Hello, you odd and lovely lot.
Welcome to my strange little outpost—part sketchbook, part muttering journal, part celebration of the peculiar.
I’m Pete. I draw things. Sometimes they’re grim. Sometimes they’re sweet. Often, they’re both at once. This is where I spill out bits of that world—the odd creatures, the half-formed ideas, the strange faces that turn up uninvited when I’m meant to be doing something sensible.
Back in the mid-90s, I stumbled into London’s animation scene with a head full of characters and nowhere in particular to be. I found a home in character and background design, and eventually ended up animating things for American telly. It was chaotic, brilliant, and occasionally baffling. The highlight? Being Bradford Dillman in 2011—a weird, dark little short I co-created that somehow won 16 awards. I’m still not sure how that happened. Magic, probably. Or luck. Or both.
In 2008, I took a sharp left into children’s books. I started drawing for brilliant writers like Marcus Sedgwick (Elf Girl and Raven Boy) and Guy Bass (Stitch Head). Since then, I’ve illustrated over 65 books. That sounds made up, but it isn’t. I keep counting.
These days, I live in the Kent countryside with writer Catherine Meade (who also happens to be my partner) and our daughter, who is both hilarious and mildly terrifying in the best way. Our house is full of stories and crumbs and badly-labelled sketchbooks.
So—this blog. What’s it for? It’s not just polished artwork. It’s the sketchy bits. The wonky experiments. The stuff that doesn’t quite work and the stuff that accidentally does. There’ll be odd thoughts, scribbles, and probably a few creatures I didn’t mean to invent.
If that sounds like your kind of thing, stick around. I can’t promise order, but I can promise honesty—and maybe the occasional talking hat.
Cheers,
Pete