Originally published in 2018, Gastronauts is back with a new full colour edition!
With colouring by Paulina Gamez and new covers designed by Rebecca Mills, this new edition is disgustingly good.
It even comes with an extra bonus story!
Continue reading “Gastronauts re-released in full COLOUR”
Originally published in 2016, Brobot is back with a new full colour edition!
With colouring by Paulina Gamez and new covers designed by Rebecca Mills, this new edition looks deliciously schmick.
It even comes with an extra bonus story!
Continue reading “Brobot re-released in full COLOUR”I’ve got three events coming up this April school holidays.
Details below!
Come and help celebrate the release of Right Way Down, a brand new children’s poetry collection from WA authors.
WHEN: Saturday April 6th, 10:30am
WHERE: Rankin Gardens, car Hamersley Rd and Rokeyby Rd, Subiaco, WA
BOOKINGS: FREE but required, via eventbrite.
Earlier in Feb I got to chat with Gregory Dobbs from the Good Reading podcast, all about my picture book Stellarphant and the upcoming colour rereleases of Brobot and Gastonauts.
As Greg puts it, we chat about “the great characters [James] has created – Sally Tinker (the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve), Joe Tinker (full-time baby) and Charli Stevenson (foremost biologist under the age of eleven). We explore the hilarious and often quite smelly adventures they get up to, along with Sally’s amazing range of inventions. There’s also a few Dad jokes along the way.”
INTERVIEW
Stellarphant, Brobot and Gastronauts
Good Reading Podcast
with Gregory Dobbs
Sally Tinker, the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, is back!
She first appeared in my debut graphic novel – Brobot – released in 2016. The book was printed in black and white and just 112 pages long. Three sequels followed: Dungzilla, Gastronauts and Chickensaurus – each longer and more ambitious than the last – plus some full-colour short stories in The School Magazine. And that was it … or so I thought.
Then the wonderful team at Fremantle Press said, “Hey James … how about we rerelease the Sally Tinker comics in full colour?”
My instant and highly professional reply was, “heck yes!”
Then I looked at my diary and saw how busy I was already. I wouldn’t have time to colour them in. “Oh bottom,” I exclaimed in measured tones.
So Fremantle said, “what if we get some artists to help?”
And I remarked, “that’s a flippin’ excellent idea!”
So Freo asked an up-and-coming artist called Paulina Gamez to do the colouring, and the ever brilliant Rebecca Mills to redesign the covers. I reformatted the School Magazine stories to fit inside the new editions. And before we knew it, we had four revamped and beefed up graphic novels to release!
First up is Brobot on April 3rd, followed by Gastronauts on June 1st. Both feature new covers and extra stories. (No official release dates on the colour editions of Dungzilla or Chickensaurus, but rest assured they’re in the works). If you enjoyed Secret Agent Mole then you should love these comics too!
Pre-order your copies at the links below.
Published by Fremantle Press, 3rd April 2024.
ISBN: 9781760993115 (paperback)
Buy online:
Published by Fremantle Press, 1st June 2024.
ISBN: 9781760993122 (paperback)
Buy online:
Exactly what is says on the box – 8 more free drawing tutorials!
Hi everyone! I hope you’re all staying safe and well in these strange times.
Looking for free stuff to help with your homeschooling? I’ve got you covered.
check out my Teacher resource page. It’s a comprehensive list of resources related to all my books. There’s a bunch of bonus activities and content at the bottom of the page.
Check out the free videos below (if the videos don’t come up, please try the online version of this blog post).
Also – while schools might not be going back to normal for a little while, I’m still available to do presentations for school groups – either live or pre-recorded. Get in contact to find out more.
There are heaps more videos on my youtube channel and also on my Teacher resource page.
Littlescribe also has a bunch more free creative writing lessons on their Youtube channel. They also offer full terms’ worth of creative writing programs for a fee via their website; each writing program is developed in conjunction with professional Aussie children’s authors (including me).
My publisher Fremantle Press is offering 10% off my junior graphic novels, and is throwing in a ‘Kids At Home’ pack too – a bunch of freebies and activity sheets! Use the discount code ATHOME at the checkout to get your discount and freebies. Head to the Fremantle Press website for more info.
*** This offer lasts until Easter 2020. ***
Look after yourselves – wash your hands, keep up your social distancing – and we’ll meet up again on the other side of this.
– James
Sally Tinker and Brobot are coming to the West Australian newspaper’s ED! liftout every week in term 3.
It was a big challenge to reformat the story – I had to edit it down, rearrange the panels to fit the newspaper’s dimensions, AND divide it into 10 episodes.
Your school can get in on the action with an ED! section subscription: full details here.
I’ve got some Perth-based school holiday workshops, and the Perth book launch of Dungzilla!
Plus, some fantastic events in Queensland in early September, including the My Dead Bunny musical.
Continue reading “Events for Sept-Oct 2017, including the Dungzilla book launch”
My latest book, Brobot, was released in 2016. It’s a graphic novel for younger readers. I first started working on it in 2012. Over those four years I drew many different versions of the main characters – Sally, Joe and Brobot – and I’ll be sharing some of those over the next few months on this blog.
ABOVE: One of the earliest sketches of Sally Tinker. From 2012. This is from the very first draft picture book (well before we realised it needed to be a comic). She’s very cute here, and is in much the same style as Josh from The Last Viking. She has a tiny hint of the attitude she shows in the final book.
ABOVE: Another early sketch of Sally, from 2013, back when I was still trying to figure out her hairstyle and costume. Note that here she still has dots for eyes like Josh did in The Last Viking, rather than the cartoony circular eyes she has in the final book.
ABOVE: Another version of Sally, from 2015. Closer to her final version but not quite there. She now has circles for eyes, and her grumpy demeanour. The oversized rubber gloves didn’t make it to the final version.
ABOVE: Maquettes are super helpful when you want to figure out how a character looks in 3D. I was having particular trouble with Sally’s hairstyle and profile, and a maquette helped me figure that out. This is from January 2016, just as I started the final artwork.
ABOVE: The final version of Sally Tinker, Feb 2016. When you draw the character from different angles like this, it’s called a ‘turnaround’. It’s a reference you keep by your desk when you illustrate a story so that you can keep your character consistent (ie this is also called keeping your character “on model”). I drew this after I had completed the final illustrations for the book. Pro tip: you should really make your turnaround sheets BEFORE you do the final illustrations, not after 😉
Buy ‘Brobot’ now
James Foley 