New Children’s Illustrator 2022?
So why do I love being a Scottish Children’s Illustrator? My greatest pride as a 10 year old was the old diary I carried everywhere, which I filled with my copies of Disney characters. This was the beginning of my love for drawing & illustrating children’s characters.
Now 50 years old, of all the sketchbooks I have kept over the years from my student days at Edinburgh College of Art to my years as a designer, that small black diary holds pride of place among my library of books.
My children’s illustrations come from a place of joy and inspiration. Unlike my work as a designer which can often be tedious and tiresome creating for kid’s is pure joy. It only comes second to the joy I have got over the years from creating kids costumes or mural’s for my kid’s and their nursery friends.
For me having worked in the business world for many years where my skills in design where applied in the corporate sector there is no emotional feed back from your products or services.
As a children’s illustrator the reaction from your nieces or nephews first impression of one of your sketches on your studio wall is priceless. The emotional connection between your illustrations to a child has a positive emotional charge that is hard to communicate or equate with anything else. I love being a Scottish Children’s Illustrator.
How do I create my illustrations?
When creating new characters I always begin with the most vibrant palette of colours possible. I want characters that will pop off the page and bring a smile to a little one’s face. For that single reason I enjoy working with coloured pencil and acrylics.
Secondly I aim to create traditional characters. Contrary to many new illustrators I work first by hand on paper creating my illustrations freehand. Only once I have captured the textures and detail of my characters will I transfer them to a digital format. This allows me to differentiate my character designs from the many computerised characters we see in many children’s books today.
If you want yo learn more visit my Youtube page to see me live at work!
