stevemaystuff

British People in Hot Weather

2026-05-28T11:47:27.172+01:00

Remember! Wear sunscreen!

Goths in Hot Weather

2026-05-28T10:37:12.281+01:00

During this hot weather, who will think about the goths?!?

A Young Hero's Journey - my work with the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service

2026-04-21T12:16:00.001+01:00

I was really proud to be commissioned to create a 6-panel comic strip which could be used to highlight the work carried out by the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service who have worked tirelessly supporting adults and children affected by the Grenfell Fire.

The process began with a two-hour workshop where I worked with a group of children on choosing how best to communicate the invaluable work the service has provided to help with the long-term rehabilitation needs of the community.

The workshop was a really special couple of hours. We sat together with the kids and let the ideas come naturally, and they did. Everyone agreed the story needed to feel big and adventurous, so we built it around one character finding her way through a series of challenges.

The spark came from one of the boys, who shared a dream he’d had about being chased through a house by goblins with spears. It was vivid and brave of him to share it, and it became the heart of everything. We transformed that into a haunted house filled with emotion monsters - fear, anger, anxiety, trauma - things these kids know something about.

We talked about who should face them. After some back and forth, we landed on a girl as our hero. The Grenfell workers, represented by green hearts, would guide her through - each one helping with a different challenge, a different way out. And at the end, an art therapist literally paints a door to freedom: a green field, sunshine, birds, a carnival with music and food, and everyone together again.

I did a rough sketch and you could feel the room respond to it. From there, the kids helped shape it further - they gave her a name, Emily, tweaked her words, and then I brought her to life in full colour.

https://www.arenaillustration.com/news/2026/04/a-young-heros-journey-steve-may-and-the-grenfell-health-and-wellbeing-service/

Cult Figures - Lunatic Friend (Official Video)

2026-03-24T12:07:00.001+00:00

I put on my old 'animation hat' to direct this noisy little promo for Lunatic Friend which is a track I co-wrote from my band Cult Figures' upcoming album 'Reports of People' which is released on 24th April 2026 on Precious Recordings of London & is available on pre-order here!

I approached it as a stream of consciousness job where I just started drawing to see where I went which is always a fun way of working & I hope it gives it a fresh immediacy to the piece. I really enjoyed the process - I hope you enjoy the video!

Batman's mum.

2026-03-09T13:12:00.003+00:00

Did I just hear Trump saying he’s looking forward to going to Switzerland and meeting Davros?

2026-01-23T13:54:00.001+00:00

Despots gonna despot! I don't usually post much of my political stuff up here but I figured this mixes it up a bit with a bit of Doctor Who nerdery!

London Colin

2026-01-15T15:10:00.003+00:00

I had a bit of fun drawing 'London Colin' from the celebrated (& misheard) Clash song!

Creative Moves

2026-01-15T15:04:00.000+00:00

A fun little illustration & motion graphics job I did for Kabir Malik's Creative Moves podcast

I had some fun envisaging characters based on their unusual & fascinating job changes, adding a bit of humour & some subtle animation

"Creative Moves: Left Career, Right Path."

Creative Moves is a podcast exploring career pivots and unexpected second, third or even fourth, acts. Each episode features a conversation with someone who made their mark in their chosen profession, before stepping away to pursue something entirely different.
These are stories of reinvention, risk and reward.

More spookiness!

2025-11-14T10:08:00.005+00:00

Some more before & after illustration stuff left over from Halloween for you illustration nerds

The original is drawn on A4 300gsm watercolour paper drawn with a dip pen (with a Leonardt 256 nib) & Winsor & Newton ink & a Kaweco fountain pen with Rohrer and Klingner Dokumentus ink.

I scanned the original then coloured it in Photoshop using a mixture of scanned ink textures & a couple of Kyle T Webster watercolour brushes & a couple of custom brushes I made myself

I then decided to get my hands dirty & have a go at hand colouring (using Derwent Inktense pencils) this was then scanned again - here's the initial scan.

My scanner works really poorly with orange so I adjusted the orange to match the original inage & did a little bit of adjustment of brightness & colour et voila!

'Treat?'

2025-10-29T13:20:00.001+00:00

A bit of Halloween fun for you all!
I thought I'd include some of my process here from the original drawing to the digital colour.

With this one I drew it with a dip pen & indian ink (Winsor & Newton ink & a Leonardt 256 nib if anyone's interested!)

With this piece I didn't draw a rough I just drew it from scratch - mistakes stains & all - on horrible cheap paper! Cheap paper is extremely liberating but makes it less desirable to sell the original drawing to to anyone!

Next step is scanning it & using Photoshop to lose any unwanted marks & occasionally a couple of alterations although I haven't done much to this apart from shift the signature down.

After that I use Photoshop to colour the image using a mixture of custom brushes & some scanned ink textures

Hastings Book Festival 2025

2025-09-15T13:04:00.001+01:00

I was really happy to be invited back to my hometown for the Hastings Book Festival where I did some live drawing, illustration chat & conducted draw-alongs for the kids (& their grown ups)

I demonstrated how cats eats pizza from pizza trees & showed everybody how to draw Professor Poo & Ploppy from Poo Crew Adventures - Journey to Pootopia my graphic novel with James Turner. I also got to sign some books & chat to a few folk afterwards which is always really pleasurable & rewarding!

Thanks to everyone who made me so welcome, wishing Hasting Book Festival the very best - I want to come back next year!

Guinness Book of Records 2026

2025-08-28T15:27:00.002+01:00

Published this week: the GUINESS WORLD RECORDS 2026! I had the pleasure of creating a comic-strip rendition of conservation crusader Aneeshwar Kunchala - commissioned by Guinness World Records to celebrate him being the world’s youngest documentary presenter!

'Eco-hero Aneeshwar Kunchala is the youngest documentary presenter and Guinness World Record Holder aged 7 years 288 days. He's on a mission to protect our planet, the keen naturalist urges others to do the same on TV, online and in print. This comic strip was commissioned by Guiness World Records 2026 to celebrate his achievements.'

More here on my agent's page

More Monster Facts

2025-08-07T13:49:00.006+01:00

Monster Fact: Monsters are prone to growing alarmingly & therefore rarely wear clothes.

If you meet a clothed monster it's liable that the clothes belonged to a recent meal & it is advisable to RUN!

Do you like monsters?
Do you like facts?

More MONSTER FACTS HERE

Homage to Mick McMahon

2025-08-04T14:56:00.002+01:00

I don't usually post 'fan art' but I drew this recently as an homage to the great Mick McMahon which gives a nod to his magnificent iconic depiction of Judge Dredd along with a reference to Junkyard Demon a strip he drew for Marvel's Doctor Who Weekly which featured a typically idiosyncratic take on Tom Baker's Doctor & a wonderfully baggy Cyberman.
I first encountered his work in 2000AD when I was about 10 years old & initially loathed his work which seemed 'odd' to 10 year old me! Very soon after I gradually 'got' his work & he swiftly became one of my favourite artists. Always willing to experiment & move on, his work is continuously fascinating to me & an incredibly strong influence on me.
I met him when I was 11 years old & he drew me a picture in my autograph book which I treasure. I met him again in 2017 at the 2000AD 40th birthday & he was incredibly gracious.

My Hammerstein, drawn by Mick in my autograph book 1980

Me & Mick at the 2000AD 40th birthday party.

More Monster Facts

2025-08-04T10:29:00.002+01:00

Monster Fact: Vegetarianism is extremely rare in monsters. Their favourite food is invariably YOU.

#MonsterFacts

More Monster Facts

2025-07-18T14:24:00.004+01:00

Monster Fact : Monsters do not receive mandatory holiday pay & rarely take time off - it is considered wise not to disturb them when they do*

*This also applies to freelance illustrators, crocodiles et al.

Dogs, as EVERYBODY knows have Wednesday afternoons off.

St Austell Festival of Childrens Literature.

2025-06-17T13:25:00.001+01:00

I had a wonderful couple of days down in Cornwall at the St Austell Festival of Childrens Literature.

On Friday I visited Newquay Junior Academy where the kids & staff gave me a lovely welcome (& I also met their lovely school dog Nelly!)

(my drawing of Nelly the dog, a talking cat, a seagull with its bag of chips & a dog eating a sausage)

During the event I talked to the kids about how I became an illustrator (via roadying for bands among other things!) & introduced our graphic novel Poo Crew Adventures: Journey to Poo-topia, a fast-paced adventure, which brings together clever, funny storytelling with lots of amazing facts and taps into kids’ fascination with all things poo-related & I PROVED that poo is THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT IN THE WORLD!

We also had a game of ‘Poo or True?’

A draw-a-long of the book’s protagonist Ploppy with some great drawings from the kids!

I also gave a behind the scenes look at what goes into illustrating a narrative non-fiction graphic novel, answered some great questions from the children & signed LOTS of books.

On Saturday I took part in The Big Draw Off - A Graphic Novel Showdown Like No Other! with author illustrator Steve Webb which was brilliantly compered by JoJo Silva from Capital Xtra.

We both talked about our work & then were set various drawing challenges getting prompts from audience members & also creating characters based on audience members with hilarious results - a really fun interactive event (& not often you get to shout 'poo!' in a church!)

Big thanks to everyone involved to make it such a brilliant festival! I hope I'll get invited back!

If you'd like me to visit your school or your festival please contact me on info@stevemay,biz

(in training for The Big Draw Off)

(A pictorial Steve (May) & Steve (Webb) in the beautiful Holy Trinity Church, St Austell)

(The two Steves & JoJo our compère)

Goldrush - Steve May creates comedy gold in a collaboration with Tom Mitchell

2025-06-04T16:34:00.004+01:00

I had great fun visiting the Wild West in my recent collaboration with author Tom Mitchell Goldrush which is published by Big Cat Publishing.

There's lots of humour in the text which was a delight to bring to life as I imagined what the characters would look like. I also got to draw donkeys, horses, rattlesnakes & bears (which is very nearly a quote from the Wizard of Oz! ; )

'Illustrated fiction, especially that with a comedic twist has reached increasingly elevated heights in terms of both popularity and visibility due to its benefits in encouraging reluctant readers to explore storytelling.

The insight and expertise of publishing houses such as Big Cat Publishing and Barrington Stoke have been trailblazers in terms of developing the perfect balance of text and illustration. So grab your lasso and buckle up because we thrilled to celebrate the publication of Gold Rush, written by Tom Mitchell and illustrated by illustrator, animator, and master of pen and ink, Steve May.

Gold Rush features a bright, engaging cover illustration as well as a host of entertaining internal illustrations, starring feisty and brilliantly entertaining Lily O’Connor and her gnarly gold prospector father. We know emerging readers are going to be drawn to Steve’s illustrations as the story unfolds and there are lots of fun details to spot along the way.'

World Goth Day 2025

2025-05-23T10:57:00.004+01:00

Goth regretting feline colour choice on World Goth Day

Plastic Skeletons in a Car

2025-04-25T14:13:00.007+01:00

“I couldn’t safely get a pic but this morning I passed a car so full the driver couldn’t see out the rearview mirror of (plastic?) skeletons and I’m sad it would be weird to follow and befriend her”

(I read this on BlueSky from https://bsky.app/profile/katyrex.meatjacker.social & loved it so much I thought

"I must draw this!"

I did.

Chocolate Tuesday

2025-04-22T14:17:00.003+01:00

We've had Easter Sunday, Easter Monday & today's 'Chocolate Tuesday' - when Jesus & the disciples scoured all the supermarkets for discounted eggs!

#Easter #ChocolateTuesday

Arena Illustration 2025 Showcase

2025-04-11T11:01:00.005+01:00

Proud to be among a stellar cast of top notch illustrators on my agent Arena's 2025 Showcase!

“From sci-fi to science we couldn’t help but chuckle our way through the Poo Crew Adventures, expertly illustrated by comic genius and talented animator Steve May. Featuring panel illustrations throughout, this hilarious dive into the world of poo brilliantly showcases Steve’s exceptional talent for visual storytelling, perfectly tailored to the project’s target audience. His work is endlessly engaging and full of fun, we can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Bookmark Project 2025

2025-04-09T11:23:00.003+01:00

I'm always happy to contribute to Sharon Hattersley's Bookmark Project For this year I've contributed an original pen & ink drawing, one of many bookmarks produced by a variety of authors, illustrators & celebrities which will be auctioned in May to support Katiyo Primary School in Zimbabwe. Do have a look & bid generously!

Keir Starmer's Meat Waistcoat

2025-04-03T11:23:00.004+01:00

Keir Starmer's waistcoat was completely made of meat.

And every time he ventured out, dogs chased him down the street.

He tried to run, he tried to hide but poor Keir was mistaken.

There's no escaping hungry hounds whilst wearing that much bacon.

(Poem by my friend Dylan Cole)

Get Yer Big Boy Pants On!

2025-04-03T09:02:00.003+01:00

Some celebratory spring time motivational postcards - because I love you all!*

(& it's rather therapeutic, work is extremely scarce at the moment at the moment so I just keep going!)