When did you first realise you wanted to become an illustrator?
When I was about 10 years old.

What books do you remember liking as a child?
Strawpeter (Shock Headed Peter) and Jock in the Bushveldt

Did you have any favourite subjects at school?
Art and science

What was your first job as an illustrator?
Posters for dances at school

What is the best thing about being an illustrator?
Being the 'Boss'- when you ask the boss for a few days off you always get it.

If you weren't an illustrator what do you think you would you be doing now?
Having a Seafood restaurant by the sea in Greece

Have you had any other jobs?
Art director in advertising and animator.

What was the first book that you illustrated and what are your memories of developing the book?
An educational book teaching Greek children the Queens English. The publisher wanted a British illustrator who would have a sense of place. When I passed the audition I didn't have the heart to tell him I had only been to Britain once in my life and that was for 10 days. I spent a lot of time getting photographs of Britain to work from...

What is your most recent book and what book are you working on at the moment?
Fantastic Football Poems with John Foster published by Oxford University Press. I am working on a collection of poems by Michael Rosen.

Where and when do you normally illustrate?
In the Old Coal Hole or basement of my house in Summertown, Oxford. When? All day and often late into the night.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests?
Cooking seafood on the braai, playing football on Sundays with a bunch of Dads, lads and lasses.

Favourite type of food?
Seafood and biltong.

Favourite place?
New York.

Do you watch television and if so do you have any favourite TV shows or films?
Hardly watch TV but do sit down with my kids with a bottle of Duff, a packet of crisps and watch the Simpsons.

What books inspire you now and do you have a current favourite?
French BD's (comic books) are a great inspiration. No current favourite really. They are all so good.

What people have inspired you both as an illustrator and as a person?
My grandmother who was a fantastic drawer. She gave me all her drawing goodies when I was about 16 years old.

You have your own website, what do you see as the purpose of the site and how does it help you as an illustrator?
Introduces my books quickly and easily to existing readers and prospective readers.

You've worked with a number of different authors, how do you get commissions for work and how does the style of the author affect the way you approach your work?
Either the editors put me together with authors, or I meet an author or an author sends me a story. It's the story and it's characters that affects the way that I work and the environment or location that it takes place in.

Is there one person in particular that you have enjoyed working with?
Robin Tzannes. Author of 'Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions', 'Sanji and the Baker' and 'Mookie Goes Fishing'.

How do you come up with the ideas for your illustrations and how do these
ideas evolve through to the finished illustrations?
Lots of pencil drawings, working from reference material, either photos or sketches made of landscapes objects and people. My roughs may end up a mass of collaged bits and pieces which I then transfer onto the art paper with the aid of a light box.

Are you conscious of your audience while you are working?
Yes and no. Most of the time while you're drawing you're to busy trying to resolve problems of layout, colour, design and the sheer joy of making your nib dance across the page.

Do you look at other illustrators or artists to give you ideas or inspiration for your work?
Not when I am starting a new book.

What materials and processes do you use to make your illustrations?
I draw with a dip pen using black Indian ink and colour in with watercolour on cold pressed NOT watercolour paper 90gsm.

Do you use a computer?
I use an Apple Mac using Quark, Photoshop and Painter. I never draw with the Mac but I want to do it sometime. I do my own layout and typography and Quark on a Mac is the best way to do it.

What are the most important ingredients for a successful book?
For me it's humour, mad characters and lots of detail.

What advice would you give to aspiring illustrators?
Draw in a way that comes naturally to you and try and develop your own view of the world. Draw every day too.

Jubilee Books © 2001 - November