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As previously mentioned, Gemma Correll has started a fab Flickr group called 'What I Wore Today'. It already has over a thousand members and has had a big-up from Grazia magazine (there's no such thing as bad press, right?). I drew my first contribution today, in my specially made 'WIWT' yearbook (an old cloth bound hardback that I will add a drawing to each day). Gemma has also started a blog for WIWT, so please do check that out too: 'What I Wore Today' blog.

Here is my first entry

DesignTaxi recently offered me some portfolio space at their site www.designtaxi.com.

It's a wonderful arts hub full of creative individuals. Please do go and have a search through the portfolios to open your eyes to some very talented folk.

Here's my submission for Amelia's Magazine illustrated art card quilt. It's a brilliant, fun idea and also it's for charity - Shelter to be precise.

To find out more information please visit Amelia's Magazine. If you'd like to see all the best entries then trawl through this lot, there's some great ones in there!

I have been asked to show some masks as part of the rather exciting Carnival of Darkness Festival in California. Carnival of Darkness is the creation of Alex Bram and Leah Ann Cevoli, "showcasing the very best new work from independent horror filmmakers around the world. Carnival of Darkness will culminate in a one hour panel discussion featuring Godhead guitarist Jason C. Miller and Buffy/Angel darling Juliet Landau."

The masks below will be shown by Alex Bram during the panel discussion. If you're going to be in California at the time of the festival, you should definitely book in advance. Although I wish I was going cause it's going to be aces, I'll be in Edinburgh for August, doing many fun illustration things...more on that later!

I was contacted a while back by Finroo who asked for some t-shirt designs. The first one is up for sale on their site now.

Ink & Mess at Finroo.

Here they are, the wee beasties. Hope you enjoy them. It was my first try on this particular set of dolls. I have another set at home from a different company, I'm hoping the quality of the finish is a bit better...less chips and grain marks in the wood. Any feedback much appreciated!

Quite a long interview but it's fun. There's some of my mask work down the bottom too. Any feedback appreciated!

Click the mask below to get to the interview:

Some creepy masks for your delectation. Masks are my favourite thing to illustrate right now, and I have decided to keep venturing forward in this vein. You can see all of the mask photos in the Ink & Mess set on my Flickr or on my website.

As advertised a couple of weeks ago I recently took part in the very fun Artoscopic experiment in St.Leonard's railway tunnel, part of the Innocents Railway in Edinburgh, Scotland. Here are some photos from the event, please look at my flickr account (in the exhibitions folder) for more!

This Friday (22nd August) Ink & Mess will be taking part in the very exciting Artoscopic experiment in Edinburgh.

To see what pitch-black creepy plans I have in store come to St. Leonard's railway tunnel (The Innocent Railway) at 7pm on Friday. The show is on the road (literally, in the tunnel) from 7-9pm.

Be warned, I will be despatching Ink & Mess fiends for the occasion, and these creatures bite!

Read the history of Innocent Railway Tunnel here.

Images below by Sandy Christie from last Artoscopic event

Ape, copycat: someone who copies the words or behavior of another

Of course they are. However, I'm sure Mr Bear, if he had a heart and a brain, would protest otherwise.

Hello all!

My name is Ink & Mess, I'm based in London, UK, and specialise in picture
books, 3D projects, old fashioned scraps and ephemera. To my delight I
have been welcomed to join the fold of all you hardened SFGers. That means
I am brand new here, I do hope you'll be friendly.

I've hugely enjoyed looking at all your submissions since I discovered the
blog some months ago, not least because it led me to individual blogs that
I immediately subscribed to the feeds of, and now are a staple on my
Reader. Now I'm really looking forward to being an active SFGer myself,
and hope you'll enjoy looking at my work too.

I'm currently working on a series of picture books called 'Sombre
Songbooks' based on the narrative and lyrics of my favourite murder
ballads and melancholy melodies (you can see them in full on my blog www.marielouiseplum.blogspot.com).

Ok, well I'll sign off now with a link to my website. Click the sick stick
man below to get through the wires to my little pocket of the internet.
Goodbye for now!

We all get boo-boos. Describe the perfect band-aid. What color? Character? Size? Would it be scented? Plastic? Cloth? Why is your band-aid the coolest band-aid ever?

Rename the days of the week, and explain why you chose those names.

or


What is your favorite day of the week? Why?

Something is growing in your garden that doesn't belong there? What is it? What will you do to get rid of it? How will you keep it from coming back?


For the younger set: You can plant anything you want in a garden. What will you choose?

Today, I bring you a weather related exercise. Describe a thunderstorm....without using your sense of sight or hearing.

For younger kids, tell a story about how NOT to be scared during a thunderstorm.

Snippets are short writing prompts designed for kids (no matter how old they are). I'll post at least one a week.
I'm posting several in a row now, just to get it started.

Today, I bring you a story starter. As a kid, I got Jack and Jill magazine. It was a lot different than the Jack and Jill of today. One of my favorite things was the "finish the story" stories. Following is a story beginning. Use your imagination and finish it.


Grandpa told me to never ever open the box under the shelf way back in the far left corner of the cellar. And I never did, until Monday, when Jorge dared me to.

(What happens next?)