Scottish Book Trust Project Name€¦ · Web viewSB: Have a seat. So, what we’re going to do is...

Scottish Book TrustAuthors Live: Nick Sharratt

Date: Friday 1 August 2014

Author/Interview subject: Nick Sharratt (NS)

Interviewed by: Sian Bevan (SB)

Other speakers: Audience (Aud), Boy in Audience (Boy), Girl in Audience (Girl)

SB: Now today I am super excited. I’m genuinely a really, huge fan of this guy. He is a well-loved author, illustrator with over 250 books to his name, which is a lot. I know that a lot of you sitting here are already fans. Maybe you know him from his work with Jaqueline Wilson or Julia Donaldson. So, I would love you to give a huge round of applause as we welcome the fabulous Nick Sharratt to the stage.

Aud: [Applause].

SB: Hi, Nick Sharratt.

NS: Hello.

SB: Nice to see you. Have a seat.

NS: Thank you.

SB: Have a seat. So, what we’re going to do is we’re going to have a little chat. There’ll be a chance for you to ask some questions and then we’ll also be able to get some top tips off Nick, and you’ll be able to draw your own characters and find out how to become an illustrator or an artist. So, first of all Nick…

NS: Okay.

SB: …my first question. Am I saying it right? Is it Sharratt or Sharratt?

NS: It’s Sharratt.

SB: Sharratt.

NS: To rhyme with parrot or carrot.

SB: Nick Carrot.

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NS: That’s the way to remember.

SB: Good way.

NS: Yeah.

SB: We’ll remember that it’s Sharratt rhymes and carrot. So, we, I think everyone here would like to find out a little bit about how you became an artist and kind of what your history is. So, have you always loved drawing?

NS: I’ve loved drawing ever since I was a baby, I think. Ever since I was, well before I can remember. I’ve always, always loved drawing. Ever since I held the first crayon in my hand.

SB: Really?

NS: Yeah. And…

SB: All the way back when.

NS: Yeah.

SB: So, I think, I’m very excited to do this. We’ve got a little picture. If we could get the power point up. I’ve got a little picture. Look, it’s tiny Nick Sharratt.

NS: Aww. Do you recognise me?

SB: [Laughs].

Aud: Aww.

NS: I had some hair in those days.

SB: Yeah.

NS: I think I’m about five, five or six there. Have we got any five or six year olds here today? Oh, we have, right at the front, yeah. And you can see what I’m doing, I’m doing my absolute favourite thing. I’m making a picture. I’m actually painting a picture there. Rather a good picture, I think.

SB: Yeah, can you see that one down on the ground there, it’s pretty good, it’s pretty good.

NS: And that’s my job. It hasn’t changed all these years later. I’m much, much older now but basically, I do the same thing every day. I sit at a desk and I make pictures which is a really nice way to make a living.

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SB: It doesn’t quite sound like a real job, Nick. I’m not going to lie to you. The mums and dads might be thinking that.

NS: Well it’s, it is a really lovely job. I love it because it stretches my imagination and I can have a lot of fun with it. But it’s hard work as well.

SB: Really?

NS: People never believe that, but you have to be… The thing is you’ve got to be very organised if you’re an illustrator because most of us work at home. There’s nobody to tell us to get on with our jobs or anything like that. So, I’m a stickler for setting myself a task each day and finishing what I’ve set myself and completing the drawing that day, and yeah.

SB: Because you do have a little even if you were working from home, you do have a little timetable. Do you have like naps scheduled in there?

NS: Oh yeah, I’m quite good at napping, yeah.

SB: Oh, that’s…

NS: But I build that into my timetable. I’m a big fan of naps, powernaps.

SB: Powernaps.

NS: Yeah.

SB: That’s different from normal naps.

NS: Yeah, creative naps, yeah.

SB: It’s a good tip. When you get a job, get a job where you can have a nap in the afternoon. A good tip.

NS: [Laughs]. Yeah, I think every job should allow you to have a little nap.

SB: So, we also, I know that we have a picture here of one of your first ever drawings. If we can get the power point back on.

NS: Oh, yeah.

SB: So, tell us a bit, this is an amazing drawing.

NS: Well this is…

SB: How old were you when you did this?

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NS: This is a drawing that, it’s my most important drawing. I decided it’s my most important drawing. It’s a drawing I did when I was nine. Have we got some nine year olds here as well? Yeah? And I was obviously very keen on drawing and I drew this picture at home. It’s of a market square in a town that I knew and I took into school to show my teacher and she thought that it was a good enough picture to go and be pinned up in the school hall. And if your work goes up in the school hall it’s got to be good stuff, hasn’t it? So that was a really important day in my life. It was the day that I thought, well as well as enjoying drawing, perhaps I am actually quite good at it too. And if I work hard enough maybe I could even be an illustrator for my job one day.

SB: Do it as a job and have naps in the afternoons.

NS: Well yes, yeah [laughs].

SB: So, is there anyone in here who would like to be an illustrator or an artist when they grow up?

Aud: Yeah.

NS: Oh, lots of hands up, brilliant.

SB: Oh, would like to be, yeah over there, that one is super enthusiastic. That’s great.

NS: Well no I seriously decided on what I wanted to do for a job when I was at primary school, so…

SB: So, and for all these people here who are interested in becoming artists or illustrators, like how do you do that? Do you go to like drawing school? Is that a place that you can go to?

NS: Well I did as much drawing as I could when I was younger, when I was at school. I, and I drew all the time in my spare time. Every weekend I’d draw away. And at school I would always volunteer if a poster needed doing or a drawing for the school magazine or any kind of art work needed doing I, my hand would go up. So I did lots and lots of drawing at school. And then after school I did what nearly all the illustrators I know did, which was to go to Art College. So, I went. I had a folio of drawings and I got a place at Art College. And at Art College I learned how to train to be a professional artist. And I got quite a shock because the first thing I had to learn to draw was to try and draw from real life and up until then I’d always drawn from imagination. I’d just sat there in my room and I’d just drawn things that had come into my head. And when I went to Art School I had to try

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and draw from real life and it was really, it’s hard. It’s, it’s a difficult thing to do but it’s really worthwhile having a go at doing.

SB: Well we’ve actually got an example…

NS: Okay [laughs].

SB: …of some art that you did at Art School.

NS: Let’s have a look.

SB: Did you call it Art School that you went to?

NS: Because I did a lot, so...

SB: You did lots.

NS: I did loads and loads of drawing.

SB: So, this one is, so I think…

NS: Oh, okay.

SB: …this is what Tracy Beaker looks like now. I think this is a grown up…

NS: [Laughs].

SB: …Tracy Beaker. So, this is where you had to learn to draw, to look at something and try and do a really good drawing…

NS: Yes, I don’t know.

SB: …of what it actually looks like.

NS: Have you, have you done life drawing at school? Because I didn’t actually do it very much at school, where you have either somebody poses for you or you have some objects in front of you, a plant or some fruit or something like that. Who’s, you’ve had a go at doing it, have you? Yeah?

Boy: Yeah.

SB: A few people have tried that?

NS: Lots of you, oh good, good.

SB: Excellent.

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NS: And you’ve, the thing is, you’ve really got to concentrate and you’ve got to look ever so closely at what you’re drawing and not take it for granted. Just look at all the very interesting shapes that a human being is. They’re not just a sort of a blobby shape. They’re a very precise shape. If you look at an arm, it’s a really interesting shape.

SB: It is interesting.

NS: And colours as well, and try and get them down on your piece of paper.

SB: So, is that some advice you would give to people who want to get better at drawing then? Is to practice, use, you can use, you can use your imagination.

NS: It’s a good thing to draw from real life…

SB: But also draw from real life.

NS: …as well as drawing from imagination. I mean my drawings now are not realistic at all. You couldn’t say they were realistic, but the thing about having a go at drawing from real life and practicing it is it makes you more confident about drawing, and also it helps you learn to look at things and sort of be good at observing little details and little incidents and things that happen around you. So, yeah, it’s a good skill to have if you want to be an artist.

SB: A good skill. You can practice.

NS: Yeah.

SB: So, you trained, you went to Art School, you learned to draw really well.

NS: I had a go, yes, as good as I could.

SB: Do really good drawings.

NS: I wasn’t ever brilliant at life drawing but… Oh, when do you think I went to Art College, by the way, looking at that picture? That was the school uniform at my Art School.

Aud: [Laughs].

SB: So who thinks Nick went to art school in the 1990s? Nobody. 1980s?

NS: No I’m a bit older than that.

SB: A few people. 1970s?

NS: Oh no, I’m not quite that old.

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SB: ‘60s?

Aud: [Laughs].

SB: 50s? 40s? 40s? 1930s?

NS: Stop.

SB: [Laughs].

NS: I went to Art College in the early 1980s.

SB: Ah.

NS: Which is when there were a lot of, all the other students looked like that. Sadly, I didn’t have hair like that. I did have hair, but I didn’t have hair like that.

SB: But you didn’t spike it up?

NS: I didn’t have it spiked up, no.

SB: Oh, that would have been a great photo to show [laughs].

NS: Yeah.

SB: So you went to Art School and then you became a, I know you did some other things. You designed packaging, is that right?

NS: Well I left Art School and I did all sorts of illustration. I was just really keen to start earning my living. So, I did illustrations for lots of magazines. From baby magazines, car magazines, food magazines, all kinds of magazines you can imagine. And I also did packaging sometimes. So, I would design wrappers for cakes or lolly pops or cholates, which was nice.

SB: Did you get free cake? Like go out, I really need to taste cake.

NS: Do you know, I was so excited because I do love food. I love it as a subject to draw and I love eating as well, but I thought when I got to design boxes of chocolates or Easter eggs, I thought, oh good, they’re going to send me a big box of goodies, and they sent me plaster of Paris sweeties instead…

SB: Aw, like fake ones?

NS: …which I couldn’t eat.

SB: That’s just more expensive.

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NS: Yeah [laughs].

SB: And so, what was the first book that you ever did a drawing for?

NS: Okay. So, I did lots of magazine illustrations which was good practice because when you illustrate for a magazine you have to think very fast. You don’t get much time to, to do your illustrations. So, it kind of was good training to think of ideas. And then eventually I got my first picture book. I was asked to illustrate my first picture book which is actually here. It was called Noisy Poems and it was done in 19, I think it was published in 1987.

SB: 1987.

NS: Yeah, a long time.

SB: Back in the day.

NS: I can’t even do the maths for that. Who is good at maths? Can anybody tell us? When was that, how many years ago was that?

Aud: 27.

SB: Loads.

NS: 27?

SB: 27 years ago.

NS: Is that right?

SB: That’s fine. So, this is, this is the original version of Noisy Poems. And this is, it got re-done, didn’t it? So, this is…

NS: Oh yeah, so it’s still in print which is lovely all these years later for a book to still be in print. It’s now got a cover that’s kind of, if you know my style then you’d recognise this a bit more than the original drawings.

SB: Yeah, that one looks like Nick Sharratt, that I’m obsessed with.

NS: Yes, well my style’s changed a bit.

SB: Yeah.

NS: But the inside illustrations are still the original pictures…

SB: Oh yeah.

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NS: …which were drawn in, can you guess what they were drawn in these pictures?

SB: If you can see from there. Who thinks they’ve got an idea what they could have been drawn with? Nobody?

NS: I’ll tell you what they were drawn with.

SB: What’s…

NS: What do you think?

SB: Oh yeah.

Girl: The new crayons.

NS: They were drawn in wax crayons.

SB: Yeah.

NS: Wax crayons.

SB: So just crayons that you get in school?

NS: Slightly fancier ones than the ones you…

SB: Posh ones.

NS: Yeah, posh ones, posh ones, but was wax crayons all the same.

SB: And so, you now do drawing all the time for a job.

NS: Yeah.

SB: And, so where do you draw? Do you draw in cafes and libraries? Where do you draw?

NS: I draw at home. I work at home and I have a room called my studio which is a lovely tidy room [laughs].

SB: Oh, hang on. Now I know that’s a lie. Apparently, we have a picture of your studio.

NS: Okay, let’s have a look.

SB: If we can get the power point up. There is, that’s not your studio.

NS: Oh there we go.

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SB: Nick Sharratt that’s a total mess.

NS: That’s a bit of my studio. That’s my…

SB: That is a mess.

NS: Yeah, that’s my old studio. I’ve got a new studio now which I’m just about to move into.

SB: Is it tidier than that?

NS: Well I don’t think it’s going to stay tidy for very long because I like, I can’t actually work in a really tidy room. I need a bit of creative mess around me. I need bits of paper here and bits of paper there and a few cups of coffee dotted around. And then I feel comfortable. And it helps me think of ideas. You don’t necessarily have to be tidy.

SB: Does anyone else think that they can think better if things are messy? Does everyone agree with that? Ah you’ve got a lot of people.

NS: Yes, some of you, yes.

SB: Do you agree? A lot of messy people in this room.

NS: [Laughs].

SB: So, we were talking at the beginning how you have done over 250 books which is…

NS: Yes.

SB: …so many books. So, it must be quite hard to remember them all.

NS: It is a bit actually, yes.

SB: But do you have a favourite character out of all the ones that you’ve done?

NS: Well I’ve been lucky enough to draw all sorts of interesting characters. Lots of characters that have been written for me by other wonderful writers. But I think my favourite character is one I invented myself who is a little boy in a book called Shark in the Park. Does anybody know Shark in the Park?

Aud: Yeah.

NS: Oh yes, yeah. It’s one of my…

SB: I love Shark in the Park.

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NS: It’s one of the stories I wrote. And actually, there are two characters in it. There’s the boy in the story called Timothy Pope, we’ve got him up on the screen. And, where’s the picture of Timothy Pope? Here’s the picture of Timothy Pope who looks, is very keen on his toy which is a telescope. So, Timothy Pope and his telescope are always on the lookout for things. But Timothy Pope has, often goes out with his dad and this is his dad here. And if I had hair, I would love to have hair like that.

SB: You would have hair in a really big. I don’t think any of the dads have cool…

NS: Do any dads have hair like that here?

SB: There’s one in the front row there. It’s really close.

NS: Oh yeah, fantastic. Brilliant.

SB: That’s really close. Cool dad of the room or what. Congratulations.

NS: But I’m very fond of Timothy Pope and his dad. I don’t have a name for his dad. Perhaps we ought to think of a name for his dad.

SB: What’s your name, sir?

Male: Wayne.

SB: Wayne, there you go.

NS: Wayne, Wayne Pope fantastic.

SB: There you go.

Aud: [Laughs].

SB: Wayne Pope. Congratulations, sir, congratulations.

NS: [Laughs].

SB: You’ve got a Nick Sharratt character named after you.

Aud: [Applause].

NS: We’ve done it. Okay.

SB: So, I know that we’ve got some aspiring illustrators in amongst us.

NS: Yeah.

SB: So, could you maybe give us a few tips and maybe go over to the visualizer.

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NS: Yes, I’d be delighted to.

SB: And give us some hints. So, all of you should have a clipboard and a pencil. Can everyone hold them up so that we can see that you’ve all got them? Beautiful. So, Nick is going to be working…

NS: Okay.

SB: …on what is called a visualizer. And that’s a thing where whatever he draws is going to show up on the screen so that you’ll be able to see what he’s doing. He’ll be able to lead us. Do you…

NS: I’m just going to grab this because…

SB: Absolutely fine.

NS: Okay.

SB: So, the first thing to do is could everyone just write their first name on the top of their piece of paper. Grown-ups you can help if it’s needed, but if you just write your first name and maybe write how old you are as well. That would be great. Nick’s going to have a wee look at some of them after he’s finished drawing and be able to give some notes and things on what we’ve drawn.

NS: Okay, right.

SB: Nothing scary.

NS: So, you’ve all got your paper and pencils. Right, well I’m going to draw a few things. If you’re illustrator like I am, the thing you get asked to draw more than anything else are human characters. So, I’m always getting asked to draw characters of different kinds. So, I’m going to start off by drawing a character of my own actually who is called Caveman Dave. Caveman Dave. I’ll just read you a tiny bit of the story to show you Caveman Dave.

Caveman Dave lives in a cave. He doesn’t wash and he doesn’t shave. He’s smelly but he’s very brave.

Okay, so there’s Caveman Dave. So, let’s just draw Caveman Dave’s face, shall we? If we all have a go at drawing that and then we’ll do some expressions.

SB: Everyone got their pencils? I’m going to join in as well, Nick.

NS: Okay, you’re going to join in.

SB: I think I’m going to be pretty good at this.

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NS: Oh, let me just show my artist’s hands there. Aren’t they lovely?

SB: Oh look at those.

NS: They’re like two packs of sausages, aren’t they?

SB: I told you we should have painted your finger nails before we did this.

NS: Right, okay. So, I’m going to draw, now this is how I draw a face. Once upon a time I would start with the eyes and the nose and the mouth, but now I start with the outline of the face.

SB: So, we’ve got an ear there.

NS: Because it’s much easier to get the details in the right place then. You don’t get them in the wrong place, so… So Caveman Dave has got nice spikey hair.

SB: Okay.

NS: I think it looks a bit like Rod Stewart’s hair, once upon a time. Right, so there’s Caveman Dave. Ooh let’s put him in the middle of the page. Now, now there are no, there are no rules about drawing at all. I’m certainly not somebody to tell you rules about drawing, but when I’m drawing, I like to keep the features quite simple. Some artist would draw very, very realistic eyes with every tiny little eyelash and they draw a nose perfectly, but the way I like to draw is, I like to draw them quite simple and then I like the person looking at the picture to turn it into a real person in their imagination, to kind of bring it to life. So, my noses are really quite simple. They’re a bit like upside down sevens.

SB: Uh-huh.

NS: And my eyes are like little dots. But the way I try and get expression into my character and feeling is with the eyebrows and the mouth because people’s eyebrows and mouths can be very expressive. So in the story, Caveman Dave was quite happy all the way through, but I think we should give him some different sorts of expressions.

SB: Does anyone think, what kind of mood shall we get Caveman Dave to be in? Who’s got an idea?

Girl: Yellow.

SB: What’s an idea down there, what do you think?

Girl: Yellow.

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SB: You think he should be…

NS: A yellow mood? Well…

SB: Well yellow, so maybe if he’s feeling yellow, he’s feeling a bit sad.

NS: Okay, okay.

SB: He’s not feeling very well.

NS: Okay, yes.

SB: Maybe that what means yellow?

NS: Yeah, you might do if you’ve gone yellow, yes, okay.

SB: Yeah, it’s the new blue.

NS: Right, so if you’re feeling sad can you pull some sad faces for me actually, that would help me quite a lot. Oh, I can see some sad faces there. I’ve got a mirror in my studio that I use. That’s a good sad face.

SB: That’s a great sad face.

NS: I can see some sad faces, and your eyebrows are going up like that

SB: Oh that’s good.

NS: They’re curving upwards like that. And then your mouth is looking sad. Now I’m just going to, I’m going, yeah, I’m going to draw the mouth quite low down in the face. Okay, I’m going to draw the mouth there. Does that look sad?

Aud: Yeah.

SB: Oh, he looks really upset.

NS: Yeah? I think he’s very sad, okay. I’m just going to show you something on another Caveman Dave which I sneakily brought along. Okay, I’m going to do two sad faces and I’m just going to see which one you think is sadder. Okay, so we’ll give him the sad eyebrows and I’m going to give one of them a sad mouth there.

SB: That’s pretty sad.

NS: And one with a sad mouth there. Who looks sadder? Who thinks this one looks sadder?

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Aud: I think that one. That one. That one.

NS: Yeah. And what about that one?

Aud: No.

NS: No?

SB: Nah.

NS: Isn’t that funny? If you draw the mouth low down I think it makes the person look sadder.

SB: It makes your face go…

NS: Yeah, well your mouth is doing that. Your mouth is going to the bottom of your face.

SB: Yeah, I’m really sad.

NS: Okay. So, we’ve got a sad Caveman Dave. We need a contrasting expression now. A contrasting mood. A contrasting feeling.

SB: Well if you’re not feeling said, what might you be feeling if you’re not feeling sad?

NS: I’ll just…

Aud: Happy. Happy.

SB: Happy. So, we’ve got happy ones in the books.

NS: He’s happy in the book.

SB: So, he’s happy in the books. How else might you be feeling, if you were…?

Aud: Angry.

NS: Oh, angry.

SB: Angry. That’s…

NS: Okay, let’s try an angry Caveman Dave. Okay, so we’ll draw the same dots and nose. Now angry. Let’s have a few angry expressions. Ooh I heard an angry noise there.

SB: Oh, an angry noise, grr.

NS: Right. You’re doing what I do when I’m angry. That’s a brilliant expression there.

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SB: Oh…

NS: Your eyebrows are going right down like that. And some of you have got wrinkles on your forehead.

SB: I don’t.

NS: And your mouth. Well it’s not just in a sort of a grumpy line, you’re actually gritting, gritting your teeth like that. Mm, like that boy’s doing there at the front.

SB: That’s good. There are some really angry faces.

NS: So, if I’m drawing a really angry character I might draw him with gritted teeth like that.

SB: Oh, so it’s a bit like a peanut. It’s got a line through the middle.

NS: It’s sort of peanut shaped, yes. It is a peanut shape. And also, maybe you’d be so angry you would screw your eyes up too. So, your eyes would be screwed up a bit and you’d probably get a bit flushed, a bit hot. So, that’s angry. And do you know what? I think if I was drawing the whole body as well, because what would you do if you were angry? Show me. Oh, you’re doing it there. You’re going, shaking your fists. So, if I was doing the whole body, I might actually draw Caveman Dave shaking his fists as well like that. Ooh, he does look a bit angry there, doesn’t he?

SB: Super angry.

NS: If I say so myself. Right. How about another expression for Caveman Dave.

SB: Has anyone got…? Back there with the stripy t-shirt. What, what do you think?

Boy: Sad.

NS: Sad, well we had sad, didn’t we?

SB: We’ve had sad.

NS: We could do, shall I do shocked? Shall I do surprised?

Boy: Happy.

NS: Okay, I’m going to do, I’m going to do surprised. I’m going to do two surpriseds. I’m going to do, now look surprised for me. Ooh, right your eyebrows are shooting right up. I’m going to do happy surprised and nasty surprised. So happy surprised is like if you’ve got a lovely present or something like that.

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SB: Yes. You could be sent some free sweets.

NS: So, you could be. So, what I do is I do like a, I think it’s a bit like an iron shape, sort of, or like a curved, an archway shape, but upside down. So that’s a little surprised, nice surprised. And I just keep making the mouth bigger to make Caveman Dave look more and more surprised, in a nice way. Okay.

SB: So, do you guys want to try that and see how surprised you can make Caveman Dave look?

NS: Okay. And then if he was looking surprised in a nasty way like if he’d had a nasty shock, I can’t think what would be a nasty shock, but if he had one.

SB: It might be that he thought he was getting some free sweets and he got plaster of Paris sweets instead and he tried to bite one.

NS: Yeah [laughs] okay, well this is how I looked.

SB: Disappointed.

NS: This is how I looked when I got the plaster of Paris sweets instead of the real ones. So that’s a little bit, well a little bit upset and shocked. It’s a bit more shocked and then it’s just really, more shocked.

SB: Oh, something really horrible has happened to Caveman Dave.

NS: Okay. Have we got time for one more expression?

SB: I think we’ve got time for one quick one.

NS: Okay. Let me just get my paper. Shall I do confused?

Aud: Yeah.

NS: That’s a useful expression. It’s funny how often I have to draw characters who are looking a bit confused or bewildered or puzzled. So, I just draw Caveman Dave’s face one more time. Now if you’re confused or puzzled it kind of means you don’t quite know how you feel, do you? You feel, maybe you feel a bit, you don’t know whether to feel happy or sad. So, I’m going to do one sort of happy eyebrow, or one eyebrow going up and one eyebrow sort of going down a bit.

SB: It’s quite hard to do.

NS: And then I’m going to do a mouth that is half happy and half sad. Does he look confused? And probably, can you do some body language for if you were confused? What would you do if you were confused?

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SB: I’d be like, what?

NS: Yeah. I might, ooh.

SB: I don’t know what’s going on.

NS: Wayne is doing it for me. Wayne Pope at the front. He’s scratching his head. I might scratch my head. And the other thing I do is stroke my chin. If you’ve got a beard, but you haven’t got beards, you children, have you?

Boy: I’ve got hair.

NS: No. So, I’m going to do scratching his head, I think. Let’s see if I can draw that. Okay.

SB: I think you should hire Wayne to be in your studio.

NS: I think I should, yes.

SB: He could be modelling for you. Well excellent. Wayne is really good at drawing as well. He’s totally a hero. He’s great.

NS: Okay.

SB: So, I’ve got some good drawings, you can hold them up. We’ll have a wee look at the end. We’ve got some good drawing going on down here.

NS: Okay, there’s Caveman Dave. Well he’s not really scratching his head very well there, is he? But, okay. Right, shall we…

SB: So, this is all about facial expression. So, this is thinking about having to use your eyebrows and your mouth. So, what else do you think about with your characters, when you’re trying to think about their emotions?

NS: Well yes, because you can’t just draw the head, can you? Well you can sometimes draw the head, but sometimes you need to draw the rest of the body as well. So maybe we could draw another character. Let’s draw this character.

SB: Aww.

NS: Does anybody know who this is?

Girl: Daisy.

NS: This is, what’s her name?

Girl: Daisy.

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SB: Daisy. Excellent, well done!

NS: This is Daisy. And she is from, she’s in lots of books but the first book, I think you’ve got it there.

SB: Yes.

NS: It’s called, Eat Your Peas.

SB: And we do have, Eat Your Peas. I had it…

NS: It’s right in front of you.

SB: It’s right here. I was hugging it. So it’s, Eat Your Peas.

NS: And that’s the first that Daisy appeared in. Now what words would describe Daisy’s personality? What kind of, what kind of girl she is? Particularly in, Eat Your Peas. Who knows, Eat Your Peas here? What words would you use to describe her?

Girl: A pea.

NS: Peas.

SB: A pea [laughs].

NS: That is not a good word for Daisy because she actually doesn’t like peas at all. What words would you say?

Girl: [Inaudible 0:24:34].

NS: I’d say that she was pretty…

SB: She’s quite stubborn.

NS: Stubborn is an excellent word. She’s quite stubborn. She’s very strong willed. She knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want, and she doesn’t want peas. So maybe I will draw her here, not looking happy. So, I’m drawing her head first, I’m drawing her hair first of all.

SB: So, if we go back onto the visualizer.

NS: Yeah.

SB: So that’s the first thing to draw. You can get a fresh piece of paper.

NS: Okay, so if we start off with her head.

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SB: We’ll start with her hair. So, her hair is quite, it’s quite a nice round shape at the top.

NS: And then that’s the whole of the shape of her head. And I’ll just draw in a few hairlines.

SB: So, don’t worry if it’s not perfect because I know that Nick practices a lot, so this a good…

NS: No.

SB: …chance to practice and then you can practice more at home as well.

NS: Well my drawings aren’t perfect either, because…

SB: Mums and dads you can join in as well, of course. Don’t feel you can get out of this.

NS: If I was doing this…

SB: And you can put your age on, let’s be honest.

NS: If I was doing this for a proper job, I would do some pencil drawings rough, some rough drawings first to just get it right but I’m drawing straight away into pen. So there’s her hair. Now let’s give her a stubborn expression.

SB: Oh that does look stubborn.

NS: Okay.

SB: She looks quite frowny.

NS: And now, can you show me how you’d be if you were being a bit stubborn?

SB: If I were being stubborn? I don’t, I don’t really like tomatoes, so this is when someone tries to make me eat tomatoes.

NS: Okay.

SB: I always feel a bit like that.

NS: Oh right. Folding the arms. That’s quite a… Can you all fold your arms?

SB: Like this.

NS: Now, can you unfold your arms and do it again? Do you know, I think it’s, I think this is a fact that you always fold your arms the same way.

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SB: Oh.

NS: You fold yours differently to me. You folded yours that way and I folded mine that way.

SB: Yeah. Yeah.

NS: Are you left handed?

SB: No, I’m right handed.

NS: Oh, so am I. But it’s funny, isn’t it? You always fold your arms the same way. It feels really weird if you try and do it the other way.

SB: Maybe that’s a sign you’re an illustrator. Maybe that’s…

NS: Okay, well I’m going to try and draw Daisy with her arms folded. Now this is a tricky one.

SB: Okay. I’ll do, I’ll model if anybody.

NS: Okay, so you sort of draw one arm going round like that. It’s really complicated, but if we do it slowly together.

SB: Okay, so we’ve got one arm, so this arm is kind of under.

NS: Okay, oh I’ll maybe not use as a model. This is how Daisy does it.

SB: Okay, oh this is Daisy’s one, okay.

NS: So… And then you draw her fingers over here like that. It’s like a complicated knot and then you draw another, her arm coming round like that. Now this is really quite tricky to do. Okay. And how are you standing? Oh, you’re standing with your legs…

SB: I have my legs really far apart.

NS: …far apart, okay. Like that. Right. And she wears dungarees, doesn’t she? So, she’s got her dungarees on. Okay, so there’s a stubborn Daisy. Woops, there she is.

SB: So, because folded arms is quite, are quite difficult because you could stand like that as well if you were feeling stubborn as well.

NS: I’ll just leave that for a second. Have you all had a go at doing that?

SB: Have you had a wee go?

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NS: Now these, yeah drawing the hands is really, it needs a lot of practice. In fact I needed, I haven’t got them quite right there.

SB: But that’s, because whenever I draw people, Nick, I always end up drawing them with their legs together.

NS: Yes.

SB: And actually, it’s quite good the way you’re making people look a bit stubborn.

NS: Well shall we draw another character in a different stance?

SB: Okay.

NS: Here we are. Tracy Beaker. Let’s draw Tracey Beaker now. Tracy Beaker, now she is, you wouldn’t describe Tracy Beaker as shy and timid, would you?

SB: No.

NS: How would you be if you were shy and timid?

SB: Like this maybe. You’d be trying to make yourself quite small.

NS: Yes, you’d try and make yourself small, and sort of almost disappear if you were shy. She’s completely the opposite, Tracy Beaker. So, she likes to make herself big and, and a big presence. So, can you come and be Tracy Beaker for me.

SB: Yeah, I can be Tracey Beaker. My hair’s not curly but I can be like this.

NS: Okay.

SB: What should I do with my hands?

NS: Okay. I think she’d probably have her hands on her, on her sides, wouldn’t she? Like that.

SB: Like this.

NS: Okay, right. Let’s draw Tracy Beaker. So, let’s start off with her face. We’ll give her a [pause], right okay. That’s her head and she’s got lots and lots of curly hair which kind of goes with her personality. It’s quite sort of, it’s a little bit wild and a bit untameable sometimes, her hair, so… Which is a bit like Tracy Beaker. And then she’d have her arms on her hips, let’s say. Standing there very sort of confidently. Now instead of just having her legs going down, I think I’m going to do a position I quite like. Can you do that for me?

SB: Yeah, I can. I’m not very good.

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NS: Okay.

SB: Like this? Is that right?

NS: And one leg over the other. Just, just for variety so the legs just aren’t coming down like two straight lines. So, let’s bend one of her legs round like that.

SB: It’s quite playful standing like this. It’s like being a bit cheeky.

NS: And then the other leg round like that. Now, I’ve discovered in the end that her foot should point that way, I think for it to work better, so… Okay, so there’s Tracy Beaker. Oh, and sometimes, oh she’s just disappearing off the top. Sometimes with my drawings, I like to do a bit of shadow underneath them at the bottom so that Tracey Beaker is not floating in the sky. She’s actually standing on the ground.

SB: That’s a good tip. So, you guys when you finish this drawing, you could draw a little shadow underneath.

NS: And sometimes you can even add a horizon, that line between the sky and the ground behind your character so that they really are standing on the ground. Okay, so…

SB: So, we’ve had lots of people. So, can you, you can draw animals as well. Because I know you’ve got…

NS: Shall we draw some animals? Okay…

SB: So, I knew you’ve got a new book that you’ve just done with Jacqueline Wilson, haven’t you? Paws and Whiskers, that’s got a lot of animals in it.

NS: Okay, I’ve drawn, I’ve drawn a lot of animals in different books. Have we got a picture there? This is from a book called, You Choose. I don’t know if you know You choose? It’s a book…

Boy: We’ve got it.

NS: You’ve got You Chose? Well that book has got just about everything I ever needed to draw in it because it’s choosing all sorts of things including choosing a pet. If you could have a pet. And I am going to draw two pets. I’m going to draw a cat and a dog.

SB: So, has anyone here got a pet cat?

Girl: I do.

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SB: Anyone got a cat? A lot of people have got cats. So, we’ll try cats first and then we’ll draw a dog. And then you can practice now…

NS: Okay.

SB: …and then when you go home you could maybe try and draw your cat.

NS: Actually, I did, I did a lot of cats and dogs recently for a book by Jacqueline Wilson, an anthology called, Paws and Whiskers. If you look at the end papers in that at the beginning.

SB: It’s like here?

NS: Oh no, sorry, if you take the cover off it’s a special cover.

SB: [Gasp]. Oh that’s…

NS: So, it’s got two covers. It’s got a wrap-around cover...

SB: …so cool.

NS: …and a cover covered in cats and dogs. So, I’m going to draw a cat first and I like, I do like drawing cats because they’re all curvy lines, I think, cats are. They’ve got nice round faces. And there are a few straight lines like with the ears, but everything else is curvy, almost everything else. So, there’s its head and let’s give it a curvy tail and four curvy legs and let’s make the whiskers slightly curvy as well.

SB: So, it’s all kind of roundy lines.

NS: Okay. And I’m going to put a shadow underneath it.

SB: So, have a little go.

NS: It’s quite pleased with itself that cat, doesn’t it? Okay, so there’s a cat. Now we better have a dog to go with the cat. Now dogs, I think, my favourite kind of dog, there are all sorts of breeds of dog but my favourite kind of dog is all straight lines, not like the cat, which is curvy, it’s all straight lines my favourite dog. So, can you guess what kind of dog it might be?

Boy: A bull dog.

SB: A golden retriever is a good guess. I think, is it a golden retriever?

NS: A border retriever?

Girl: A Scotty dog.

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NS: A Scotty dog.

SB: A Scotty dog, is that right?

NS: Yep, it is a Scotty dog.

SB: A Scotty dog. A few people guessed that right. Well done. It’s the Commonwealth games.

NS: So, all the lines are straight lines. Its four legs and a straight sticking up tail. And the leg at the back is that leg and, and oh I’d better give it a little curvy mouth because we want it to be a happy dog, don’t we? So… Right, okay. So, there’s a, and we’ll give it a collar as well. Okay, so there’s a Scotty dog.

SB: So, the cats are mainly curves and the little dogs are mainly straight lines? Is that…

NS: Well those are my favourite ones. I mean there are dogs that are different shapes to that completely, but my favourite one to draw is the Scotty dog. Okay. How are you getting on with your dogs?

Boy: I’m not sure.

NS: Okay. So shall we draw one more animal? Let’s draw an elephant.

SB: That is my most favourite animal in the whole world.

NS: Elephants?

SB: Elephants are my most favourite animal.

NS: Are they? Oh well that’s a good choice to draw then. Sometimes I draw quite, for me, quite realistic elephants. So, there’s one on screen which is from a book called Never Shake a Rattlesnake and so that picture is for a line that is something about, never, ever make an elephant sneeze. Can you imagine what would happen if you made an elephant sneeze?

Aud: [Inaudible 0:34:45].

NS: It would, it would make a huge explosion and everything would get blown out of the way so don’t do that, if you come across an elephant. But I’m going to draw an elephant from a different kind of book. I’m going to draw an elephant from this book, Elephant Wellyphant which I think you’ve got somewhere.

SB: I’ve got right here, yeah.

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NS: Which is full of very silly, made up elephants. And, do you want to show one or two of the elephants?

SB: Yes. So, who have we got? We’ve got Fruit Jellyphant.

NS: A Fruit Jellyphant, yeah.

SB: Who is made of different things. We’ve got Unwellyphant who is feeling a bit poorly.

NS: Unwellyphant, oh dear.

SB: You definitely wouldn’t want him to sneeze on you. We’ve got Hiding in the Cellarphant as well.

Aud: [Laughs].

NS: So they are all…

SB: You might have one in the bottom of your house.

NS: So that was an easy one, the Hiding in the Cellarphant I have to say.

SB: [Laughs]. Yeah, that’s a good tip. Was that a really easy day that day? [Laughs].

NS: So, I’m going to draw, I’m going to draw an elephant here. Now elephants have got, what I like about elephants is they’ve got really nice, strong, big features. So, they’ve got great big ears which are good to draw. And then of course they’ve got their wonderful trunks and their big, solid bodies. So, let’s make the big sort of squarer shaped bodies and their big legs which are a bit like tree trunks, I think. [Pause]. Okay, so there’s the kind of the outline of my elephant. I might give it another ear just showing on the other side.

SB: Mm-hmm.

NS: And give it some, I guess those are toe nails, aren’t they on the legs? And then let’s make it a happy elephant. And then I do something which is probably not strictly accurate because I give them two eyes on one side of the head like that.

SB: Because you wouldn’t normally be able to see both of the eyes.

NS: That’s called, that’s stylised.

SB: So, stylised just means it’s not like real life, it’s kind of your own style.

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NS: So that’s how I quite like drawing elephants. Have you had a go at drawing? I mean you can draw them much, much more realistically than that. And there’s a bit of an elephant that I’m not very keen on drawing which is the tusks because they always get in the way of the mouth, I think, but…

SB: Oh, it would be quite difficult to draw.

NS: But if you want to draw tusks, you draw some tusks. Okay, shall we draw one more? Have we got time for one more?

SB: Oh, we’ve got time for one more. And also, as you’re just finishing off your elephants there, we’ve got time for one more.

NS: Okay. Let’s draw a crocodile, I think. A crocodile. So, a crocodile is a bit like an elephant because it’s got really good, strong features. So, I’m going to start off with its mouth. Okay.

SB: It’s a big mouth.

NS: It’s open mouth. Two nostrils. And then is it a, is it a mean crocodile or a nice crocodile?

Aud: Mean. Mean. Mean.

NS: Mean? Okay.

SB: Every single one of you said mean [laughs].

NS: So, I’ll do two little lumps there for where its eyes go and I’ll draw its eyes and I’ll make it mean by giving it mean eyebrows like that, okay. So now it’s mean. I better give it some teeth [pause]. Okay, and then, oh it’s quite long, isn’t it? I’ll have to make sure I don’t go off the page. Let’s give it a slightly bumpy back and a tail curving round like that. And then its legs and the back legs are bending a little bit and the front legs are like that. And some scaly skin, like that. Can I have a crocodile noise? Do they make noises?

Aud: Snap.

NS: Oh snap, yes of course.

Aud: Snap. Snap. Snap.

NS: Snap, yeah.

SB: Wayne is saving the day here today, Nick. He is an inspiration.

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NS: Okay. It just fits in, doesn’t it? They are long. They are big creatures so he just fits in.

SB: Those feet are quite hard to draw.

NS: Okay. Mm. They could have little claws on the end if you wanted to add some claws as well. Let’s give it some claws.

SB: So, is there anyone who’s got a picture that they would like to show us? So, what we’ll do is you can do a last few finishing touches there. Don’t forget if you put your name on it and then maybe we could get some collected in. So, if you’ve got one, you’d like to be handed in, then hold it up, wave it and someone will come and collect it and bring to the stage so that…

NS: Oh, okay.

SB: …Nick can have a little look. You will get them back at the end. So, we can’t, we won’t have time to look at everybody’s but we’ll try and look at, let’s look at five.

NS: Okay.

SB: Let’s look at five.

NS: Yeah, that would be great.

SB: Let’s do that.

NS: I can see you’ve all been very busy.

SB: Yeah, the baby didn’t do any drawing.

NS: [Laughs].

SB: I reckon two months that baby will be drawing. So just wave them up, you don’t need to stand up. If you just hold them up, we’ll collect them in. Thank you very much, my love.

NS: Okay we’ve got some here.

SB: Oh so…

NS: Oh yes.

SB: Kiara has done a beautiful elephant here. We’ll have a wee look at that.

NS: Let’s look at Kiara’s elephant. And her cat. Oh look. Aw, that’s fantastic.

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SB: That’s so good. We’ll give Kiara a round of applause. That’s really good.

Aud: [Applause].

NS: And I love this flower down here at the bottom too. Thank you. Okay.

SB: Thank you, love. So, if everybody can just hold them up.

NS: All right.

SB: And people will come and collect them.

NS: Yeah.

SB: So, I think now we’ve possibly got enough. We won’t have a chance to look at all of them right now.

NS: I think that’s just the most wonderful elephant.

SB: So, we’ve got some very good facial expressions here.

NS: Oh, we’ve got some expressions here.

SB: Thank you, love. Thank you.

NS: Harvey has drawn some fantastic…

SB: There we go. There’s loads here. We won’t have a chance to look at all of these.

NS: Really excellent.

Aud: [Applause].

SB: Thank you, thank you.

NS: Well done, Harvey.

SB: Let’s pick up, oh I’m going to do this one because this one has used a speech bubble which you can use in books as well.

NS: Oh yes, speech bubbles are great.

SB: It’s very good. So, is that Oran? Oran?

NS: Oh, look at this dog.

SB: There we go.

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NS: Yes, Oran’s dog there. That is wonderful.

Aud: [Applause].

SB: Very good.

NS: Saying, Woof. Wonderful. What else have we got?

SB: Oh, we’ve got some brilliant body language here. Lilly has done a really good body language here.

NS: Lilly, you have done a better drawing than mine. It’s really good.

Aud: [Applause].

NS: Excellent.

SB: You’re fired.

NS: I’m fired, yes, I am.

SB: Lilly’s next.

NS: Tracy looks wonderful there too, doesn’t she?

SB: She looks, you’ve made Tracey look like she’s not grumpy. She’s not having to go in the quiet room.

NS: And look at these brilliant cats and dogs too. In fact, you’ve got a whole story on this page, Lilly. I think you could add some more details to the background, couldn’t you? And you’ve got a story involving all these four characters.

SB: Oh yeah.

NS: Wonderful.

SB: Look at the dogs as well.

NS: On a day out somewhere, I think.

SB: Excellent work.

NS: Right, what else have we got?

SB: And this one is another one here. We’ve got some…

NS: Wow. I am going to retire because I can see this room is full of illustrators. Really good illustrators. Look at these expressive characters. Caveman Dave

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there looking very angry there. And some great animals down the bottom. Look at these fantastic. These are Jamie’s…

SB: Jamie, good work, Jamie.

Aud: [Applause].

NS: Jamie’s elephant, who has got the most wonderful expression on his face. And look at this crocodile.

SB: That’s so good.

NS: Look at that crocodile.

SB: I love that crocodile. It looks like he’s about to eat the elephant, which is a little bit scary.

NS: He’s a brilliant, ferocious crocodile. Those are really excellent drawings.

SB: They’re really good. Nick will try and have a look through all of them and at the end we’ll give them out again at the door.

NS: Yeah.

SB: So, we’ll try and have a wee look through.

NS: I can see all of them here are great.

SB: And I know that a lot of you wanted to do a bit more detail but don’t forget today is recorded so when you go home, like and it, once it goes online you can have another look and you can take your time and have another little draw of them.

But what we’d like now is to give you guys a chance to ask some questions. So, if you’ve got a question could you just put your hand up? We’ve got some microphones that are going to come round but just wait until you’ve got the microphone in your hand before you ask the question.

So, I think your hand was up first, purple top down here. So, if we can get a microphone here. So just want until it’s in your hand. Beautiful. So, what’s your question for Nick?

Girl: Who was your favourite author?

SB: That’s a great question.

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NS: Who was my favourite author when I was your age, when I was younger? Yeah. I think I was a big, an author rather than an illustrator, I think it was Roald Dahl. I, who likes Roald Dahl books here? Everybody does, don’t they.

SB: Everybody.

NS: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the first book that I felt I really, really wanted to read for myself and so Roald Dahl was my favourite author.

SB: That was a great question.

NS: Yeah.

SB: That was a really good first question. So next, shall we go for cherry top here? Did you have your hand up? No, you put your hand down again. Great, up here, there we go. What’s your question for Nick? Speak into the microphone like this. You can pass it down. There we go. So, if you just hold the microphone like this. Like this.

NS: What’s your question?

SB: Do you want to have a think? Well pass it down again. That’s all right. It’s good just holding a microphone, it’s good times.

NS: Yeah.

Boy: Who was the favourite author that you worked with?

NS: Who was? Oh.

SB: Who was the favourite author you worked with?

NS: Now that’s a good question.

SB: And we will tell the others.

NS: Oh yes.

SB: So [laughs] who was your favourite one?

NS: Well I’ve been lucky to work with really great authors. Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Giles Andreae, Julia Donaldson. Oh gosh, I don’t know if I could choose.

SB: You have to pick. That was the question. That’s what the audience want to pick, pick one.

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NS: Oh, that’s I think because I’ve done so many books with Jacqueline, and I think, and we’re also very good friends as well over the years. We’ve been working together about 20, more than 20 years. So, I think Jacqueline would be my favourite author to work with.

SB: Jacqueline Wilson. She wrote a very nice thing about you in the front of The Story of Tracy Beaker in the new edition. Have you seen it? She’s very nice about you. She’s very lovely.

NS: Oh well she’s a lovely lady.

SB: Okay, so next question, let’s go for red top back there. There you go. So, if you just wait for the microphone to come with you. So yeah, the red t-shirt there. Brilliant. So, what’s your question for Nick?

Boy: What was your favourite character?

SB: Oh, what’s your favourite character?

NS: Well I think I mentioned Timothy Pope in Shark in the Park.

SB: Son of Wayne.

NS: If it was a character that somebody else had invented for me to illustrate, I think I’d have to say Tracy Beaker because she was the very first character I drew for Jacqueline Wilson and she’s become a bit of a superstar in her own right, hasn’t she?

SB: She’s a superstar.

NS: And I’ve drawn her more than any other character and she’d be my favourite character that’s been invented for me to illustrate.

SB: That’s a great question. That’s a really good question. And you get, you have to get into the mind set of Tracy as well when you’re decorating the books as well.

NS: Well I, I’m very lucky because I’m practically the first person that reads Jackie’s stories when she writes them. So, I get to discover her characters before anybody else and…

SB: That’s really exciting.

NS: Yeah, it is.

SB: That’s really privileged. Okay, let’s go for the stripy top there. Here we go. What’s your question for Nick?

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Girl: What is your favourite book?

NS: My favourite book?

SB: What is your favourite book? Of all time.

NS: Of my own books, or of all time? Let me think. I’ll answer that in two ways. My favourite book, well I did love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but there’s another book which I don’t know if you know called The Giant Jam Sandwich. Who knows that book?

SB: [Gasp]. [Laughs].

NS: Oh all the older people are going oh yes, get The Giant Jam Sandwich. It’s a wonderful book. It’s the funniest story. The illustrations are brilliant. It’s by John Vernon Lord and Janet Burroway and it’s a really brilliant story. And it’s not well enough known, I don’t think, so, to find that book. And of my own books, it’s the one I’m working on. It’s always the one I’m working on at the moment because I think this is going to be the best book ever in the entire world. And I’m, I’ll tell you, I’ll let you into a secret. I’m working on another book with Timothy Pope and his dad, Wayne, in it right now.

Aud: [Laughs].

SB: Oh. Wayne.

NS: So…

SB: You should give Wayne some tattoos.

NS: Yes, yeah.

Aud: [Laughs].

NS: [Laughs].

SB: So, we probably have got time for two more questions, I think. So, we’ll go for red t-shirt just at the end here. There we go.

Girl: Who would be your biggest competition?

NS: Oh, that’s a good question.

SB: Oh, who’s your biggest completion? Who do we need to take out?

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NS: Well there are so many fantastic illustrators around, aren’t there? There are all wonderful illustrators. I don’t know if I could… You should answer that, maybe you shouldn’t answer that question. I don’t know.

SB: Who do you think is?

NS: I’ll tell you who my favourite illustrators are.

SB: Oh yeah, that’s, that’s probably a good thing to do.

NS: I’ll tell you who my favourite illustrators are. They are David McKee who illustrated another elephant, a wonderful patchwork elephant called Elmer and a character that I, my personal favourite character, Mr. Ben. Who knows Mr. Ben here? Yeah, oh a clap for Mr. Ben.

SB: Oh, an applause for Mr. Ben [laughs].

NS: And my other favourite illustrator is Janet Ahlberg who wrote, who illustrated the pictures for Postman, for the Jolly Postman and lots of other wonderful picture books. So, they’re the two illustrators that I…

SB: Big completion.

NS: …that I absolutely revere.

SB: That’s a good question. I’ve never heard that question before. That was great. And so, we’ll go for someone at the back, so we’ll go for another red t-shirt there who is looking very keen. Standing up a little bit. Can someone get a microphone all the way over there? Yeah, you. Yeah, it’s okay, yeah, you.

NS: Yes, it’s you.

SB: Perfect. Wait until the microphone is in your hand and then ask your question to Nick.

NS: [Laughs].

SB: What’s, what question would you like to ask him?

Boy: How long did it take to write all of the books?

SB: Well that’s a great question.

NS: Ooh, right, well…

SB: Like how long would it take you to do like one picture book…

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NS: When I’m writing a book of my own,

SB: …like this?

NS: When I’m writing a book like, a picture book of my own, they don’t have many words in my books, but they, this one is all about dressing up, which is something I’m quite keen on. So, let’s have a look. Oh, here’s a, here it says: All the jungle animals love wearing fancy dress. Who is this knight in armour, would you like to take a guess?

Aud: Crocodile. Crocodile.

NS: Well we all were drawing crocodiles, weren’t we? Here’s a crocodile that I drew another time. Here we are, snap, snap a crocodile. So, there’s another crocodile I’ve drawn. The answer to your question is that drawing the actual book probably takes me about, if it’s a book like this, a picture book with 24 pages, it probably takes me about a month to do the illustrations. But thinking of the idea takes me forever. I’m always trying to think of ideas and they can tick away in the back of my mind for months and months before it kind of finally turns into a good enough idea for a book. So, the thinking about the idea takes a long time. The actual drawing, compared to other illustrators, I’m quite quick.

SB: Are you quite fast?

NS: Yeah.

SB: So how long would it take you to do like two pages like that?

NS: Okay. So, if I was drawing, oh I’ll show you the picture at the end of this book. Actually, I’ll show you this picture. This is called Fancy Dress Jungle and this is a finale, a grand finale, you’ll have to help me with this.

SB: Okay, oh okay, brilliant.

NS: It says here, it says: All the jungle animals love fancy dress, it’s true. And here’s a fancy dress parade especially for you. So that picture was quite a detailed picture. It probably took me about, it took me about, it took me about a week that picture, it took me about a week. But for me, that’s a very, very detailed picture. Lots and lots of colouring in on that picture to do.

SB: Brilliant. Well I’m afraid that that’s all that we’ve got time for at the moment. But thank so much to Nick and to all of you for joining in today. You’ve been an absolutely brilliant audience.

Aud: [Applause].

Page 36 of 37


NS: Bye bye.

Page 37 of 37

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