Better than Batman. Steve May.

Steve May has been a lifelong doodler, studying fine art and filmmaking in Nottingham, and animation at the Royal College of Art in London. He has honed his spontaneous anarchic illustration style to make him the perfect partner for some of today’s leading children’s authors, including Francesca Simon and Phil Earle, and most recently in his brilliant collaboration with James Turner in Poo Crew Adventures: Journey to Poo-topia. Step into the Illustrators Spotlight, Steve May...

"If you’d asked four year-old Steve what what fifty-something-year-old Steve would be doing, he would probably be slightly disappointed that I wasn't Doctor Who or Batman & that I hadn’t managed to work out the magical ability to fly or the secret of teleport*.

I'd like to think he'd probably think drawing pictures pictures all day would be pretty cool though, which is pretty much what I’ve attempted to do since then (apart from occasionally stopping to eat a bun, drink coffee, & play in a band which I still do).

I have drawn every day ever since I remember. I used to ‘publish’ a monster newspaper called the Daily Horrorscope (see what I did there?) which catalogued the adventures & general foibles of the coterie of monsters I used to dream up daily - I don't recall having an imaginary friend but my brain was definitely filled with a riot of imaginary monsters, both friendly & distinctly unfriendly. I loved reading ANYTHING from an early age with a particular attraction towards illustrated books and comics, I loved the exuberance of the Asterix books by Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo to the filthy chaos of Raymond Briggs’ Fungus the Bogeyman.

I was obsessed with dinosaurs, Doctor Who, Monty Python & superheroes - (the Adam West Batman from the 1960s is still THE Batman for me - he's become a bit of a touchstone throughout my artistic career, frequently popping up as a background character in my drawings & animated films!) Other early influences were the Richard Scarry books (I had the honour of providing a cover quote for a Scarry reissue for Faber books recently featuring a story about sausages - maybe I'll tell you another time!) Tove Jansson’s Moomin books were another huge influence on me, so beautiful, funny, slightly melancholic and strange around the edges all at the same time. Later on discovering the 2000AD comics was a huge influence & the first time I realised you could actually have a JOB drawing things which blew my mind at 10 years old so that was pretty much what I wanted to do from then on!

I taught myself to animate at art college & later gained an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art so I've also worked in animation since then. I love the sheer anarchy and possibilities of what you can do with the drawn line. My brain is usually bombarded by images of strange creatures and general ridiculousness and I feel lucky that this has become part of how I earn my living as an illustrator. Over the years I've worked with lots of different children's authors (I’ve probably drawn over a hundred books but I haven’t counted!) and love getting the freedom to interpret their words.

I often think being an illustrator is chiefly about creating mischief - I particularly like characters who misbehave so getting the chance to reinterpret Dennis the Menace (with Steven Butler for Puffin Books) & drawing Hack and Whack for the Two Terrible Vikings series (Faber) for Francesca Simon all fitted the bill really well for me. I also had great fun exercising my inner super hero with the Superdad’s Day Off & Supernan’s Day Out books by Phil Earle recently with Barrington Stoke.

My latest book, the graphic novel Poo Crew Adventures Journey to Poo-topia (with author James Turner for Farshore/Harper Collins) has been a riot to draw. On being approached, my initial reaction was “you want me to draw a book about WHAT?!?!” But once I read James Turner’s brilliant treatment all my doubts were flushed away (sorry!) & I realised I could have HUGE fun with this! I've enjoyed lots of freedom throughout the process with visualising his amazing and sometimes delightfully odd ideas - everything from fatbergs the size of bungalows to half-car half poo hybrids - resulting in a fast paced, occasionally disgusting but ALWAYS funny & educational read. It’s been really interesting tackling the graphic novel format & I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the challenge!