Just over a year ago, I was preparing to move from Brighton, on the south coast of England, to live in Istanbul. In preparation for/desperation at the prospect of being without a job in Turkey, I decided to take a leap of faith and simply be what I had always wanted to be - an illustrator.
So, feeling cautiously excited but decidedly rusty, I began to draw. After a few false starts and some dead ends I started to sketch from life, initially picking pomegranates to focus on. I really enjoyed it but, I have to say, it felt a little like I was back at college making drawings that would stay in a sketch book and not be something that I could ever develop and really run with.
I sat around thinking, drank lots of earl grey tea and then realised that I should start by doing something I really enjoy like drawing for children, creating cute cards - something along those lines. So, I created a small character called Frankie. He is a tiger, and inspired by my favourite stuffed animal; which was a Christmas present from my partner and was therefore seasonally named Frankincense (always known, I might add, as Frankie). The series You, Me and the Frankie was born.
My first piece was Frankie's Alphabet. I loved creating it and - very tentatively - I put it up on Facebook to be ignored by the big wide web. However, a few people noticed it, then a few more seemed to be taking a look, and that was the first the world saw of You, Me and the Frankie.
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