1 - Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers makes art; from figurative painting and installation to illustration and picture-book making, his work takes many forms. Oliver was brought up in Northern Ireland and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Harper Collins UK and Penguin USA publish his picture books, including; Stuck, The Hueys, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, The Great Paper Caper and This Moose Belongs to Me. Working in collaboration with Studio AKA, Jeffer's second book Lost and Found was developed into and animated short film which has received over sixty awards. Picture Book awards include the Smarties Award, Irish Book of the Year, The Blue Peter Book of the Year, The Roald Dahl Prize and the Kete Greenaway Medal.
I enjoy looking at his picture books and reading them to my granddaughters. I also looked at his website which has interesting, humorous video updates including one on how he makes picture books; where his ideas come from and how he puts them down on paper using watercolour, acrylic, ink and collage and layers them in Photoshop. http://www.oliverjeffers.com/news.aspx
2 - Axel Sheffler
Axel Scheffler is the best-selling illustrator of many favourite children’s picture books, including the award-winning The Gruffalo, which has been
translated into over 40 languages. He was born in Hamburg, but now lives
in London, where his artwork is increasingly inspired by his young
daughter. He works in an attic studio overlooking a peaceful garden with
a walnut tree and a family of foxes.
I love all his books and the rhyming in his coloboration books with Julia Donaldson are a delight to read out loud to the girls. My eldest granddaughter knows The Gruffalo story off by heart! This was a good interview I watched about him and his work on his own characters Pip and Posy: http://worldofpipandposy.com/watch/axel-scheffler-interview
3 - Piet grobler
I had to include our lecture Piet as I find his work delightful. He is not only and excellent lecturer but a brilliant illustrator too. I came upon this book in the library the other day and was thoroughly absorbed by the illustrations on each page. He is an inspiration!
As with all the books I own or borrow, here is another book of Piet's that I have shared with my older granddaughter, Libby:
It is all about a little girl who becomes a fussy eater and goes to her grandparents who discover an amazing way to cure her!
4 - Grahame Baker-Smith
I first came
across Grahame Baker-Smith’s book, ‘Farther,’ in the V&A Illustration
Awards Exhibition, in 2011. I found a copy of the book in my local library and
was fascinated by the depth of work in the illustrations. I then found his
previous book, Leon,
The Place Between, which has equally intriguing illustrations.
Baker-Smith uses paint, dip-pens, pencil sketches and then processes
everything through Photoshop. He said: "I have heard people criticise what
they call computer-made art but it is not computer-made at all. To use the
paint brush on Photoshop you, as the artist, have to know how to use a paint
brush. The computer does not do anything on its own; the creativity is still
with the artist. It's not an easy fix. The artist is no less important. In
fact, you have thousands of options so the whole process takes a lot of time
and care. "The digital world is not something we should be afraid of
embracing. It opens up all kinds of possibilities. There is also something important
to remember about computers. We can have fun as we mess about using them, and
art should be enjoyable too."
"Jo-Jo's Journey", a
comic-style story
"The Velveteen Rabbit"
2003 – The World of Angels
2005 – A Little Pilot Adventure
Gap between while he developed
his skills and learned how to use Photoshop to take his illustrations to
another level.
2009 – Leon and the Place
Between
2010 – FArTHER
2011 – Pinocchio, Folio Society
2012 – Robin Hood
Most of Grahame's more current artwork is aimed at children aged between 5 and 12,
though adults can equally enjoy the illustrations and stories. I think
Grahame’s illustrations are quite sophisticated which enables adults to see
more in to them. Children can, nonetheless, study the pictures over and over
again and see further into the great details and a young child could still
appreciate his books. His attention to detail is inspiring and expecially his change from very simplistic illustrations to very complex, award winning books!
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