilled over and emerged into April 2015 as I found out that I had won a place on the second stage of the Europe Fast Forward Comic competition; the booklet and CD sleeve I designed for The New Tabloids also came out then and the found text comic I had in  Meanwhile... was reviewed on the Forbidden Planet blog. 

I wrote about all these things at the time here.

In April we also went to a lovely wedding in Cambridge, I was still off Alcohol. 

My friends weren't.

 Pro selfie by Helen Clarke. 

And I went to Brighton with Frances. Also sober in this picture.

Looking at these photos reminds me that it was REALLY cold that day, and then a week later we were barbecuing in the outdoors in dresses. Thank goodness the weather has been more seasonal this winter. (note to people not reading this in a time near to when it was published: no it hasn't.)

I drew this disgruntled pink elephant.

And made some minimalist valentines cards.  

This is all I am going to write for section one of the 2015 summation because it is quite a lot already. 

Coming soon: part two, in which feature things in the month of May and beyond. Awards, symposiums, sketches, exercise and more.