INTERLUDE

This isn’t a ‘I’ blog at all and this is probably the only time for an interruption to . . .

. . . speaking of interruptions . . .!

‘Good morning Hiccup. What is on your mind this morning?’

‘I thought you would be writing about Lulworth next.’ Hiccup patiently asked me. ‘You know, when we went to Lulworth Cove to make Liquorice Lo. . . . .’

‘Stop Hiccup.’ I interrupted him quickly to stop him giving away the stories before they are published.

‘Oh I am sorry Papa.’ Hiccup clearly knew he was saying too much.

‘It’s OK’. I told him patiently.

To continue.

As a writer/illustrator I am always cognisant of other practitioners of the art.

From early childhood I was fascinated by the ‘drawings’ in the books I was given to look at or read. I mentioned elsewhere that reading wasn’t instrumental until I discovered Richmal Crompton’s ‘William’. Nevertheless I just loved the pictures in books. I loved them then – and I love them now. My childhood was shaped by them.

Nothing can replicate the artistry and care taken in producing sensitive mini works of art. The history of illustration in children’s literature is sprinkled liberally with true ‘works of art’ and from that  I learned to enjoy producing illustrations of my own.

Thankfully my parents indulged me and encouraged me to write/draw and make books. All of which was over 60 ago.

Today as I take stock of the artworks I have produced for the Teddy-Bears I rue the days when artwork in books relied upon the lightness of touch of the pencil, the sublime washes of colour produced with watercolour paint, the blending of colours with colouring pencils – all of which relied on the deftness of touch.

Now, with digital media available to all; the human touch, the contact between media and the human hand can both be lost. That is not to say that there are not great digital illustrators. There are.

Finally as I look at the titles and synopses of books, I note a switch to obvious themes, of social issues, and health & safety.

Which is all well and good. But I see some children’s literature as a means of giving children the right to escape, to lose themselves in adventures which are imaginative, and then to just love stories for their own sake.

You can follow the story of the ‘Alphabetabears’ on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/blueskiesartwork/

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