Q and A with illustrator, Paula Bowles

      Paula Bowles studied illlustration at Falmouth College of Arts.  She now lives in Bristol, where she has worked as an illustrator for over 10 years.  She is currently working on books with Nosy Crow and Simon & Schuster.  'Sammy Claws The Christmas Cat' (mine and Paula's first picture book together) was published by Nosy Crow this year. I am delighted that Paula has agreed to share some of her illustration wisdom with us and answer a few questions today.  Paula, welcome to the Picture Book Den!   

1)      We love hearing about people’s paths into publishing. You’ve worked as an illustrator for over 10 years now.  Can you tell us a bit about your journey?

I studied a 3-year Illustration degree at Falmouth College of Arts (now University College Falmouth). But, upon graduating in 2005, my portfolio was very different to what it is now! I phoned, wrote to and visited many different art directors and  started getting work in editorial publications, but I never quite felt quite happy doing this, and really wanted to illustrate children’s books (lesson: be true to yourself!)

So, I went back to my drawing board and developed a portfolio of watercolour children’s book work, then I visited the Bologna book fair in 2007, and met Mark Mills (who worked at Meadowside publisher at the time). He then set up an agency called Plum Pudding Illustration and asked if I wanted to join; I said yes and am still represented by them 11 years later!

Mark, and now Hannah, have supported and helped me to develop my portfolio during that time, which has now changed considerably since working for many years in watercolour. My taste developed over time in to something different, until watercolour didn’t quite do what I wanted to express. So, once again, I developed a new portfolio. This time, whilst retaining a pencil and paper feel, I use digital media which allows me to play with bright punchy colours; this is how I work now and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been!

2)      You’ve had experience of writing and illustrating your own books as well as illustrating texts by other authors. Which projects do you generally prefer to work on?

      It’s hard to say which I prefer, I like doing both for different reasons! I really enjoy illustrating my own stories; I like the process of ‘discovering’ the story in a sketchbook, with words and pictures appearing together. But working on other authors stories is a dream too, because their writing is so different to mine, their stories are fresh and exciting. I feel I learn a lot from illustrating for other authors, and draw things I might not normally choose to draw! It’s also fun to have another person in the mix to celebrate and collaborate with when the book is published!

3)      If you are collaborating on a book, what is it about a text that makes you want to illustrate it? Was there anything in particular about ‘Sammy Claws, The Christmas Cat’ that made you want to take it on?

      I love a good story! If it starts conjuring images in my mind as I read it, or it makes me chuckle or think or bring out different emotions, I know that’s a good thing and a good reason to illustrate it. When Nosy Crow sent me Lucy Rowland’s ‘Sammy Claws’ text, I just LOVED the story and the rhyme, and the story was fun and exciting, plus I love drawing cats! (And, it was my first book with Nosy Crow - and I just love their books! I was over the moon to be invited onboard the Crow’s nest!)

4)      In the lead up to Christmas, you’ve been sharing all the different spreads from Sammy Claws.  Which was your favourite spread to work on? Which is your favourite now? And were there any that you found particularly difficult?

I think my favourite spread to work on was Spread 10, “Now, at a big castle (somewhere south of France)”. I like the composition flowing from left to right across the roof, all the snowy rooftops and turrets, as well as drawing all the different reindeer characters (I imagined Rudolph to be like a dog ‘pointing’, always alert and looking out for his boss, Santa, who I liked to imagine climbing the tall chimneys with climbing equipment!). I think that’s still my favourite spread, although it’s a close contender with Spread 4, the elves workshop, which was also probably the trickiest spread to do because of all the detail! Those elves took a long time to do, but they are good fun and I loved inventing the wrapping machine - the ‘i.WRAP.5000’!

5)      How you approach designing your characters? Do you read the text and automatically have an idea of what they look like or is there lots of trial and error?
      I usually go through a process of sketching ideas for each characters, and they do change a fair bit during this process. Although, I felt certain that Sammy Claws should be a silver tabby from the moment I read the text, although there was a moment he could have been ginger! I love this stage of character development, sort of ‘getting to know’ the characters

6)      Could you tell us a bit about your typical working day as an illustrator?

      I work from a shared studio which is a 30 min walk from my home. I usually arrive at the studio about 9.30am, make a cup of tea and settle down, answer emails, make a to-do list for the day, and catch up with my studio buddies. Then I put my headphones on and work until lunch, when I might pop out to the shops or, recently, I’ve joined ‘Borrowmydoggy.com’ so I might go and borrow a local dog for a lunch time walk! I usually stay at the studio until about 6 or 7, or later if there’s a deadline! Lately I’ve been working at least one day of the weekend too..because there’s just so much to get done… deadlines!! I definitely need to learn to take more breaks. 

7)      What is your top tip for budding illustrators who want to break into the publishing industry?

      Keep drawing and developing your work! Keep visiting bookshops and seeing what’s new and learn about the area of publishing you are interested in. Share and show your work with friends, and to publishing people - no one will know you exist unless you show your work/contact publishers/agents/network. You will need patience, persistence and passion.

8)      What is next on the horizon for you?

      I have a picture book called Superkitty being published with Simon & Schuster in Febuary 2019, written by my agent Hannah Whitty! And I’m currently working on my second book with Lucy Rowland and Nosy Crow, as well as my second book with Simon & Schuster.

And just because it’s Christmas:

Mulled wine or Eggnog?

Mulled Wine! (I have an aversion to eggs..)

Mince pie or Christmas pudding?

Mince pies (served hot with a dollop of brandy butter)

Cracker jokes or Cracker hats?

Cracker jokes.. love bad jokes!

Lazy Christmas morning lie-in or ‘up and opening presents at 6 am’?

When I was a child I would be up at 5am! Now I’m a lazy so-and-so and enjoy a lie in.

Lots of little presents or one VERY BIG one?

I prefer to give just one or two meaningful presents.

‘Christmas jumpers should be banned’ or ‘Is it even Christmas if you’re not wearing a Christmas jumper?’

Haha! I love a good bit of knitwear! But am not really a fan of comedy Christmas jumpers… I love fair-isle pattern knitwear (as you can maybe tell from some of the patterns in Sammy Claws the Christmas Cat! I want Santa’s socks…and a blanket made out of the end-papers!)

You can find out more about Paula's work here:

Agent: Plum Pudding Illustration
Twitter: @Paula_Bowles
Instagram: @PaulaBowles_Illustrator  
or visit her website www.paulabowles.co.uk 

What's the Story on Non-Fiction Picture Books? by Malachy Doyle

I’m a story writer, first and foremost.  But there’s a whole world of wonderful picture books out there that don’t tell a story.  Or not a made-up story, anyway.  I’m talking about the world of non-fiction.

Non-fiction picture books are a much bigger phenomenon in the United States than here (by here I mean Britain and Ireland, because that’s where I’m based and that’s where most of my work is published).  Here the market for picture books is very much age seven and under, and very much story-led.

There are exceptions, of course.  Walker Books, for example, have been, and still are, publishing a wide range of very high quality non-fiction picture books.  My first for them, way back in 1999, was Jody’s Beans, illustrated by Judith Allibone.

I wrote it as a story about a little girl growing a sunflower.  But a) I discovered there were too many books about sunflowers on the market so I turned it into one about runner beans. And b) Walker wanted to publish it in their Read and Wonder series, so although it was a story about a little girl and her grandfather, we threw in lots of added information and it somehow became ‘non-fiction’.

Maybe because they appeal to the schools market, non-fiction can sell well and remain in print longer, so though I’ve had four fiction picture books with Walker since, Jody’s outsold them all.

I then, in 2002, had Cow published.  This was basically a day in the life of a cow.  I went down to the river, sat in a field of cows, and meditated on what it might be like to be one.  Angelo Rinaldi did some superbly lifelike illustrations, and of all the nearly a hundred books I’ve had published, it’s still my highest earner. Oh, and it won the  English Association Award for best non-fiction picture book that year, so that was nice. 

Simon and Schuster wanted Angelo and me to do another one, and suggested horses.  I wasn’t at all sure about this, as I’ve always been somewhat wary of the beasts - they’re big and they bite.  But a job’s a job, so I spent the summer getting over my fear.  I visited Michael Morpurgo’s Farm for City Children when I was down in Pembrokeshire, and generally hung out with horses.  You still won't see me on horseback (once was enough), but I’m actually very fond of them now, and never go past one without saying hello.  And yes, you guessed it, Horse is still in print long after some of my other S&S picture books have fallen by the wayside. 

 So if you’re writing (or reading) picture books, don’t look down your nose at non-fiction.  Children need them (and love them – especially boys, who are often drawn to information books when they wouldn’t be seen dead reading a ‘story’ book).  They can be just as high-quality.  The research can be fun.  Oh, and they sell!

The Dancing Tiger - from birth to rebirth, by Malachy Doyle

 

It’s 1996 - two years before I become a published author.  I’m trying to write a series of animal poems.  They’re not particularly brilliant.  I go for a ride on my bike.  I find myself singing a little tune.

There’s a quiet gentle tiger,

in the woods below the hill…

I jump off the bike.  Climb over a gate into a field.  Write it down.  A poem spills out, like a dream.

In time, I get an agent.  Things start to happen.  But not with the animal poems, which have become a picture book idea called ‘Cards from Uncle Joe’.  Each poem is a postcard / birthday card / Christmas card from Joe to his niece, with a little toy animal attached.  It's a nice concept, but never really clicks.

It’s 2003.  I’m having lunch with Simon and Schuster.  I read my editor some scripts.  They’re not quite working.  I pull out my Dancing Tiger poem.  I get to the end, and there's silence.  And then I notice the tears, pouring down her face.  We’re in business.

They take on a top American husband and wife team, Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, to illustrate it.  It’s quite, quite beautiful. 

The Dancing Tiger sells to Viking Penguin in the US, to Australia, Korea, Japan, Spain…  Hits shortlists in Ireland, Scotland and America…  It gets amazing reviews.  People read things into it I’d never even thought of. 

I’m invited to the Nestle Children’s Book Award.  It wins Silver.  Would’ve won Gold if some hotshot kid from Belfast (with a penguin in tow) hadn’t appeared on the scene, all of a sudden…  

The Dancing Tiger becomes a firm favourite.  I bring a big cuddly one with me to all my readings.  It’s the final thing I read, to settle everyone down.  Because it's a lullaby, really.  A lullaby to love, and family, and imagination, and the power of story.  Or so they tell me. 

A child comes out and dances with the tiger. 

We skipped in spring through bluebells,

in summer circled slow.

We high-kicked in the autumn leaves

and waltzed in winter snow…

Then, in 2010, the emails start arriving.  ‘I want / need / must have this book, but can’t find it anywhere.’  That’s when I realise it’s out of print.  That I’ve only two copies left.  I’m bereft.

The emails keep coming, from all round the world.  I reply that I’m as sorry as they are, but the publisher has no plans to reprint.  It’s on Kindle, but…

I start forwarding them to Simon and Schuster.  One a month, sometimes one a week.  I tell my editor that I know books go out of print – that's the business we're in – but this one… this one is special. The way people feel about it is special. 

Eventually, to my astonishment, they give in.  ‘I've good news for you, Malachy,' they tell me.  'We’re doing a small reprint.’

It's September 2013, and my tiger is back from the long dark night.  It’s only a thousand copies, but it means the world to me. 

He was lost but now he's found and, for another wee while at least, we’re dancing again.    

               

Never give up on your dreams!

You can hear me reading it, on World Book Day a few years ago, to a group of children in the offices of the Guardian newspaper, on http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/archives/wbd3.mp3