Invisible Fiends: Mr.Mumbles! EeeK!
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I was out and about yesterday and I spotted another book cover I'd done on the shelves of W.H.Smith! 'Invisible Fiends: Mr. Mumbles' by Barry Hutchison was published by Harper Collins in February.
This was something a little bit different for me, at least as far as children's publishing is concerned, because it's HoRRoR!!! EeeEK!!
I painted this cover last summer, after reading Barry's manuscript. It gave me the heebie-jeebies, and scared the life out of me. I thought 'The Pirate Cruncher' was scary until I read 'Mr.Mumbles'.
The 'Invisible Fiends' series is about a boy named Kyle who has forgotten the imaginary friends he had as a small child... But they've not forgotten him....
So Mr.Mumbles is the first to return, and it was all a bit scary for a big wuss like me, particularly the climax in a disused swimming pool which further reinforced my fear of dark, murky water.
I love the graphic look of the finished covers with the slit and torn edges. I went through a few different ideas with the designer, Nina Tara. Here's the first rough:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0Enk-C35MnQa4_byV4j93tp6iD4u4CynPJGMOVEE8EPmoc3CtZHt8wycmO7QgI-nhabRKYcJ2xwuNeu_5lSM6wE9iCn2Qce3kSYKPy9zZm1AxbFJ666vF-oqT7J1V1LVr6jgDQ/s400/IF_MrMumbles_Rough.jpg)
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So we kept with the full figure on the back of the book, and ended up with a cool, creepy close-up on the front. Here's a close up of the final art, with the temporary paper edge from me, before Nina added the torn white edging and the type:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuooCTp_9zKxhHDIguOkMwb3vHYD4tIr7F5pXf4s7VWOzZ88Q6FLosioK83MZAvRWzi91uzwY-gxv6z-1zBpjnweegAKgVYzSBBbe6IZwCGoI-ZXwToany0C0x1wSDzgikKv8rEw/s400/IF_MrMumbles_Close.jpg)
Next up is Raggie Maggie. I've not read the book, but I painted the cover from Barry's description of the character. I wasn't going to show this one, because I'd not seen the final design, but I just found this on Amazon:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtcfJhkQIgxL6Z6vFtA2dP1x0x6MbTjTjVRfHM5KyTohkxMQ8Gep4W_X3jZ59YFm37InWJFxLcKMqTsl0FTP9uHRa-6MvRYjARMkOfqX3GTuTvAH_NbzX7V4tYaOW7Uh82NZJig/s400/IF_Raggie+Maggie.jpg)
I'll post some WiP, sketches and roughs for 'Raggie Maggie' when the book is published in August!