The SAA are very pleased to be supporting the World Illustration Awards by sponsoring The SAA Agents Award for New Talent.
Bright Group 
Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland has been a unique source of nonsensical artistry & whimsical storytelling for the past 150 years and will continue to inspire book lovers the world over for generations to come.
This week, Dan Taylor's vibrant sticker book published with Campbell this July and includes over 300 stickers for Wonderland lovers to enjoy.
Dan Taylor is represented by The Bright Group
The Bath Children’s Literature Festival was founded in 2007 by Gill and John McLay and has continued to be a strong presence in the literature world, currently maintaining the title of largest dedicated children’s book festival in the UK. This year, select Bright artists have been invited to get involved with the 2015 promotional marketing & fundraising for the event.
The ethos of the festival is, and always has been, to entertain children, and to enthuse them about reading:
‘We aim to create a friendly, family atmosphere in which young book fans can come along to Festival events and meet their favourite authors and book characters…Signing queues after some events are legendary and can last up to three hours for the biggest names.’
Each year an illustrator has drawn a Red Chair and produced a physical piece of artwork which has been used in promotion & marketing for the festival – previous artists include globally renowned Chris Riddell (2015 Children’s Laureate), Emily Gravett, Tony Ross, David McKee & Axel Sheffler, to name a few.
This year, the festival is staging a spectacular art auction to support the event and a handful of professional illustrators have been asked to donate their own interpretation of the Festival’s Red Chair, including characters from their own publishing careers. Benji Davies, Yasmeen Ismail, Gabriel Alborozo & Fred Blunt were amongst the chosen few to design their own Red Chairs for the auction – which will be exhibited in art shops & galleries throughout Bath in in the run-up to the auction.
SCHEDULE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Following an award studded 2014 for Bright star Nicola O’Byrne - including the coveted Waterstones Children’s Book Prize - this year was already set to consist of gleaming prosperity. The BookTrust‘s Booktime story for 2015 – that is to be gifted to 700,000 reception-aged children in UK – is Nicola O’Byrne’s debut picture book, Open Very Carefully (Nosy Crow).
The book with bite, which was brokered by Bright M.D Vicki Willden-Lebrecht, has been a seemingly huge success with children of all ages, their parents & schools the world over. Kate Wilson, Managing Director of Nosy Crow, aptly describes why the book has been received so well by young readers -
‘With its invitation to interactivity, its humour and its stylish but accessible illustration, Open Very Carefully seems to have really wide appeal’
The Nosy Crow book, which is to be distributed to all UK school children aged 4-5, will be accompanied by a Booktime pack that provides guidance & notes for parents aimed at installing the importance of reading with their children.
With a reach of two million children & families, the BookTrust is Britain’s largest reading charity. As the organisation’s 10th Booktime story to be gifted to every reception child in UK, Open Very Carefully will no doubt continue to grace the shelves of more and more young readers this year – especially with the availability of 13 languages.
See Nicola O’Byrne’s Literary Portfolio HERE for previous titles, awards & upcoming projects.
Nicola O’Byrne is represented by the Bright Group
David has hit the ground running at Bright securing his first picture book deals in both the UK and the US. His distinctive style mixes colour and drama to inspire an incredible atmosphere which creates a huge scale from which to entertain his readers.
David's début Picture Book - The Bear and the Piano (published with Frances Lincoln), is available for pre-order now!
David first began drawing when he was very young, creating Star Wars & Indiana Jones mash-up comics for his older brother and sister. His illustration heroes and biggest influences are Albert Uderzo, Sylvan Chomet, Jon Klassen and Shaun Tan. He uses a variety of techniques to create his illustrations and considers himself to be a mixed media artist as he usually combines all the elements together in Photoshop.
David Litchfield is represented by Bright
Following on from a SOLD OUT Storytime Sunday with Sue Hendra last month, we were so pleased to gain the same fantastic feedback this time around at our April event with Ada Grey
With a 10am start, Ada Grey was raring to read her illustrated Hippobottymus (Little Tiger Press) to the crowd of eagerly awaiting children. Monkey impressions, Crocodile snaps, bubble dances galore – the group of avid fans were up on their feet joining in the jungle fun. After the reading, the families were invited to design their own hippos and colour in sheets of their favourite characters alongside the creative guidance of Ada (her bubble machine!) and Little Tiger Editor, Ellie Farmer!
Throughout the morning, the kids were making full use of the giant chalk board wall – doodling alongside both Ada & Laura – and enjoying the array of pastries & refreshments the Doodle Bar had supplied. Donations for Great Ormond Street Hospital were taken from start to finish – the Waitrose Easter baskets were a hit and kids were lining up for a signed copy of Ada’s book!
Ada Grey is represented by Bright Group
Bright would like to offer a huge congratulations to our long-standing artist Fabio Leone for his recent Tolkien Society Best Artwork Award!
His winning piece, “Ulmo appears before Tuor“ is based on the book “The Silmarillion”, written by J.R.R Tolkien and edited by Christipher Tolkien. As a seasoned and immensely talented digital painter, Fabio’s stunning entry encompasses challenging subject matter that he has fully realised to a fantastical level – bringing the words to life.
The Tolkien Society Awards recognise excellence in the fields of Tolkien scholarship and fandom, highlighting their long-standing objective to “seek to educate the public in, and promote research into, the life and works of Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE”.
Fabio Leone is represented by Bright
Every year, The National Portrait Gallery runs the BP National Portrait awards – inviting the world to take part in a prestigious & respected competition that more often than not contributes a global portfolio of stunning portraiture.
Alongside this amazing exhibition of hand-picked portraits, families are invited to take part in their family trail to amuse children and get them interested/understanding art and portraits. Part of the family trail is made up of illustrated vinyl stickers & a pamphlet type worksheet for kids to draw in, complete with competitions. Each year, a noted creative is chosen to illustrate this family trail – previous illustrators for this project have been Jenni Desmond and Salvatore Rubbino.
It comes to no surprise to us therefore, that our very own Yasmeen Ismail was interviewed and chosen to illustrate the characters for the family trail 2015!
Yasmeen’s impressive publishing portfolio, her inky/delicate style and vivid use of delectable colour have earned her this honoured position at The National Portrait Gallery.
Congratulations to Yasmeen for another illustration triumph!
The BP portrait awards are in their 36th year and will run between the 18th of June to the 20th of September.
Yasmeen Ismail is represented by Bright Group
The second Storytime collaboration between Bright and unique event space The Doodle Bar will see multi-award winning and 7th biggest UK selling Author Illustrator Sue Hendra leading a feast of creative activities for Storytime Sunday on 22nd March, 10am – 12pm. The exclusive 2 hour event will comprise of hilarious readings and fun crafts aimed at fans of Norman the Slug with the Silly Shell (Simon & Schuster) and Sue’s newly animated Wanda and the Alien (Random House). Signed copies of the books and an array of colourful merchandise will be available to buy on the day! This is a free event but booking is essential as places are limited.
As advocates of promoting and sharing the joy of reading and story telling, Bright and the Doodle Bar are incredibly pleased to announce the next Storytime event occuring at the end of this month. With our ten years of industry experience, we understand the importance of taking a book beyond the book shelf and actively encourage every Bright creative to engage with their key audiences to drive discoverability and build the foundations of commercial success. Last year saw the yuletide success of our first Storytime Sunday, featuring Bright artists Nicola O’Byrne and Ben Mantle with their illustrated books Open Very Carefully(Nosy Crow) and Rudey’s Windy Christmas (HarperCollins). The event was a rousing success and a creatively indulgent Sunday was had by all. Read more about this event here.
Sue Hendra is represented by The Bright Group
Keith Robinson‘s raw talent for strong characterisation and indisputable drawing skills have made him an irreplaceable credit to the Bright family for the past 3 years. Therefore it came to no surprise as the 150th Anniversary of Alice in wonderland arrived this year, that the UK creative was hand picked to illustrate an issue of stamps commemorating the globally loved story. Previously, Keith had worked with Guernsey Post to create several stamp issues and their children’s character, Penny the Postie, who features in two picture books he also author illustrated.
Keith Robinson is represented by the Bright Group
Books of Wonder is one of New York’s well-known children’s bookstore, having been established over two decades ago and is a global place of gathering for book lovers far and wide. Each month they hold a Picture Book panel that features the latest books being published and their creators - Bright’s UK artist Migy Blanco was one of 4 creators invited on Sunday 8th February to share the process of making their books and read aloud their beautiful stories.
Migy’s And Away We Go seemed to be the perfect book for such an occasion, as it is set in NYC and features a hot air balloon lifting off for an adventure into space with various animals jumping on board - and this is what the weekend felt like for Bright — lifting off into new wonderful adventures together in the US!
Henry Holt published Migy’s book and his editor, Sally Doherty attended the event along with their publicist.
Migy Blanco is represented by Bright Group International