Favourite Illustrators

I’ve been having a search through some fabulous illustration blogs and come across brilliance. The Drawn Today team are truly amazing. Their podcasts keep me company on long lonely car journeys. Unfortunately I don’t have enough of these. I particularly enjoy Ward Jenkins as he seems to relish having illustrated a book about chickens as a good excuse to wear a chicken suit.

Another discovery recently is Emma Dodd. I can’t find a website for her anywhere though. Her book ‘What Pet To Get’ is very loved by our kids. I love the brilliant mix of hand-drawn and Photoshop

Favourite Illustrator# 15: Tegan Carter

The subject of Elephants made me think of my friend Tegan who recently went to Thailand to work with them. Alongside being an animal lover she is a breathtakingly amazing illustrator.

I’m looking forward to her blog showcasing some more of her fabulous work, but in the meantime The Elephant Nature Foundation is benefiting from her dedication gentle nature.

It’s snowing again and other happy discoveries.

What a pleasant surprise. I set this snow thing last year and it’s automatically come back on. Anyway, I was searching the web for information on one of my favorite illustrators, Katie Cleminson, and I found this truly fantastic blog about childrens book illustration. ‘Playing By the Book’ is a really beautiful resource with many of illustrators that I adore like Eric Carle and Helen Oxenbury and many others I’ve never heard of but can’t wait to discover as I explore the site further. The author of the site is a Mum and writes about the inspiration and activities that develop from reading various books. One of my favourites is the page about Eva Montanari’s ‘Witches and Fairies’.

Favourite illustrator #? Bruce Whatley

Bruce Whatley wrote and illustrated the book ‘Clinton Gregory’s Secret’. It’s one of my middle child’s absolute favourites as I think it appeals to her quirky sense of humour.  The illustrations are beautiful and engaging and tell a good story on their own alongside the text. Bruce Whatley is a very Australian artist. He did ‘Diary of a Wombat’ and ‘Josephine loves to Dance’. The humour in his pictures and characters are incredibly appealing.

Favourite illustrator# lost count! Naomi Holwill

Naomi Holwill has illustrated books for Alexander McCall Smith. I just love the apparent simplicity of her work. It’s amazing.

Favourite Illustrator #11 Lane Smith

This picture was taken from the brilliant ‘Princess Hyacinth (the surprising tale of a girl who floated). Every now and again we stumble upon a book at the library that makes me think we should go there a lot more. This book is beautiful in every way. The book layout and design works perfectly with the illustrations and the writing is quirky and wonderful to read. Lane Smith is one of those illustrators I’ve loved forever without really realising it. We’ve enjoyed reading ‘The Stinky Cheeseman‘ since the kids were tiny and it’s still going strong.

Favourite illustrator #10. Simon Bartram

Simon Bartram is an author and illustrator and, I think, genius. His books are some of the funniest I’ve ever come across and are so appealing to children, older children and adults. Perhaps it’s the quirky British humour that I love so much. We bought ‘Bob’s Best Ever Friend’ a few months ago and the kids have asked repeatedly for it to be read to them. And when that’s not possible they pour over the detailed illustrations and giggle to themselves.

favourite Illustrator #9 David Petersen

We had a lovely day trip to Balnarring last Sunday and it was freezing so we stopped for a coffee in a homely little cafe. It was a video library aswell, but clearly run by real film enthusiasts. There were shelves lined with groovy comic books which the kids were looking through with interest. I came across a book by David Petersen call The Mouse Guard. It was like a graphic novel and absolutly beautiful.

Favourite Illustrator #8 Russell Ayto

Continuing with the ‘breezy’ theme set by Illustration Friday this week. It immediatly made me think of this fabulous illustrator. This is the first page of the book ‘The Witch’s Children’. My children love it because it’s hilarious and I adore the illustrations. They seem simple but are very effective and very very funny. Just what all children’s illustrators are aiming for I suppose.

Favourite Illustrator #7 (…I think) Simon James

The girls and I were reading one of our old favourites ‘Dear Greenpeace’ by Simon James last night and it reminded me of this fabulous illustrator and writer. Of course, what makes him extra special is that he’s from Devon.  Perhaps this is what gave him his delightful quirkiness and wit. His illustrations are free and loose and full of colour and life. The concepts of his books are just a bit different. My kids just absolutly adore the  ‘Baby Brains’ books and they are some of the funniest children’s books I’ve ever come across. ‘Dear Greenpeace’ is an exchange of letters between a little girl and Greenpeace. It expresses the innocense and imagination of childhood just beautifully.

To see more of his work click here.

‘Baby Brains’ by Simon James

‘Dear Greenpeace’ by Simon James

‘Dear Greenpeace’ by Simon James

Birds

I started on this owl yesterday. I’m not sure if I want to carry on with it because I quite like it just the way it is. Birds seem to be popping up alot at the moment. Yesterday I saw several rosella parrots feasting on the damp lawn and it reminded me of ‘Flyway Katie’ a wonderful little book by Polly Dunbar that was inspired by spending time in South Australia. I also revisited Matt Phelan’s site. I just love his ‘Pigeon of the Month’.

Pigeon of the Month, Feb by Matt Phelan

This led me to a wonderful discovery through the Quentin Blake site. He has a whole folio of birds on the Museum of Illustration Site.

Parrot by Quentin Blake

So with all this lovely inspiration there could be alot more birdy stuff turning up.

Favourite Illustrator #6 Jill Barton

One of our most read books is ‘The Pig In the Pond’ written by Martin Waddell. Here’s a little example of one of the best  pages.

It is a beautiful and energentic book illustrated by Jill Barton. I was thrilled to discover that she studied as a mature student and graduated at the age of 48. Her work is loose and full of light which is just what I love.

Favourite Illustrator #5 Stephen Michael-King

For energy, life, beautiful painting and a fabulous sense of fun it doesn’t get much better than Stephen Michael-King . He’s just wonderful, and Australian! Look at, explore and absorb yourself in the website by clicking on his name. I did and discovered he has a hearing difficiency, which makes him even more great in my books. My kids just love ‘Emily Loves to Bounce’ and ‘Milly, Jack and the Dancing Cat’ Here are a couple of examples that don’t really show how great his work is but I had to try and put something here.

Emily loves to Bounce

Amelia Ellicott’s Garden

Favourite Illustrator #4 Helen Oxenbury

Helen Oxenbury has been around forever. Her work is gorgeous. I really admired her watercolours and the energy and life she brings to her childrens illustration. She did ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ and ‘Farmer Duck’ which are our particular favourites. She works in different mediums but I admire and appreciate her watercolour work most. Here’s a page from our copy of ‘Farmer Duck’. The depiction of moonlight is just beautiful.

Favourite Illustrator #3: Quentin Blake

Yes, I know, it’s another English illustrator. He is truely amazing though and was appointed the first Children’s Laureate in 1999.  I just had to put this in because I discovered his website. For any aspiring illustrator, especially for children, it’s a fabulous place to visit. Just go.

Favourite Illustrator #2: Polly Dunbar

We first discovered Polly Dunbar through the book ‘Fly Away Katie’. My kids absolutely love this book as they often disappear into their own little worlds for hours at a time. Polly has a totally fabulous website – just click on her name. I love her use of mixed media, the freedom in her drawing and beautiful characters. We aslo recently bought ‘Down the back of the Chair’ by Margaret Mahy  and illustrated by Polly Dunbar, and although the rhymes and rhythm of the words are great we really bought it for the fabulous pictures. I know she’s English and I will get round to acknowledging some of the wonderful Australian illustrators but I understand that ‘Fly Away Katie’ was inspired by time Polly spent amongst the birds in the South Australian rainforests.

from ‘Fly Away Katie’ by Polly Dunbar

Favourite Illustrator #1: Emily Gravett

Clearly getting my stuff out there is a problem for me at the moment so I have decided to share and celebrate some of the fabulous and inspiring illustrators I love. Emily Gravett is an English illustrator whose work is quirky and delightful. Click on her name and you will discover the most wonderfully designed website. We first discovered her through a book called ‘Wolves’ that we got from our local library here in Melbourne. The simplicity of her work is just wonderful. Find out for yourself. This is from a book titled ‘Orange Pear Apple Bear’.