Smashing Illustrator Chris Mould and a few other un-named London Book Fair survivors stopped in at Book Sniffer Towers between events and VERY important meetings for a whistle stop brew and some "snap" (pork pies).
Yorkshire man Chris requested a few home comforts for his visit including his favourite brew Sneck Lifter which seemed quite fitting as it turns out a Sneck is a nose - all the better for sniffing with!
Yorkshire man Chris requested a few home comforts for his visit including his favourite brew Sneck Lifter which seemed quite fitting as it turns out a Sneck is a nose - all the better for sniffing with!
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| Happy as a sand boy with his cup of Sneck Lifter |
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| He looks good in a unitard eh! |
What do you listen too when you are working?
Describe your dog in three words
I actually really do like silence
alot when I’m working. But sometimes if I’m writing I like to
listen to a film score. That’s because music without words is great
at creating an atmosphere and allows me to sink into a text without
being distracted by a voice/ words. And if I’m painting or drawing
I sometimes have a film on, listen to the radio, OR I might be
spending time in a studio with other artists and having a chat or I
might be on the phone.
Long Nosed Pest!
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| King Alfred! |
Write us a short ode to your favourite pork product
Aha,
you’ve heard about my preffered meat based start to the day! OK!
I
put my favourite shoes on
And
went out for a walk
I
heard the lark, sing in the park
And
dreamed of bits of pork
At
home, the fridge door opened
And
then my heart was taken
I
saw a most delightful sight
Behold, the joy of bacon
Ta daaaaaaaa…! That took four minutes of my life so I hope you appreciated it ;-)
List your top three drawing/writing/painting implements
Black
and White : Black biro, Black auto/car spray, Tippex pen
Colour:
Acrylics, Fingers, Thumbs (I like being messy)
Writing:
Sketchbook, Laptop, Small but MAD brain
Give us a piece of advice for getting into the world of
illustration
Know
your subject. Don’t send samples to publishing houses unless you’re
aware of what’s going on in the market place and have an idea of
where you might fit in and who with. Research your chosen field
before you approach people
Tell us a secret...
Ok, here’s a secret.
This is Edmund and Cecilie. Shhhhh…I can’t tell you too much
right now but you’ll be seeing them again soon…POSSIBLY on the
App puppy site if that’s ok with your liddl cuz?
Hit us with your best joke?
That
would have to be the Cheese Joke !!!
Mould:
My favourite cheese begins with the letter G but I can never remember
it.
Book
Sniffer: Gorgonzola?
Mould:
No
Book
Sniffer: Goat’s?
Mould:
No, no,
Book Sniffer: Gruyere?
Mould: No, no, no……..oh hang on, I’ve got it….
……it’s
Grated!
Well, you did ask!
*Tumble weed*
Which other authors / illustrators would you like to
collaborate with?
Well, just immediately, myself and
good chum Mr Melling are in discussion about a project. It’s
difficult because he is busy and I am too but there are creative
rumblings. AND it gives us an excuse to go to the pub !
Tell us what’s on your desk in your studio?
A
well-thumbed, threadbare copy of a Richard Scarry picture book
dictionary
One
of my sketchbooks
A
cuppa, of course
A
packet of polo mints
A
stack of Daler Rowney Heavyweight Cartridge paper
An
arrangement of delicious pens
Lots
and lots of tubs n tubes of Acrylic colours
A
million paintbrushes
And
underneath, a thousand random scribblings on the desktop
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| He's a looker! ... the one on the right, natch! ! |
What can you see out of the window of your studio?
The sprawling metropolis that is Dean
Clough Mills, formerly the largest carpet mill in the world and now
home to over 150 business in West Yorkshire, aswell as a colony of
art studios, one of which I am luckily enough to hold a key to!
Is there an existing fairy tale which you would like to illustrate?
I’ve always had an Alice in
Wonderland fixation. It’s a well trodden path so it’s a tricky one
but it would be a real self indulgent, gift of a commission!
In a fight Octopus vs. Hare who would win?
Ooh,
a fight. Hmmm…Quadruped versus Octopod. It depends on the arena .
I’m backing the Hare, naturally but under sub aqua conditions I
fear that lack of oxygen and sustained pressure might be
overwhelming. HOWEVER…an open field would see the hare on home
territory and that would DEFINITELY end in Octopus tears!
How do you take your tea?
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| That's not tea! It's beer! |
Fussily.
First
things first, quality china only (oh…go on then… maybe a plastic
vending machine cup if it’s a desperate circumstance). If tea is
made in the pot it’s milk in the cup first, if it’s a teabag in
the mug, milk goes in afterwards. No sugar, that’s what the cake is
for. Semi-skimmed milk is a must. Full fat milk destroys the flavour
of tea! And last of all…it must all prevail amongst good company
and tall tales.
What’s in your Pack-up (lunch box) today?
3 cherished left over mini pork pies
from the expertly choreographed Book Sniffer Tea Party which I shall
eat slowly, half a pack of jammie dodgers, a cheese sandwich, and…I’m
sorry to say, some fruit (Don’t worry, I don’t eat that. I use it
to prop the door open whilst I’m wheeling in a box of kit-kats) !
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| Even his fruit is arty! .. what a legend! |
Choose 5 toppings for your pizza….
This would have to be a meat fest.
Pepperoni, Spicy Beef, Bacon, Extra Cheese AND to top it off, a
smiley face made from Jalapenos
Have you ever moved your books to the front of the shelf at
a book shop?
Of
course, although I’m slightly more shameless than that, I usually
start re-arranging the window display.
What’s the funniest question a child has ever asked you at
an event?
There was a funny one recently, but I
have to give you the background info for it to make sense. I did some
development artwork on a film called Flushed Away (that’s the
Aardman film about a world of sewer rats beneath the streets of
London). I think the child concerned must have been reading something
about me online and got a little confused.
His
question was ‘Which one were you in Flushed Away?’‘Oh dear….errrrrum….I was the big fat rat with the huge ears that ate all the cheese!’
Where is the furthest palace you travelled to to do an
event?
So far, that would be Dover Middle
School, New Hampshire, United States and it was worth every second of
a very long journey. BRILLIANT!
NB: Chris has recently won ANOTHER book award and will be jet setting off to Geneva next week! Well done Chris, I hope they give you a nice trophy!
Easy!…..Hares,
Skulls and Dragons
Which other Illustrators / artists have influenced you?
Oooh now you’re digging into my
brain deeply. You’d have to go as far back as early pen and ink
masters like George Cruikshank, Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray.
And then to people who carried on that tradition of pen and ink
through the ages. Arthur Rackham, Honore Daumier, Ernest Shepherd,
Carl Giles. And then contemporary equivalents such as Ronald Searle
(R.I.P), and Ralph Steadman. In amongst the pen and ink types I’d
also have to include the work of painters that I obsessively pored
over like Hieronymous Bosch and Peter Brueghel because I loved their
ability to fill a scene with crazy details of crowds of people all
doing mad things. They were the kinds of scenes that made me want to
draw. Eye popping stuff. And that’s before I get onto all the
amazing work that’s out there these days that I love to constantly
get my head around.
What are you working on at the moment?
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| Captain Beastlie - Publishing with Nosy Crow later in the year ! |
I’m working on a picture book for
Nosy Crow called Captain Beastlie about a dirty, grubby little pirate
who constantly lets down his squeaky clean crew with his filthy
habits. He is quite cute though!
Tell us about that secret Lego project!
You mean the Dean Clough one?
Which will ‘possibly’ be the largest lego model in the world( but that’s unconfirmed). It’s a replica of the Dean Clough Mill complex where my studio is based and is on a huge scale. The real life version is around two thirds of a mile across so it’s a massive site and the lego model is currently under construction and can be viewed whilst ‘in progress’ in the Community Education Gallery at Dean Clough.
Check out http://www.deanclough.com for more info or link up to them on Facey B for pics of the model in progress. http://www.facebook.com/deancloughmills Or check the bbc news link below.
You mean the Dean Clough one?
Which will ‘possibly’ be the largest lego model in the world( but that’s unconfirmed). It’s a replica of the Dean Clough Mill complex where my studio is based and is on a huge scale. The real life version is around two thirds of a mile across so it’s a massive site and the lego model is currently under construction and can be viewed whilst ‘in progress’ in the Community Education Gallery at Dean Clough.
Check out http://www.deanclough.com for more info or link up to them on Facey B for pics of the model in progress. http://www.facebook.com/deancloughmills Or check the bbc news link below.
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| Get that down your neck fella! |
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| From cradle to grave! |
ALSO - Thanks again to Chris for the Awesome new Twitter and Facebook profile picture!
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