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Meet An Illustrator 14 – David Litchfield

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self-portrait © David Litchfield

ACHUKA is thrilled to have David Litchfield as the 14th guest on Meet An Illustrator, an informal weekend feature introduced this year.. Do visit the backpages  to read the responses from previous guests.

The Bear And The Piano, David’s debut picture book, was published just 5 years ago, but he is already established as one of the UK’s leading illustrators and picture book creators. That debut title won Waterstones Illustrated Book Prize in 2016. Much more recently he has come to attention as the cover illustrator for David Almond’s Bone Music:

The Bear And The Piano became a trilogy with publication in 2019 of
The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle
and, this year, with the third title The Bear, The Piano And The Little Bear’s Concert.

A particular favourite of ACHUKA’s is Lights On Cotton Rock:

His 2021 publishing year kicked off with illustrations for A Shelter for Sadness by Anne Booth

and the paperback edition of Rainbow Before Rainbows by Smriti Halls is published this coming week:

Next month (May 2021) we can look forward to Pip And Egg written by Alex Latimer:

and, as we hear below, there is lot lots more to come.

As a child, what were the first illustrations you remember being pleased with? 

 I think that it was a drawing of a panda. It was in primary school and we all had to draw one. We then put them all on the wall and I remember feeling a bit arrogant and quietly smug that my panda was definitely one of the best ones on that wall.

Who/what inspired you when you were young?

Again at primary school our teacher sat us all down and read us Where The Wild Things Are. I remember being absolutely blown away by Maurice Sendak‘s drawings and characters and totally felt transported away from the reading mat in that classroom to that dreamy monster island. Mr Sendak and Albert Uderzo were absolutely the two biggest influences on making me want to draw every day.

Who inspires you today?

Still mainly Sendak and Uderzo. But I love finding out about new illustrators. There are an infinite amount of styles and techniques and approaches to drawing and I love being surprised by how different people create a spread or tell their stories. My current 2 favourites are Sydney Smith and Frances Ives. They both have such a free and natural style. They are amazing.

Did you study art/illustration?

I actually studied Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Art. Graphic Design felt like the most sensible career choice in the art world. I loved the course and I met some great people there. But I was really shocked at how little drawing was involved. I think more than anything that course showed me how much I really loved to draw and that I just wasn’t a Graphic Designer.

What is your favourite artist tool/product?

 It sounds obvious but a pencil and a sketchbook. My absolute favourite part of a project is when it’s just me, a pencil and a sketchbook and I am just letting the idea develop by scribbling and experimenting and making a mess.

Where do you buy your art supplies?

 I have two favourite shops here in Bedford. One is called the Arc which sells all kinds of incredible arts supplies and exotic paints and brushes etc. I also like Coleman’s which is obviously more of a standard stationary shop. But I don’t know, I like their pens. I spend far too much money on pens.

What software/apps do you use?

I only really use Photoshop. I tried to get my head around Illustrator but I’m just not that technically minded to be honest. I have had a play with Pro Create but my kids keep stealing my iPad so I have not had enough time to learn it yet.

What was your first commission?

My first commission happened when I was 13 years old and I drew a poster for a local comic shop. They paid me in comics. My first proper paid commission was with The Beano comic. I think that it was in  2013 or so when the editor Michael Stirling found my drawings online. For a few weeks I drew the illustrations that accompanied a poetry section in the comic. It was amazing to be drawing for a comic I had been in love with for most of my life. I will forever be grateful to that team for giving me that opportunity.

What are you working on at the moment?

 I am just finishing drawing a pretty epic book written by Gregory Maguire. After that I’m so happy to be working on another ‘Earth’ book with Stacy McAnulty. I love drawing these books, and I learn so much about our planet too. After that I’m starting a beautiful book with the writer Nell Cross Beckerman which is going to be a total stunner. Towards the end of the year I’m creating artwork for my next author/illustrator book too.

Which is all very exciting. I always feel like I’m being very vague when I don’t give too much info but I’m never sure how much I’m actually allowed to say. What I can tell you is that my author/illustrator book is going to be a Christmas story set in Victorian times.

Twitter or Instagram? Instagram I think. I love Twitter but Instagram just feels a lot friendlier. Also as an illustrator it is a great, visual medium to share work on. I have also found so many new great artists from this site.

Coffee or tea?  I love coffee. But I have had to cut back a lot. I was getting the jitters because I drank it so much. Now I just have two cups a day. And only in the mornings.

Cat or dog?  Oh my goodness Dog. Dog every time. I always had dogs growing up. They were my best friends. We got a dog last summer. I was adamant that my two boys should have a dog growing up. My wife wasn’t that convinced I don’t think but now that we have one she loves her as much as we do.

Grape or grain? Hmmm, both good, but I would have to say grape.

Sunrise or sunset? Sunset. I don’t know if it’s a getting older thing but I love sitting in my garden as the sun starts to go down. It’s like a magic time of the day where everything is winding down and becoming peaceful.

What do you listen to when you are working?  Mainly loud rock music.  But I’ve also started to listen to a fair few podcasts. My favourite ones at the moment are ‘Pod Save America‘- helps me get my head around American politics, which I can sometimes find quite baffling from time to time- and The Force Center – which is a massively geeky Star Wars podcast which has none of the snark and negativity of other fandom type discussions. I recommend it if you are a Star Wars nerd like me.

Where can we follow you on social media?
I’m on twitter: @dc_litchfield
Instagram: @david_c_litchfield

I also have a blog at: tinkerd.tumblr.com and a Facebook page at facebook.com/davidlitchfieldillustration -but to be honest I do keep forgetting to update that one.
This is a regular weekend feature, publishing every Saturday.

 

‘A Song for Ella Grey’ Q&A with Author David Almond

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Why did you choose for readers experience the doomed relationship through Claire?

It couldn’t be told by Ella or Orpheus. They are destined to live out the story, and in many ways they have no choices to make. Once they fall in love, they must follow the trajectory of the story. It had to be told by an outsider who is close to the pair, who sees what is happening, who is deeply excited, troubled and inspired by what is going on. When I began to write through Claire’s eyes, I felt very close to her. She is of course in love with Ella herself, and her telling of the tale is filled with her own feelings of love and loss.

You’ve called this story “a tragedy that is filled with joy.” Was it hard writing a natural, modern balance between hope and despair, joy and sadness?

Writing is always hard! But when it is going well, it is also a kind of release, a song of freedom. At times I felt that Orpheus was somehow singing through me, and I tried to give myself up to it and let the words run through me.

If you could spend one day with any of the characters in A Song for Ella Grey, who would it be and why?

Oh, it would have to be Orpheus! I’d love to see him, to hear singing and music that brings the birds from the sky, the seals from the sea, and which reaches down to the deepest parts of the soul.

full Q&A via 'A Song for Ella Grey' Q&A with Author David Almond | The Young Folks.

Louis Sachar: ‘I make up the story as I go along, but a lot of it is really bad’

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What is your writing process like when working on your novels? What does your average working day look like?

I write for about two hours a day, every morning, in my office in my house. I don’t know much about the story when I start, maybe just an idea for a character, and maybe a small plot idea. I make up the storguardiansmally as I go along, but a lot of it is really bad. So after I finish the first draft, I write a second draft. It’s still pretty bad, but at least I know the story and characters better. Then I write a third draft. Then a fourth draft. Then a fifth draft. And maybe a sixth draft. The first few drafts I’m mostly concerned with characters and plot. The later drafts I’m more concerned with the art of writing.

via Louis Sachar: ‘I make up the story as I go along, but a lot of it is really bad’ | Children’s books | The Guardian.

BBA Winner Rosie Rowell: ‘I love Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf and think everyone should read it.’

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guardiansmall

In the middle of this short Guardian Q&A with the Branford Boase Award winner Rosie Rowell:

What was the last book you had recommended to you and what children’s book would you recommend to us?

Recently I’ve been reading all the shortlisted books for the Branford Boase prize – each of them is so different and so good.

From a reading and writing point of view, Meg Rosoff’s books are an inspiration. And I love Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf and think everyone should read it.

ACHUKA couldn’t agree more with that last sentence.

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jul/09/branford-boase-award-winner-rosie-rowell-it-is-beyond-exciting

Sally Nicholls Winner Of Independent Bookshop Week Children’s Fiction Award – Q&A

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SallyNichollsWhat would you be if you hadn’t been a writer?

I would have been a writer. I was a writer when I was five years old. I was a writer when I was 14. I was a writer all through university. I can’t imagine I would ever have stopped telling myself stories in my head for my own amusement.

In terms of earning my living, I would probably have ended up either working for a charity, or in publishing.

via Sally Nicholls: Most of my books are quite dark – I have a habit of killing off half of Europe | Children’s books | The Guardian.

Steven Butler: ‘I was always falling out trees and smashing windows. Sorry, Mum…’

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Q&A with Steven Butler, author of The Diary of Dennis The Menace:

guardiansmallWhen you were younger were you anything like Dennis the Menace?

I’m afraid to say I was a lot like Dennis The Menace. I was never deliberately wicked, but I was pretty accident-prone and was always falling out trees and smashing windows. Sorry, Mum…

What’s the naughtiest thing you ever did as a child?

Oh gosh, I did so many naughty things when I was young. Most of my stories are a bit too long to fit in this little answer, but I can tell you that I used to fib A LOT. I discovered I was in possession of a whopping big imagination and would lie to anyone gullible enough to believe me. I told teachers I’d been on safari in Africa after having a day off school with a cold, and once explained that my brother had broken all of his limbs because he was off sick and I couldn’t remember the word asthma.

Full Q&A via Steven Butler: ‘I was always falling out trees and smashing windows. Sorry, Mum…’ | Children’s books | The Guardian.

Talking Pike and Brock with Anthony McGowan

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The Barrington Stoke website currently features an interview with Anthony McGowan:

There is a lot of love for Anthony McGowan’s Brock, a powerful read about two brothers, Nicky and Kenny, who captured hearts and imaginations. “Don’t be fooled by its size,” wrote one bookseller, “This is McGowan Super Concentrate.” Another story about the boys was inevitable; our readers wanted more and so did we! Pike sees the brothers launch a salvage mission after they spy a gold watch – and very possibly its owner – at the bottom of a local pond. It’s another gripping piece of writing, tackling heavy themes of poverty and the plight of young carers, packed with dark humour, family love and powerful characterisation. We grabbed author Anthony McGowan for a quick chat on his writing process, raft-building and how the ending to Brock could have been much, much darker…

Read the full Q&A here: Q&A: Talking Pike and Brock with Anthony McGowan.

Ask the Author: Vivian French

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Vivian French is the hugely popular author of over 200 children’s books, including the Tiara Club and Tales from the Five Kingdoms series as well as non-fiction books such as Caterpillar Butterfly and Growing Frogs. She took some time out from visiting schools in Birmingham as part of the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour to chat [The Independent] about persistent bats, her love of comic fantasy and her brand new series of books.

via Ask the Author: Vivian French | Jack Simpson | Independent Arts Blogs.

CJ Flood, winner of the Branford Boase award: Telegraph Q&A –

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Branford Boase winner CJ Flood does a quick Q&A for the Telegraph:

• What did you think of the German title for your book Infinite Sky, Who Do You Love If I’m Dead?
I think it’s brilliant. Titles are always a struggle for me, and I tend to like long titles because I have literary pretentions. (I wanted to call the book The Sky was Blue and Infinite).
• Who gave you the most confidence that you could be a writer?
Not many people were very supportive at first, really. Not once I wasn’t a cute(ish) little kid any more, at least. I think it’s hard to support early writers/artists, because often at the start they aren’t very good. They just have good taste, and maybe an over-inflated ego/poor self-esteem.

 

Click link for rest of the Q&A

via CJ Flood, winner of the Branford Boase award: Q&A – Telegraph.

Quickfire interview: Erin Lange – Waterstones Shortlisted Author of Butter

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What was your favourite book when you were younger?
Blubber by Judy Blume. I read that book at exactly the right moment in my life, when I was first navigating the complicated waters of female friendship, when schoolmates were starting to divide up into groups, and status within the classroom was suddenly a "thing." I couldn’t put a name to bullying yet, but I recognized my life in that book, and it made me feel like I wasn’t alone.

via Quickfire interview: Erin Lange | Children's books | theguardian.com.