Whale Spotting on Coogee Beach – Mark Oliver

The Coogee Pavilion on Sydney's Coogee Beach is home to a Mark Oliver mural.

Known for a great place to spot whales, it seems fitting to decorate the interior of the pavilion with whale themed art. Commissioned by Hemmes Trading in Australia, Mark worked on composing a scene around whale watching. He explains " At this stage it was still a poster that was required, but as the project developed, it was decided that the illustration could occupy one whole wall of the games area, a mere 15 metres x 3 metres! A company in Sydney were engaged to create a 'foil' print from my digital file which would then be stuck to the wall, giving the impression that it had been painted directly onto the wall." The photos below

show the super result!

Mark Oliver is represented by Illustration Ltd

Benji takes the Oscars by Storm

‘As soon as I saw this book I fell in love with the cover and hoped that the rest of it would live up to my expectations. It far exceeded them. The sort of book I would be proud and excited to buy as a present for every young child I know.’  Viveka Alvestrand, Oscar’s Mother.

Bright Author-Illustrator Benji Davies recently won Oscar’s First Book Prize 2014 for his hauntingly moving ‘The Storm Whale’. The £5000 award is held by The Evening Standard in memory of Oscar Ashton, a lover of stories who sadly passed away unexpectedly aged 3 1/2 years. The Bright Agency were ecstatic and overwhelmed to represent 3 of the 5 Illustrators who made it to the final five and secured the book deal for a 4^th:

Benji Davies - ‘The Storm Whale’ (Simon & Schuster)

Nicola O’Byrne - ‘Open very carefully’ (Nosy Crow)

Lee Wildish (& Charlotte & Adam Guillain) - ‘Spaghetti with the Yeti’ (Egmont)

Philippa Leathers – ‘The Black Rabbit’ was also a Bright publishing deal with Walker.

As a business celebrating it’s 10^th year in the publishing world, Bright are incredibly proud to represent over half the nominees on this list. Nurturing new found talent as well as supporting established names is a key factor in the company’s working ethos. The Bright nominees have grown with the agency and are just small examples of what can happen when agent and creative really collaborate to achieve amazing artwork and stories that then turn into industry-shaping book deals.

The final 5 were narrowed down from an original 57 entries by a panel of esteemed judges and some very critical young readers. All involved were searching for books that could easily be read by children under 5 as well as being appreciated by their adult counterparts. Judge Charlotte Ross said that the books on the shortlist were “both timeless and original, and we picked tales with images and words that fired the imagination”.

But overall, the winning book was picked because the judges believed Oscar and his vivid imagination would have loved it to – because of this, Benji and Bright are honored and truly humbled to be a part of such an amazing award.

Retrospective exhibition of Gary Blythe

Niroot Puttapipat’s ‘Just So Stories’ for The Folio Society

Niroot was selected by The Folio Society to illustrate a special limited edition of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Just So Stories’. Niroot created 14 beautiful illustrations to accompany the stories, printed with gold borders. The Folio Society describe the set ‘With exquisite paintings and pen-and-ink illustrations by Niroot Puttapipat, this is the definitive collector's edition’. Copies are bound to order, to purchase your own remarkable set to keep please visit the Folio website.

Marta Antelo for Adelaide Hospital

Marta Antelo was commissioned to illustrate a mural for the women and children's Gamma suite at Adelaide hospital.

The aquatic scene features a friendly mermaid, a smiling whale and an array of happy fish.
The image looks wonderful on the wall and makes for a welcoming environment for children having tests, helping to reassure them. Marta Antelo is represented by Eastwing

Tomislav Tomic: The Snow Merchant

Tomislav Tomic has illustrated The Snow Merchant, Sam Gayton's debut novel, published by Andersen Press. This magical, fantasy adventure is already gaining positive reviews not least due to Tomislav's stunning cover and inside illustrations.

Tomislav Tomic is represented by Arena