Alex Milway - Official Website
Children's author, illustrator, screenwriter
It’s just two days until Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey is officially published, so, to get into the spirit, here’s the dynamic duo indulging in a spot of topiary. Yes, they’re adventurers, but they also dabble in some of the finer pursuits in life as well.
I had a terrific time this morning at the Saatchi Gallery, reading and drawing Pigsticks and Harold for the Storystock Festival. It was the first time I’d read the book to an audience of children other than my own, and they didn’t want me to stop! I only planned to read a short section, but we blasted all the way through helped in no small part to the trusty Gary Northfield laughing at all the right places. What a guy!
So any worries I had about how it would go down with children have gone now. And it was liked by both the girls and boys. What a result!
Afterwards we drew some pigs and hamsters, and I thought I’d put a few up here.
This lad could really draw Harold!
I loved the colouring on this…
Equally, this one was so bright!
Now I can’t wait to get out there again and do more drawing!
It’ll be of no surprise to most of you that I’m a Moomin fan. Tove Jansson is a legend. And so, as I was idly building Lego with my daughter recently I found myself wondering if you could make a Lego Moomin. It turns out, with a bit of Fimo and a lot of thought, you can.
And of course, thinking big, I wondered if I could get a set approved on the fabulous Lego Cuusoo site . It took a bit of time and planning, and learning how to use the free Lego Digital Designer, but I’ve done it. To get a set approved, you can’t use anything other than available Lego pieces, so I had to focus on a set incorporating the more human characters of Moominvalley. All this led me to make Snufkin, and a set depicting this little bridge (The illustration is from Finn Family Moomintroll!) he and Moomintroll always sit on.
I went a bit Moomin crazy in the end – making the Groke out of Sculpey…
…And creating a little bug hunting scene for the Hemulen. I think this is my favourite of all the little Lego models I made.
It was a struggle searching for all the right bits, but with The Hemulen, I think I lucked out. I love his little shoulder bag!
SO! If you want to see any sort of Lego Moomin kit in the near future, go HERE, join up and VOTE! You never know, we might persuade them to make little Moomin heads too.
I’ve been allowed to use some short animations made by JAM Media – the production company working on the Pigsticks and Harold TV show.
Now this won’t work if you don’t have Flash, sadly, but it’s a marvellous little snapshot of Piggy Stardust and the Hamsters from Mars.
[swf src=”https://www.alexmilway.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/piggy-stardust.swf” width=600 height=260]
I’ve been trawling through old Pigsticks artwork and came across this pig painting I’d forgotten about.
I’ve always liked Gainsborough, particularly his beautiful portraits, and this one made me laugh so I thought I’d put it on here.
I’ve been practising with digital brushes in Photoshop, in an attempt to find a fully digital way of making pictures that I’m happy with. I need to play with it more, and a lot! But as I used to make oil paintings, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so, I thought I’d have a pop at recreating something like that.
Anyone who’s visited my house will recognise this, which looks a lot like one of the few paintings I still have left.
It’s obviously not perfect, but I can see potential!
I’ve been practising drawing in full colour, full digital of late. Here’s one of my sketches, with an angry tree bear bursting out of the woods towards a little viking.
I’m loving doing these. It’s a nice break from all the other things I’m working on.
Seems like an age since the last post. That’s the problem with having children, a million books on the go, and little free time! Social media takes a hit.
Still, Pigsticks & Harold continue to grow, and their books edge that little bit closer to publication. This is a snippet from the cover of book two, which is due late summertime, I think. This is their detective novel, very much in the vein of an Agatha Christie mystery. It was a hard battle to get it right, but I think we’re there, and the art work is the best it’s ever been. You can’t beat working solidly on characters over a period of years for sheer job satisfaction.
I’ll post more about these two friends of mine nearer pub date of the first book, which is late May. Only four months to go! WOOHOO!