Hi all you lovely supporters

Hopefully now you all have your copies of the book and are enjoying Frank’s escapades in Chiltern House.


 <img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="372" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/FXKKqyvX0AA71uZ.jpg?v=1690913764" width="500">


(picture @pumpkinsouper)

It’s been so great to see it arrive in people’s hands and hear some of the great feedback from those who supported the book - some of our favourites:

<blockquote>
“We absolutely love our copy of You’re Thinking About Tomatoes by - it’s sparked a big conversation about colonialism with our 8 year old, particularly as he’s just been to the RAMMuseum with school. Thank you” @Rosie_Johnson
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
My delighted boy thinks this is so cool he forgets to put his glasses on before starting to read. He read the whole thing cover to cover in one big 20 min gulp! @pixeldiva
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
“Yeah! It’s the chapel and the heads! Yay! It’s the bishop!” @pumpkinsouper
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
“I just got my copy. The cat enjoys it very much” @TobiTomcat
</blockquote>

You’ve all done the hard part by supporting the project and giving us your patience to see it come to fruition. Now we’re asking a small favour to help promote the book.

If you enjoyed the book (and if not, why not!!!) please can you leave a rating or review on one or both of Amazon and Goodreads:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://amzn.to/3Us8nVB">Amazon UK</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55595717-you-re-thinking-about-tomatoes">Good Read</a></li>
</ul>

The more reviews we can get the more widely promoted the book will be. Such is the nature of promoting books in the twenty-first century (yay, computer algorithms and all that).

And if you have an independent book shop nearby, you can ask if they stock the book. Children and Young Adult graphic novels are a growing medium and many books shops stock a wide range now.


 Competition (drum roll please)


As a thank you for making it this far, a wee competition:

If you are on twitter and you have a picture of you or your child/cat/dog/porcelain monkey enjoying the book please reply to the following tweet with the picture and a caption:


 <a href="https://twitter.com/cole007/status/1545444425177989122">https://twitter.com/cole007/status/1545444425177989122 </a>


I’ll share any posts and on the 31st October I will choose a random reply and the lucky recipient will receive a signed piece of original artwork from the book.

And if you are not on twitter don’t worry. Please email me a picture with your name, a caption and the subject “YTAT competition” to <a href="mailto:post@cole007.net">post@cole007.net</a> and please let me know if you mind me sharing the picture on social media.

A plea for help and a competition!

Hey all

Thank you so much for your ongoing support, patience and love for the book.

Really excited to report that the Tomatoes have landed!

This weekend we took receipt of Author copies of the book and it looks brilliant. Unbound did a great job of the print and colours.


 <img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="500" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/FTSA5HpWAAITERC.jpg?v=1690913787" width="375">


Later this week me and Michael are heading to Unbound's top secret location (shhhh!) to sign and sketch in all your copies so you shouldn't have too much longer to wait!

Really looking forward to these arriving into your hands and I'm sure I speak for both me and Michael in hoping you enjoy the fruits of our labours!

Finally, if you are around Brighton this weekend (Friday 27th - Saturday 28th May) we will be talking about the book at Graphics Brighton, a conference on comic books for children and young adults. The event is for all ages and free but tickets are required. If you are interested in attending head over to <a href="https://graphicbrighton.wordpress.com/2022/04/20/graphic-brighton-2022/">https://graphicbrighton.wordpress.com/2022/04/20/graphic-brighton-2022/</a> to find out more. 

<a href="https://graphicbrighton.wordpress.com/2022/04/20/graphic-brighton-2022/"><img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="281" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/gb_poster_low_res.jpg?v=1690913787" width="500"></a> 
 
PS if you can't wait to receive your copy of the book I heard a rumour there might be some advance copies for sale at the event!

We have books - and Graphics Brighton!

No, I’m not talking about Halloween! I’m talking about bringing our drawings to life with colour. Having done all our inking I’ve scanned them all in and removed the blue “pencil” lines I was using as a guide.

 
Now these are added into my drawing software, Clip Studio where I can touch up the drawings and remove any smudges or accidental lines from the inking. We then remove all the white. This means we have a black drawing on a transparent background. This is so that our colours go under the lines we have inked, rather than on top of them.

 

 
<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="192" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/step5-colours-masks.png?v=1690913784" width="500">

However, like all good colouring, we need to make sure we keep in between the lines so to do this I go through and identify broad areas of the same colour and mask these off. This leaves us with a glorious array of technicolour blocks that help me block off the areas I am going to be colouring.

 
Now we have our masks we can use this as the basis for our digital “watercolours”. Now, as much as I love real watercolours, working digitally is much easier. You don’t have to wait for the paint to dry, the colours don’t run and you can’t spill water all over yourself! I use a series of brushes in Clip Studio that give the impression of watercolour to broadly paint the scenery in various tones.


 <img alt="" class="doksoft_image_img" height="163" src="/images/16924/preview/medium" width="500">


This lets me build up colours and character, giving depth to the blocks rather them being flat. We can then start to add layer masks to introduce elements of highlights and shade to really bring the characters and story to life.

Step 5: Masks and Colouring In

Step 4: Inks 
With our pencils all done the next step is to print it all out for the inking.

 
All our pages are printed out onto Bristol Board - like a thick cartridge paper - at slightly larger than we need for the final printed book. This bit is tricky but we want to print our pencils out in light blue so that we can draw over them. Then thanks to some computer trickery we can remove the blue tones when we scan them in so we are left with the blank inks on a white background. 
<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/step4-inks.jpg?v=1690913769" width="500" height="339">

 
For inking, I use a Japanese brush pen, a Tombow Fudenosuke. This gives me lots of fluidity for looser, thicker lines but lets me tighten it up for detail. It’s a really nice pen to draw with and has really helped bring the characters in Tomatoes to life.

 
It’s a slow process but it is easy to get into a rhythm and the story is great fun to draw - from Egyptian mummies to pirates to Indian monkeys to talking dogs! 
<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/step4-pile.jpg?v=1690913768" width="500" height="369">

 
As I write I have just finished inking all 120 pages of the book! The next job is to scan them all in and start colouring them. But first I think my hand needs a bit of a rest!

 
Interlude: The Evolution of Frank

 
Some of the eagle-eyed of you might notice that the style of Frank has evolved quite a bit from the pages drawn when the Unbound project first launched. 
<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/frank-001__281_29.jpg?v=1690913768" width="500" height="288">

 
When I first started talking about working together with Michael most of my drawing work had been quite “tight” and for a more grown-up audience than the Tomatoes project. Certainly, those earlier sketches and concepts for Frank were quite more realistic than what we have ended up with in the final inks!

 
As the project has evolved so has Frank and the other characters and there are a couple of  
reasons why.

 
First, I’ve tried to make all the characters simpler. This means I can produce the work quicker and more consistently but also makes the characters and style more suited to the target audience. I have necessarily reduced the characters to simpler shapes and elements and exaggerated their features. This makes them much more fun to draw - especially for 
the action scenes within the comic book - and fits in well with the more fantastical elements of the story! 
<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/frank-002.jpg?v=1690913768" width="500" height="231">

 
It is also partly to do with the pen I’m using - I don’t know about you but my hand-writing changes completely depending on what pen I’m using and it is the same with drawing. When I use a fine-line pen my drawing is inevitably more detailed. If I use a biro then my drawing style becomes scratcher. With the brush pen I use the lines are simpler and bolder 
which is perfect for the style of the book.

 
Finally, it is partly to do with the size I’m working at. In earlier sketches, I was working on a larger scale. This meant I was falling into more detailed drawings to fill the paper. Working at a smaller scale helps me work in a simpler style and with more fluidity.


 <img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/frank-003.jpg?v=1690913768" width="500" height="387">


 
So hope you enjoy this little diversion - the style has changed but the story is the same and is one I hope you all enjoy

Inks and The Evolution of Frank

Step 3: Pencils


 
With a completed script we now have a sense of the overall story and how this is going to be broken down for the graphic novel.

 
It is time to dust off the pens and pencils and start fleshing things out (although for this stage we are working with digital pens and paper!).

 
For each page from the script I start out with a rough outline of the panels and characters to see what works in terms of composition - at this stage we are working really loosely and speed is key. In a few pen strokes, we can see quickly what does and doesn’t work on the page!

<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="374" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/pasted_image_0_219b04c3-3e35-48d1-b222-571f4855887c.png?v=1690913780" width="500"> 
Once we have a rough composition we can set out the panels more rigidly. For the drawing, I am using a piece of software called Clip Studio. This lets us break down our artwork into layers and set pages out for comics.

 
With our layout in place, we can then get down to our pencils (still digitally at this stage). This takes the form of initially broad panels and character sketches; capturing shapes, gestures and movement to frame the dialogue and action taking place. Once more the aim here is to be loose and fast but provide a solid base for the inking! 

<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="500" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/Tomatoes_2.png?v=1690913779" width="410"> 
Et voila - now we have pencilled the whole story the next step is rolling up our sleeves and doing our inks with (traditional) pen and paper.

Step 3: Pencils

Step 2: World Building


 <img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/update_2.png?v=1690913776" width="500" height="276">


Before we start any work drawing our story we need to set the tone. This is important as this helps us break our characters and settings down into recognisable shapes for use throughout the story.

This involves a fair amount of research - it may seem surprising to some of you but I have rarely drawn talking monkey statuettes or ornate, lead dolphins before!

There are some great, rich characters in the story so it is important to do them justice! For each character, I’ve worked on a series of sketches to try and get the character’s personality down to simple lines!<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/unnamed_3.png?v=1690913776" width="500" height="222">


 Next week we will be taking you through Step 3: Pencils

Step 2: World Building

Hey all

 
Sorry it has taken us so long to post an update on the project.

 
It was so fantastic to hit our target back in September and work continues behind the scenes. We are significantly through the drawing stage so thought it would be a good time and a great idea to give you all an idea of the process involved in bringing Michael’s fantastic story to life!

 
Step 1: The Script

 
We start our process with Michael’s book - I (Cole) have two copies; a nice fresh one and a heavily annotated and well-thumbed one!

 
In creating the graphic novel the first step is to produce a script specifically for drawing. Preparing a comic script is very much like screenwriting - we are outlining the action and the dialogue in a way that can help the artist understand the flow of the story but rather than breaking this up into “scenes” - as we would for film or television - we need to break this up into pages and panels.

 
We are thinking here about how best to capture the essence of a moment within the story over a series of visual panels. This involves asking lots of questions as we go: what characters are present in the scene? How scenes should be framed? What is the pacing like? Where should we build tension? Where do we need humour? How much dialogue should this page have?

<img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="291" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/pasted_image_0.png?v=1690913772" width="500"> 
A surprising challenge here is Michael’s wonderfully visual storytelling. In a traditional book, the writing is doing all the heavy lifting. It helps the reader set up the story, the characters and the action in their minds. This is a great help with the drawing process as it helps us flesh out the characters.

 
However, for the graphic novel, we need to balance this so that we are using the drawing as much as the dialogue to tell the story. This also sadly means cutting some dialogue out of parts of the book to help the story flow visually and keep it moving.

 
Because I am both writing the script and illustrating the book the format for the script is pretty loose - I have taken the chapters from the book and tried to work these into broad pages where a defined piece of the story takes place (and trying to keep our publisher happy by keeping this to the target number of pages!).

 
Then on each page, I loosely outline the dialogue and what each character should be doing and saying. This is deliberately loose because the purpose here is trying to establish a rhythm for the story. As we flesh out each page with our pencils - which will come onto later - we can work with these various ingredients on the page and see what fits and what doesn’t. 


 Next week we will be taking you through Step 2: World Building.

Step 1: The Script

The fan-favourite story from celebrated author and former British Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen – now in graphic novel form with full-colour illustrations by Cole Henley.
Uh-oh… Frank isn’t doing well at school, and he has just been told off by his head teacher again…
He has one last chance to prove himself: all he has to do is follow the rules on his class trip to Chiltern House, complete his worksheet and stay out of trouble.
But when a girl steps out of a painting and steals Frank’s worksheet, staying out of trouble is easier said than done. Together, they embark on a perilous adventure to discover the girl’s lost identity, uniting with new friends along the way who show Frank all is not as it seems in this stately home.
How did the owners of Chiltern House come to own its priceless treasures? Can the secrets of the past ever really stay hidden? Will Frank’s head teacher stop him and his new friends before they find out the truth?
Frank’s class trip is more than he bargained for, but it may just hold the greatest lesson he’ll ever learn.

You're Thinking About Tomatoes

Hardback

Ebook Download

Be a part of our community! 334,112 people from 207 countries have pledged £11,980,334 to fund 646 projects - and counting!

About us

How it works

Neem Tree Press

View our catalogue

Jobs

About

Help centre

Delivery

Refunds

Contact us

Help

Footer menu

BLACK FRIDAY 50% OFF 

Politics & Social Justice

Memoir & Biography

Nature & Folklore

Gaming & Pop Culture

History & Sociology

Food & Drink

Science & Technology

Language & Literature

Philosophy & Ideas

Gift & Humour

Fiction

Health & Wellbeing

Art & Photography

Business & Economics

Psychology & Self-Help

Unbound Firsts

Genres

Crowdfunding

Pre-Order

Published Books

Second column

Our Books

Tom Cox Collection

Jackie Morris Collection

Jonathan Meades Collection

Ian Livingstone Collection

Daniel Hardcastle Collection

Russell Jones Collection

Column

Author Collections

Submit Your Work

Pre-Order Books

white

black

'Cockatrice' Dayglo Poster Bundle
'One With Nature' T-Shirt Bundle (L)
'One With Nature' T-Shirt Bundle (M)
42 Hardback Bundle
Advanced Book Proof (plus Signed Hardback).
Afternoon Tea with Natalie Bundle
An Evening with John Healy
Annotated Copy Bundle
Archive Artwork Bundle
Art Collector
Art Print Bundle
Art Print Bundle 1
Art Print Bundle 2
Audiobook
Author Collection
Be on the Podcast
Bonus Chapter Bundle
Book Club Bundle
Bookmark Bundle
Both of Joshua's books
Bound Proof
Cover Art and Prints
Cover Art Bundle
Dedicated Hardback
Discussion & Dining Bundle
Donation Bundle
eBook
Ebook
Ebook Download
Ebook via Glassboxx
Embroidered Bookmark Bundle
Exclusive Mystery Print Bundle
Executive Producer
First Edition Bundle
First Edition Hardback Bundle
Foil Postcards and Poster Bundle
Give a Book Bundle
Hand drawn illustration by Joe
Hardback
Hardback Bundle
Hush-Kit article chosen by you
In Memoriam
Lamp Fish Print Bundle
Launch Event Bundle
Launch Party
Launch Party Bundle
Modernism Bundle
Mug Bundle
Name a character or animal. (Plus a signed hardback).
Notebook Bundle
Paperback
Paperback for Male Readers
Patron
Patron Bundle
Patron Extra
Patron of the Arts
Patron plus Hardback
Personalised Hardback - Your Photo on the Cover
Postcard Bundle
Signed First Edition Bundle
Signed Hardback
Signed Hardback Bundle
Signed Paperback
Signed Proof Bundle
Signed Special Edition
Signed Torygeddon Bundle
Social Bundle
Special Edition
Sponsor an Image Bundle
Spotify Bundle
Suggest a Song
Super Patron
Super Patron Bundle
Surreal Trio Print Bundle
Test Supporter Name Ceefaux Bundle
The Readers - a print by Mick Cox (plus signed hardback).
Tote Bag Bundle
Unicorn Autopsy Print Bundle
Video Call Bundle
Virtual Meet the Author
Virtual Q&A Bundle
Virtual Talk Bundle
Witching Hour Bundle
Your name written on a warplane in the book plus a print

Pre-Order Books

Published Books

You're Thinking About Tomatoes

About the author

Join our newsletter

Your Bag