Magic, fortune telling and cats!

and discovering what makes me tick.

Hellooo! If you want a few minutes filled with illustration, magic and detectives, you’ve come to the right place! Today I thought I’d share some work from one of my favourite projects from this year … and some character sketches as a treat! ‘Tis the season of giving after all ✨

Irvin Vella : Il-Każ tal-Bottegin tax-Xorti

In this story, our protagonist, Irvin, investigates a mystery within a fortune teller’s shop within the city of Valletta. There’s questions, mysterious men in caps and a cat named Nefi 🐾

Illustrating John Bonello’s words is such a treat every time I’m sent over a new manuscript. And this one in particular, well let’s just say mixing in fortune telling and cats in a pot with film noir-inspired illustrations is a dream! The cover is one I am ridiculously proud (if I may say so), and really enjoyed concocting it.

Next up we have some never-before-seen character sketches! This mother-and-daughter duo are a real force within the story. Their characters and their relationships with other character’s grows so beautifully.

Here’s some of the inside illustrations - I had so much fun elevating the magical element to different aspects of the work, like Madame Delphia’s tea. Of course, exploring the dramatic lighting in these works is one of the most exciting parts of the process! And look! There’s Nefi!

I always get so excited to work on a new story and new characters, but with this one, it felt like it lit a spark. Since illustrating this, I’ve started exploring the ‘witchy’ and ‘magical’ genre within my work - it felt like this theme within the work flowed so naturally. I haven’t shared much as I feel there are some things I want to tweak in the pieces I’ve done and I’ve been so swamped with other things that have kept me busy, but I’m planning some time with portfolio work in the new year which I’m really excited about!

If you’d like to purchase the book you can head over to www.merlinpublishers.com.

If you’d like to see more work, hit the magic button below! I’ve got some exciting projects and endeavours in the pipeline.

If you're new to my stack. I'm Fran, I'm an illustrator and picture book maker living in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Gee's Storees originally started as a quarterly newsletter and has slowly evolved into this Substack publication. Here, I share news and updates on my work, behind-the-scenes content as well as insight into my journey in the magical world of children’s publishing and illustration ✨ Hope you'll join our lovely community, I am looking forward to getting to know you!