New birds

I have finally sent my PDFs off to Newman Thomson and they will hopefully be printed at the beginning of next week. We had a bit of a sporty day yesterday as I had to get my ISBNs and barcodes from Nielsen, for which I needed to register my publishing name. I went for Wayward Bird which I rather like as it’s a bit abstract and not too formal.

We then we had a mild panic about the VAT as Ed was concerned that it may fall in to the standard rate tax band. A hasty spreadsheet by Paul showed that the total area is less than 25% of the book’s total area (19.3% to be precise) even including the tables, ticklist circles and the two Notes & Sketches pages at the back. Relief all round.

So, that is two books off to start their new actual rather than virtual existence. I found it extraordinarily fizzy and I was exhausted by the end of the day. I know I was investing in my new venture and spending money is always a bit nerve-wracking, but it was not exactly a bank-breaking amount, but I suppose this whole project has just so much of me in it, I am feeling both excited and nervous to see the end result. Having an email to me addressed “Dear Publisher” was quite a thing; it’s all getting very ‘real’.

Meanwhile, back at the artwork. I have painted a song thrush and a house martin for my next urban-based books, and have also painted a Notting Hill scene, although I’m wondering if I should add more details. It’s behind all the other bird info though so it will get a bit lost; I will have a play around with the layout a bit later today.

Here is my song thrush, from a photo by @neil.turner.wildlife – once again the umber and ochre were slightly hard work but then I do seem to find this happens.

I did paint another one but managed to get the legs wrong so started again. I will be chopping up my dud paintings and putting them in journalling packs on my Etsy so they won’t go to waste. I have stickers arriving today too!

Here is the house martin, from a photo by @isgoqu who takes the most incredible shots (I spotted a wonderful bee eater pic on his account which I may do for my Rare Vistors book…).

Here is my completed Notting Hill scene:

All my buildings look as if they are in Amsterdam. I find if I try and draw straight lines or use a ruler the wonky bits look even worse, so I just go freehand with maybe a few horizontals to keep me vaguely level. It’s cute though I think. I did debate doing some wisteria or cherry blossom but foliage isn’t my strong suit and it would also make it time-specific so given there is very little of the scene that will actually be visible, I’m not going to challenge myself too much!

I am really hoping my first two books arrive next week.