Matt The Illustrator

Picture This Stage 2 Images

2011-09-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some images produced for stage 2 of the Picture This competition.

Picture This 2011

2011-09-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not be aware, I was recently a finalist in Waterstone's Picture This competition. Last Thursday I was invited along to the lovely Waterstones in Piccadilly where Michael Morpurgo announced the winner. I'm not allowed to say who the lucky winner is but all will be revealed in tomorrows Telegraph (17/09/2011). It was lovely to meet the finalists and I wish everyone the best of luck in the future. I thought everyone's work was stunning and I was very pleased to be part of such an amazing group of illustrators.

Tracey Smith, Me, Steven Lenton, Elys Dolan, Loretta Schauer and Madeleine Hil

Telegraph 29/07/2011

2011-08-02T12:09:00.001-07:00

So here's one of my pics in the Telegraph. Got lots of work to do before the deadline so byeeeeeeee..........

Waterstone's Picture This Finalist!

2011-08-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Waterstone’s shortlists local talent to become the next big name in children’s illustration

Norwich-based freelance illustrator, Matthew Robertson has beaten hundreds of artists to secure a place in the final of Picture This 2011, Waterstone’s nationwide hunt to discover the next big name in illustration.

In June, the bookseller invited readers to vote for a favourite fairy tale that they would like to see brought to life by Michael Morpurgo, one of the world’s greatest storytellers. Over 1,000 people voted, and the winner, Beauty and the Beast, was announced at the Telegraph Hay Festival.

Aspiring children’s book illustrators were then invited to submit their interpretations of how the main characters would look, alongside a scene from the much-loved fairy tale. The winner will receive a lucrative publishing contract to illustrate Morpurgo’s story in late 2012.

Waterstone’s received hundreds of entries, and a shortlist of seven artists, including Matthew, was chosen by an expert panel, including, Waterstone’s Children’s Books Buyer Kate Skipper, Deputy Editor of the Daily Telegraph Review Ben Secher and Harper Sales Director Kate Manning.

Kate Skipper said: “The judges were incredibly impressed with the strength of the entries again this year, and after much deliberation, a very exciting shortlist of seven illustrators has been chosen. Each entry has a very different art style and we think all have the potential to go onto successful illustration careers.”

The seven must now provide full colour artwork for two more pages from the book, plus sketches for the remainder. The winner will be chosen in October.

- Ends -

Shortlisted entrants

· Elys Dolan ( Cambridge)

· Madeline Hill (London)

· Steven Lenton (London)

· Matt Robertson (Norwich)

· Sophy Henn (Brighton)

· Tracey Smith (Fife)

Loretta Schauer (London)

Picture This

The winner will receive a £6,000 contract, and see their work illustrate Michael Morpurgo’s words when the book in published in late 2012 as a Waterstone’s exclusive. The first Picture This competition found a new illustrator, Karen George, to work with Julia ‘The Gruffalo’ Donaldson. The resulting book, Freddie and the Fairy, was one of Waterstone’s Christmas bestsellers last year, selling over 35,000 copies by Christmas day.

Waterstone’s

Waterstone’s, the UK’s leading specialist bookseller has nearly 300 branches in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as branches in Eire, in Amsterdam and Brussels, on the Isle of Man and Jersey. Its transactional website Waterstones.com was launched in 2006, and there are currently over 3 million holders of the Waterstone’s Card. Waterstone’s is sponsor of the Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate, and was named Children's Bookseller of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards 2011. www.waterstones.com

Michael Morpurgo

Awarded an OBE in 2006, Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain's best-loved writers for children. He has written over 100 books and won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Award. In 2005 he won the Blue Peter Book Award for his novel Private Peaceful, which was also adapted into an acclaimed stage play. His subsequent book, The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, spent an astonishing 20 weeks in the bestseller charts, and his enormous success has continued with his most recent novels, Alone on a Wide Wide Sea and Born to Run. Michael was Children's Laureate from 2003 to 2005.

Happy 60th Mum

2011-07-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a beastly birthday card I've made my mum for her 60th birthday on Saturday. I felt it was a shame not to use my recently created beast. If my entry for the Waterstone's competition isn't shortlisted I think I might have to use this character in a story somehow! hmmmmm.

Picture This Competition 2011: Beauty and the Beast

2011-07-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

I've entered this year's Picture This competition. The story this time is Beauty and the Beast and will eventually be worded by the extremely talented Michael Morpurgo. Here are my submissions.

Charity

2011-06-06T04:36:00.001-07:00

An Bear & Guin image produced for a charity exhibition. The story's slowly coming along........stay tuned for more soon!

Happy Birthday Owen

2011-06-06T04:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a card I produced for my old college chum Owen.

Update

2011-05-16T03:19:00.000-07:00

Hi. While I'm looking for a job I thought I would post up a bit of work I produced when I moved up to Norwich. I wanted to set myself a mini project which would enable me to do something a little bit different. I'm a big fan of Nick Hornby so I thought I would illustrate a couple of covers.

.....On the job front, If anyone knows of any interesting job openings coming up in Norwich please let me know. Thanks.

Picture Book Love

2011-05-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

Hi guys and dolls. I've created a page on Facebook that pays homage to the beloved picture book. Feel free to follow and add links to your favorite illustrated books.

Click HERE.

Greeting Cards & Open Studio

2011-05-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hi chaps and chapesses! You can view and buy a selection of work at the lovely Crescent Studios in sunny Brighton. All the work is at affordable prices so there's no need to get own a financial loan. There are also cards available. The exhibition is on every weekend in May 12pm - 5pm.

For all you lovely people that live in and around Norwich, you can now purchase my greeting cards from The Book Hive and Cherry Cherry...aren't you lucky!!! These are wonderful shops and should be visited regularly.

Here's a picture of my work at the Open Studio.

Curled up bear

2011-04-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Another illustration which will be on sale at Crescent Studios during the Brighton Festival. There will be cards available to buy along with a whole selection of original artwork.
I'll post more information about the Open Studios as soon as it's available to me.

Guin's new car

2011-04-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Guin and Bear in Guin's new car. At the moment I'm getting together ideas for the Bear & Guin picture book which my talented friend Sam Mcullen has kindly written. Watch this space for more images as soon as they are created.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Another card design......

2011-03-30T08:30:00.001-07:00

Love and Marriage

2011-03-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

New bear pic for Tuesday.

Monday

2011-03-28T03:16:00.000-07:00

Bears at the diner, or restaurant for us Brits!

2011-03-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

New picture for today. As you can see the paper was still slightly wet when I scanned it. Whoops!

Driving in the countryside

2011-03-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

New piccy for today

Tuesday

2011-03-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Another weird bear picture that I drew while waiting for the BLOODY PHOTOSHOP TO DO SOMETHING ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!
Technology is slow today.

Bearbucks

2011-03-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just a little drawing I did today. I wasn't feeling very inspired! Monday is a funny day......

Drawing for today

2011-03-18T03:26:00.000-07:00

An idea for a series of funny bear situations.

Sleepy Bears

2011-03-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Today's work = Sleeping bears.

Here come the birds!

2011-03-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some new clay creations. They will be on sale at the Brighton festival.

BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY

Happy Birthday Amy

2011-03-09T03:29:00.000-08:00

Here's a card for my lovely girlfriend's birthday which is TODAY! Happy Birthday dear. x

Back to drawing

2011-02-24T04:03:00.000-08:00

Went out drawing yesterday, on a lovely rainy day, and I realised that I hadn't been for a good draw in ages!!!! So there were quite a lot of really embarrassing crap pieces but I quite like this one. I'm gonna try and do this a lot more.

Norwegian Wood Competition

2011-02-24T03:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a little poster a did for the Norwegian Wood poster competition through Don't Panic.

Calendar 2011

2011-01-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year people!! Hope you all had lovely ones. As a treat, here are a few pictures taken from my girlfriend's personalised calendar. Hope you like.

If you people didn't know already, me and her (i.e. Me and my girlfriend) are moving up to Norwich. I will be doing my MA in Cambridge in September and Amy has a new job as a designer which is in the centre of the city. This will give me an excellent opportunity to produce lots of new and exciting work so keep a close eye on my blog.

Hopefully I won't be without the interweb for too long! :-)

Card

2010-11-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. Here's an image for a card idea. More work coming soon.

Loooo

2010-10-24T14:04:00.001-07:00

Here's a silly pic a did for my work colleague Loo(ise)! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!

EAT

2010-10-03T06:39:00.001-07:00

Another pic from my new sketchbook

2010-10-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

Teaser

2010-10-02T09:53:00.001-07:00

Sleeping brown bear

2010-10-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Y'all,

Here's a picture of a brown bear painted on an old wooden chest. Another little experiment. I quite like it!

Just another Bear + Guin picccy

2010-09-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

More character building!

Chick Chick Chicken!

2010-09-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hi Y'all, here's a photo of my most recent clay creation. It's a wedding present for some friends of ours. They haven't seen it yet so don't tell them ;-).

Holiday

2010-08-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

So then. Recently I went on holiday to the lovely mountains in Tuscany, Italy. Went to Pisa and then stayed in a beautiful farmhouse in a little village near Lucca for a whole week! It was perfect. I was planning on doing lots of drawing but as it turned out I spent so much of my time exploring I didn't really give myself enough time to draw!! Naughty me!!!! Anyhooooo, I did manage a few pics. Here's one for you; It's of a wonderful bridge called "The Devil's Bridge."

Birthdays

2010-07-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a card for the birthday season. Sorry I haven't updated my blog recently. I've been pretty busy. All will become clear soon.........

Gargoyle farmer

2010-06-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Just thought I would post a couple of photos of my most recent clay creation. It was just a test to see if I could create a human out of clay. As a result, it looks like I've created a gargoyle farmer!! WEIRD!!

Another Elephrank reprise!

2010-05-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

Babies

2010-05-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of my little babies. Soon they'll be big enough to be planted outside. This will be a sad day! ;-(

Moon and the bear and the penguin

2010-05-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

So I have my interview for the MA on 3rd June. How exciting. I'm in the process of updating my portfolio. Here's another bear and guin pic for ya'll!

Moley moley moley mole!

2010-05-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

A page from the mole.

Exhibition

2010-05-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

So the exhibition is now on. Check it out if you're around.

Exhibition preview

2010-04-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all. As you may or may not know, I am showing a couple of pieces of work in my friend's studio next month. Here's a sneak preview of what I'll be showing!

This painting is fairly large so I can only show you a photograph of the image. Please feel free to pop by the studio (Crescent Studios - see below post) to see the painting up close.

Must go now and finish more clay bears. Byeeeeeee. x

THE BEEEEAAAARRRRS R COMIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello the people of Interwebland. You may be wondering, 'where the devil have you been Mr Robertson?.' Well my fellows, I've been very productive of late. I've finished my ten week evening class in Illustration and as a result have created lots of lovely things. See below. I really enjoyed those Monday nights of chatting, drawing and listening to......weird.......interesting music courtesy of Mr Chris Gilvan-Cartwright. I enjoyed it soooo much that I have just applied to do an MA in Children's picture books at Cambridge. 'Core blimey' you may say, yes indeed you are correct! I think it will really be beneficial to my work and I think I would reaaallly enjoy being back in the realm of further education. Fingers crossed!!!!!

In May I'm going to have a small selection of work at my friends studio in Brighton during the brighton festival. There will be a few ceramic bears and a few paintings/drawings to buy.

I have also been to my first wedding of the year (5 in total this year) which was lovely. The giraffes below were our presents to Anna and Ben. They're a bit obsessed with giraffes!

I must leave you now so I can make some more bears out of clay.

Ta ta for now folks!

Introducing Bear and Guin

2010-02-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

Here's a little taster of a new story I'm working on at the moment. There's still much tweaking needed but it's coming along rather well. I shall upload some final images as soon as they are created.

Hiiiiii

2010-02-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Sorry there's been no new posts recently. I've produced lots of new work but I haven't had a chance to scan anything in yet. I've been attending an illustration evening class on Monday nights for the last three weeks and it's proven to be very useful. It's given be a bit of direction in my work which i have been lacking in of late! I'll be sure to upload lots of new stuff soon. Hope all you lovely people are well.

KEEP DRAWING!!!!!!!

P.S. EVERYONE MUST SEE THIS.

War Horse by The National Theatre

I SAW IT A FEW WEEKS BACK AND FOUND IT AMAZING. A VERY GOOD ADAPTATION TO MORPURGO'S LOVELY CHILDREN'S BOOK!

Another year older

2009-11-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

So, I'm another year older and the weather's getting colder. More reasons to stay in and do some work. For my birthday I got a new camera and so instead of scanning in my most recent creation I decided to photograph it to test out the macro lens.

This little Polar bear was drawn in my new Moleskin experimenting with a new technique. Ahhhhh I do like a nice Moley!

Beer Fest

2009-11-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

A little picture I produced for my very own beer festival for my birthday.

More Coffee, More pencil, No ink!

2009-11-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

A bear for Wednesday

2009-10-28T14:28:00.001-07:00

Bear head

2009-10-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

Here you are then,......... another picture for you.

Bear sitting

2009-10-25T06:16:00.001-07:00

Alone

2009-10-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

As promised, another bear pic. This time, a lonely polar bear. The thought of being alone in the baron ice land of the north pole is quite depressing. I'm glad I'm not a polar bear. If you find yourselves cold this Autumn/winter, 'bear' a thought for the polar bear!

Hello Autumn

2009-10-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Autumn is upon us, clocks are changing , scarfs are coming out. S'uppose it's about time to stay in and do WORK!!!! I've had a great summer and have been extremely busy. My tedious day job is driving me completely insane and the long hours killing my creative time! Anyhooooo, I now have a new home with my lovely lady, Amy, which includes a large garden and a large space in the living room where I have my own work area. I also have the internet back!...as you've probably noticed....hmmmm! I'm looking forward to the long cold nights for this will encourage me to work and the temptation to "play" outside will hopefully deteriorate!!!! I hope.....

At the moment I am producing work with the vision of selling one-off pieces of artwork. I've chosen the theme of 'bears in the wild' for they've been guests in my sketchbooks for the last few years so they deserve a little bit of attention. I shall be uploading illustrations as they are made. Any feedback would be bloody marv!!

Blah!

2009-06-09T14:41:00.001-07:00

Oh well....I didn't win but hey, some you win, some you LOSE! Bugger!!!!

...one i missed

2009-06-04T14:50:00.001-07:00

Here's another Freddie and the Fairy illustration I missed off from one of my previous posts. The winners will be notified on Saturday and will feature in Saturday's Telegraph. Fingers crossed!!!!!

Waliking

2009-06-04T14:39:00.001-07:00

Flower

2009-05-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Here's a flower from a card I did for my friend Sara. Hope you like.

Mee

Picture This competition images

2009-05-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few images from a project I work on last week. It was for The Julia Donaldson/Waterstone's competition. The project was to illustrate a spread from Julia's text titled Freddie and the fairy. It was very hard work but I came up with some pretty good work. Please feel free to leave any comments.

Another day in the life of a super hero

2009-03-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yet another post! Crikey, two in one day!!! and I finished work today at 6.30!! WOWEEEEEE! I think this little chap will be appearing quite a lot through this blog. Ta ta for now Matt the Hatt followers! x

Another present????

2009-03-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

A little illustration in preparation for all the birthdays coming up. I'm sure lots of people will be getting this one!

Super......again.........again.............again!!!!!!!!

2009-03-17T15:28:00.001-07:00

Hello and Goodbye

2009-01-20T15:09:00.001-08:00

Just a little pic from my new sketchbook.

Amy & I

2009-01-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

Little & Large

2009-01-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

little & Large

Penguin looking in an ice pool

2008-12-14T14:49:00.000-08:00

Gift tags for Christmas. Can't post them all coz it won't then be a surprise now, will it?

Penguinos!!

2008-12-14T14:05:00.001-08:00

Lots and lots of penguins!!

Card

2008-12-02T04:37:00.000-08:00

Hello alllll! It's that time of year again. Lots of things to buy and lots of things to eat and drink. I can't wait!!!! Mainly because I get to spend Christmas morning with my beautiful girlfriend!! Yippey!!!! Anyway, I have produced a few lovely pics recently. Here's a new one for you. Hope you like it! Goodbye for now.

Sorry

2008-10-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Sorry it's been such a bloody long time since my last post. I've been having lots of adventures so therefore haven't had much time to blog. As the weather has returned to it's usual British ways I should have more time for blogging now.

Here's a Christmas card idea for Brighton just to keep you fans happy.

I'll try and post more real soon. Take care everyone. x

2

2008-07-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

Fish for Kel

2008-06-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday

2008-05-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Raaaaaa

2008-05-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

2

2008-05-15T13:46:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple of pictures from a job that I'm working on at the mo. These are my first drafts. They'll look nicer in the final product. I'm off tomorrow to a lovely festival. Hope it doesn't rain toooo much. Take care, M.

Sooooooo Sttoooonnnneed!.......

2008-05-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Another little pic produced on the beach!

Flats

2008-05-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've been sooooooo lazy recently when it comes to my illustration work. Been enjoying the beach and the sun. Here's a pic I did by the sea.

Birthday

2008-05-02T09:18:00.001-07:00

Monopoly

2008-04-26T05:21:00.000-07:00

A house in the woods

2008-04-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

Something different. A large drawing of a house which sits in the grounds of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. Charcoal on brown parcel paper.

Elephant shadow

2008-04-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

Quite a strange picture here with Sam making more shadows.

This IS Sam & Shaun

2008-04-10T09:58:00.001-07:00

Shadow Puppet

2008-04-09T01:41:00.001-07:00

Another day and more pics for you!

2008-03-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Sam & Shaun in the woods

2008-03-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Before

&

After
..........
..........

They're back, this time without computer rendered backgrounds! Instead they're hand-drawn! Wow! This is the future......

Please post comments.
You'll all probably say this is too scary, but let me know anyhoooooo.
Ta ta.
It's still in the early stages.

Catch

2008-03-16T06:43:00.001-07:00

Shauny

2008-03-13T15:15:00.001-07:00

The shadow returns

2008-03-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sam & Shaun returns........again!

Girl

2008-03-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Short piece of animation.......very....very.........short!

2008-02-27T05:40:00.000-08:00

Phranky, I need a story!!!!

2008-02-22T03:46:00.001-08:00

Please can someone help me with this poor elephants story! PLLEEEAAASE!

----------------
Now playing: The Libertines - Tell The King
via FoxyTunes

Walk From the Shadows

2008-02-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Faces

2008-02-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

fro

2008-02-14T13:43:00.001-08:00

----------------
Now playing: Iron & Wine - House By The Sea
via FoxyTunes

Mini Phrank

2008-02-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

A mini Phrank I drew whilst on Brighton beach t'other day when it was very sunny. Been trying to think of a story for Phrank but not having much luck. Any ideas people??

Sad Phrank...

2008-01-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

Troll

2008-01-23T14:03:00.001-08:00

More Phrank

2008-01-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

Phrank test 2

2008-01-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

Another little test pic. Let me know what you think.........PLEASE!!!!

Now for something a little different!

2008-01-14T14:08:00.000-08:00