Inspiring talks from active illustrators

I've been lucky enough to manage to see three accomplished illustrators present their latest books in the last three weeks.

The first I saw was was Oliver Jeffers at the Southbank. The auditorium was filled with fellow admirers hanging on his every word. A few key things stood out for me about Oliver Jeffers:
a.) He is a natural at self promoting but does it in a way that you is subtle and quite genius!
b.) He commented on how he often makes use of contrasting scale to convey a message in an image, as seen in the image below.
c.) He has a great way of including humour in all of his images, especially in his picture books. 
d.) It is great to see that he has been brave enough to step out of the box of being confined to one form of art and or be labeled solely as a children's book illustrator, but in stead has launched himself into the fine art world as well as advertising and editorial commissions. Although his style is recognisable in all these forms and some images work better then others, it is encouraging to see him venture into a number of areas of visual communication. 

From the Book, Lost and Found

He was great to watch and I could't help but purchase the latest book that he has illustrated , " The day the crayons quit', written by Drew Daywalt.
Oliver Jeffers uses his own typography to add to the humour and childlike essence which makes it popular with children and adults alike.

The next 2 author/illustrators I saw at a local children's bookshop in Hove, called "The Booknook".

The first was Chris Ridell who has written and illustrated a new book called, " Goth Girl". It was great seeing how he interacted with the children who made up the majority of the audience.
His illustrations are all in black and white and very delicately produced. He makes beautiful use of cross hatching within his drawings and his characters are expressive and creative. He also seems to have an in depth knowledge of form and movement of both animals and human beings alike which is evident in the way that he forms his characters. Finally he also appears to base much of his work on elaborate research both from his life, historical facts and the world around him, and he uses this research to add colourful details to his images and his narrative.

         

Chris Ridell who is also a prolific illustrator for the Guardian was remarkably encouraging to the children and adults alike and I left feeling quite inspired. 

The last author/illustrator I saw at the 'Booknook' was Emily Gravett. 
She is also one of my favourite illustrators having created masterpieces like 'wolves' and 'Little mouses big book of fears'. Her illstrations are full of life and expression. She makes wonderful use of mark making and also makes use of contrasting scale, as well as cropping her images and drawing her characters from unique angles. 

Illustration from her book Wolves

From her book Little Mouse's big book of Fears

She too has brought out a new book:

What an experience to shake hands with some of the artists that I admire. It was inspiring to meet them all....as fleeting as our meeting was!