Alison Brown's picture books have the aaah factor.
Alison learned to draw by copying cartoon strips from her comics and her father’s newspapers. She now creates the most engaging and appealing illustrations in her gorgeous, inclusive and lively picture books. Alison tells us more about her art and the importance of communicating emotion through her illustrations.
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I have always loved “reading” pictures. The first books I remember were Richard Scarry’s What do people do all day? and Best Word Book Ever. I loved all the characters, and the homely if slightly alien culture of rural America…what on earth was alfalfa? But from about the age of 7, the things I loved to read most were comics. My granny had a huge pile of old Sunday Post newspapers, which contained the long-running “Oor Wullie” and “The Broons” strips. The thrilling pace and good-versus-evil plots of superhero comics never appealed to me at all, but I found the fly on the wall comic strip version of ordinary life completely fascinating.
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Then, in my dad’s Sunday paper I discovered “Peanuts” and that cemented it – my wonder at how the exact turn and weight of the simplest line could convey a tiny flicker of emotion, or boiling rage. (Yes, I did also amass a huge collection of cute merchandise, I wasn’t a purist!) I found the same inspiration in other cartoons, such as Ziggy, BC, and Calvin and Hobbes. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that comics aren’t valid reading material for children. They are a subtle and magical art. I think I discovered most of my favourite picture books as an art student and an adult. These are some of them. I can’t even begin to do justice to how brilliant they are, so I’ll just say read them, if you haven’t already!
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For me, communicating emotion is the most important thing in illustration. I try to make every character convey a feeling that a reader can recognise in themselves - love, frustration, fear, boredom, determination. When sharing books with children, I hope that this leads to lots of conversations.
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I really enjoy the challenge of a portraying momentary or a mixed emotion, which is often more about body language than facial expression. Although my books are full of mice and bunnies, the only way to practise this is to sketch people, something I don’t always do enough of, but I try to do it as much as possible!
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I make some of my illustrations in acrylic paint and coloured pencil, and on the way to publication I nervously say goodbye to them at the post office. Once scanned, they eventually come back to me, and I love the fact that they exist as physical objects. I always get an amazed reaction from children in schools when I take along a painting and get them to find the matching page in the book.
In other cases, for example in Billie’s Buzz, the illustrations begin as pencil and charcoal drawings on paper, and then I scan and colour them in Photoshop, layering other elements of watercolour, prints or patterns into a digital collage, making sure that the original line doesn’t become drowned out by the colour and texture.
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What’s on the horizon? There’s a new addition to the Amazing family – a baby! Plus, a VERY large number of chaotic bears and a fun, Easter lift-the-flap book for very young readers.
I had so much fun with Billie’s Buzz that I would like to explore the invertebrate world a bit more. With Billie, I wanted to find a humorous way of addressing the fear of bees, which is common even though we know how essential they are.
I didn’t have pets when I was growing up, so like most children I loved to lift a rock and watch all the fleeing creatures underneath. Woodlice (or “slaters” where I come from) appeared in great numbers and were my favourite. Maybe they have a story. Or perhaps for my next challenge I’ll try to elevate the reputation of that most-unloved garden resident, the slug!
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Billie's Buzz, written and illustrated by Alison Brown, is published by Farshore and is available to buy now. Read our full review, and take a pick inside the book. We also have reviews and extracts for more books illustrated by Alison, including her gorgeous Amazing series.
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