Posts

Showing posts from June 2, 2021

Illustrating Oswald Messweather with Siobhan McVey

Image
My ability to draw is only slightly less inspiring than my ability to handstand. I can however, picture my stories as I write them with razor sharp clarity, in my head at least. Translating these internal storyboards to a real life illustrator is not always easy so I'm lucky that illustrators like, Siobhan McVey who provided the striking visual narrative for, Oswald Messweather , are adroit enough to create strong ' visual partners ' for my words without my input. I was fascinated to learn that when a storyline and language resonate powerfully enough with a potential illustrator, their creativity leaps into unsolicited action. In other words, sketches and images, characteristics and colours flow authentically and without hesitation. The organic way a visual narrative uncurls in an illustrator's head, eventually spilling onto the page to hug and caress my words is, for me, the most magical part of the picture book making process. To experience more of the magic, read thi