Win! 'One More Candle' picture book giveaway

Right guys!

It's not long now until the huge launch of the newest picture book I've illustrated: One More Candle.  In the run up to it's release on September 1st 2013, you can be in with the chance of winning a copy for yourself.

Together with the author Merry Susiarjo, we're offering up one gorgeous hardback edition and one shiny second prize paperback to two lucky winners anywhere in the world!

About the book:

Nola is just over a year younger than her sister Betty, and they decide to have one big, shared birthday party every year rather than each having a smaller one. But poor Nola gets upset that Betty always has one more candle than her, and fruitlessly seeks help from all the light-giving things she finds in the world outside. But just as she begins to accept the reality of their different ages, the solution comes as an enchantingly simple surprise. Emmeline Pidgen's authentic and imaginative illustrations bring this sweet and gentle picture book story magically to life.

It's had a ton of absolutely top-notch reviews across the board so far, so I'm incredibly excited for it's release! It was certainly one of the most fun (and relaxing!) commissions I've worked on in a long time, and I think that really comes through in the illustrations.  If you get hold of a copy (or if you're lucky enough to win one!) do let me know what you or your little'uns think.

How to enter:

It's easy peasy to enter through a variety of methods using the widget below. 
So tell your buddies! Best of luck!

Hello shoppers! (sneak peek)

Just a quick sneak preview at a few character designs I've been working on recently. You'll be able to see a few more of these super-shoppers very soon! Keep an eye out.

Up for grabs!

Just to let you know my 'Wild Ride' screenprint for the Artcrank show is now up for grabs in the 2022NQ online shop! Get your mits on a ltd edition, signed and numbered print with a portion of the profits going to Simply Cycling charity.

Get 'em here! http://shop.2022nq.co.uk/product/artcrank-emmeline-pidgen-wild-ride (or if you want to wait: in my shop mid-august)

Prints are a gorgeous bright Orange colour on slightly cream paper. 270gsm, A3 size- signed and numbered in pencil.

Kids and books

I have to say, seeing photos like this of kids on the other side of the world enjoying a book you've illustrated is SUCH a brilliant feeling.  It's not an easy job (seriously) but this sort of thing makes it worth it.

These pictures are from a great little article: Reading with Toddlers and Encouraging Positive Relationships over on OurEverydayThings blog.  It's got a nice little review of my next book One More Candle.  I'm super chuffed that the review focuses on how much the kids loved pointing out and finding all the little details in the illustrations - something that I really thought about when I was illustrating it.

Have a read of the article here: http://bit.ly/13us
One More Candle comes out 1st September 2013.

Artcrank Manchester exhibition

Last Friday saw the launch of the Manchester show from the worldwide art & bike project Artcrank!  Twenty-six local artists were invited to create a set of original screenprinted posters revolving around the themes of bikes, bicycle culture and the love of the ride.

The launch at 2022NQ was a seriously fun evening; with free drinks, DJ's playing tunes, live screenprinting and goody bags from Colorplan stocked full of papery-niceness.  

The place was packed and had a really great atmosphere.  All the prints on display looked absolutely awesome, it's always fantastic to be involved in local events and get to know the pools of talent in the area.  

With my poster I wanted to create an illustration with a fun and light feel to it - one for kids and adults, for people's homes.  I'd recently found a drawing of the leopard in an old forgotten sketchbook (yup, I have a lot of those) and that really inspired the idea.  I kept it simple, but with funny little plays like the size of the elephant on the penny-farthing, or the lion almost chasing the zebra on the tandem.  I had the prints screenprinted by the talented Savwo - I'd worked with him before in 2011 printing my Riot Clean Up charity screenprints, which came out amazingly - so it was great to see that these came out so well too!

Artcrank has had a number of shows worldwide since their 2007 debut in Minneapolis, but this was the first that had headed to the North of England at 2022NQ Manchester, and they got a really great response.  All the ltd edition posters were on sale for £30, with a portion of profits supporting Simply Cycling, a nonprofit organization that works to make cycling more accessible to people with disabilities.  The show continues until the 5th of August, with remaining posters soon to be on sale on the 2022NQ website.

Big thanks to Artcrank for organising the show, the sponsors Retrofuzz and G F Smith papers, 2022nq for having us and Savwo for printing my posters.  You guys are ace.

If you're interested in nabbing one of my ltd edition & signed prints for yourself I may have a few left after the show, so get in touch!

Books in Paris

I reworked this old illustration yesterday.  Sometimes it takes a while to be able to distance yourself from the work and view it critically.  I'm definitely a lot happier with it, and in a way it's nice to see that my working style has improved (well, I think so) within a year. Always learning!

The Design Week Awards 2013

Last week I headed down to London for the Design Week Awards.  I found out a few months ago that I'd been nominated for the Rising Star Award and I have to say, I was jumping around the flat that afternoon. 

The Rising Star Award seeks out the industry's hottest new designers and judges them on both their work and accomplishments in their careers, so it was an absolutely huge honour to be chosen by the judges.

The awards evening was fantastic, and I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of industry hot-shots in the place (especially considering I didn't know a soul there when I arrived!).  Meeting the other Rising Star nominees Lydia Leith, Will Southward and Robin Howie; the guys from Magpie studio as well as the team from Studio Recruitment (who were sponsoring the award) was brilliant.  Unfortunately I didn't get to meet the winner Bethan Laura Wood as she couldn't be at the event, but huge congratulations to her!

The evening was hosted by Radio DJ Lauren Laverne, and I was a little taken by surprise to see my photograph shown on two giant screens when the Rising Star Award nominees were being announced.  In fact, I can safely say that I've never seen my face quite so big.  

Extravagant dinners were eaten, cocktails were sipped and fairground rides were ridden.  I even managed to win a pen on a fairground game, not bad eh?

The evening went by so quickly that I didn't get the chance to speak to quite as many people as I would like, it's a tricky thing to approach groups of people deep in industry conversation (it certainly felt like I was the only person who arrived on their own!).  If you were at the awards and I didn't get the chance to shyly say hello it would be great to hear from you.

Hopefully my nomination at the awards will lead on to some great new projects. I'm back at work now, the new book's finished and really looking forward to the next few months of my career. Speak soon!

World Book Night

It's World Book Night tonight! I can't make it to any of the events unfortunately (they're all too far away), so to celebrate I made this quick poster - hurray! Books are just the best, aren't they?

Something very exciting!

Hi guys! Earlier this week I got some HUGE NEWS! 

I've been selected as one of five shortlisted entrants for the Design Week Rising Star Award!

Yup, I certainly did jump around like a loon - what a brilliant surprise!  The Design Week awards are the biggest creative awards of their kind in the UK, and the Rising Star category looks to pick out the creative industry's fresh up-and-coming talent. (It makes me feel a little dizzy to be included. What an honour!).

There's some increeeeddddibly talented names in the full shortlist (that you can see here, congratulations everyone!), I'm pretty sure I'll be feeling a little overwhelmed at the awards ceremony in June! It's such a huge, huge honour to be nominated (especially by such an esteemed panel of judges!) I really didn't ever expect to get shortlisted, but wish me luck (and a good dollop of nerve-calming support) for the final pick! x

Shelterbox Auction

Late last month I headed down to Cornwall to visit my family, and luckily well timed it to attend the Shelterbox Charity Art Auction in Plymouth that I had donated one of my signed prints to.  It was a great little night organised by a couple of my friends, featuring a really diverse range of paintings, print, jewellery, photography and illustration.  Absolutely all the funds raised from the auction went straight to Shelterbox, a really great charity who provide emergency housing and lifesaving support for people around the world - so people certainly weren't shy with bidding!

Hannah Jump (organiser) w/ Martin Jump's work - Samuel J Pidgen (my brother)'s photography print - My donated print.

The auction raised over £600 for Shelterbox and there were a lot of happy faces going home with some lovely artwork! There will hopefully be more of these auctions in the future, so I'll let you know in advance and you can all get involved. Nice nice nice.

Blank Media Collective - Chris Haughton talk

Last month I headed over to Manchester for Blank Media Collective's 'Masterclass' talk by illustrator Chris Haughton.

Chris is an Irish illustrator, widely known for his 'A Bit Lost' and 'Oh No, George!' picture books and his venture into illustrated fairtrade homeware with Made By Node.
It was a cosy affair - with a ton of illustrators snug on floor cushions, basking in candlelight with glasses of wine and cocktails in mugs. I even scribbled down some notes in my sketchbook.

Chris gave a really good talk about his illustration work, writing process and adventures across the world setting up Node.  I had a nice chat with Chris after the talk too, it's always great to get to know other illustrators when you can! Currently Made by Node has 18 very talented illustrators who have each designed a simple illustration which  was handwoven into a gorgeous fairtrade rug - very pretty, and a really great ethos!  There's some fantastic designs, including one by the very talented Lesley Barnes who I exhibited with in the Enchanted Forest show last Winter! You can find out more by taking a look at www.madebynode.com

Hug Your Buds

That's right! It's National Hugging Day! So grab all those people who make life just that little bit better, and give 'em a squeeze.