Greg David Interview

Who or what made you want to become an illustrator?

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, and no doubt it's in my DNA. I went to quite a rough all-boys school in South Wales, where drawing became my way of getting through it unscathed. When you're able to make the tough kids laugh with silly drawings of them and their mates it's a way of gaining their respect.

No matter what lesson I was in, I was still drawing - I got caught once or twice by the teachers, but there was an awful more worse behaviour going on around me. After leaving school I did a year in Art College before diving into studying classical animation. This took me on a 20+ year journey, from landing a job as Creative Director of a small video game company, working as a freelancer on a hit show for state TV in China (which attracted regular viewers of 40 million people) and finally to heading up my own animation studio, Planet Sunday. After running the studio for over 10 years, and by now having a young family, I realised that my kids had inherited my own childhood passion for reading, and they pored over the pictures just as I used to. Animating became a chore, and I was concerned that I was adding to the trend of sitting kids in front of screens and not having to use their imagination. I soon made the decision to close the studio for good, and invest in a pencil & sketchbook - and to let my imagination run wild.

I love drawing, and living in the wilds of west Wales where we're surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscapes plus a wealth of history it's very easy to be inspired!

Talk us through the process of creating one of your latest illustrations or books.

I firstly sketch out characters, creating a few different versions and submit these to the client as a first draft. Some clients are happy for me to have full creative control, but others already have a clear idea in mind.

I've learned from experience that while clients can envisage what they want, it's very difficult to convey that via email or over the phone/Zoom. The initial sketches are a starter point for discussion where the client that then direct me as to what they want.

Once we agree on the character designs I then begin sketching out each spread.

Communication is key, so I use Google Drive to share the work with the client on a regular basis so that everyone's happy and that there's no nasty surprises. I also find it's vital to be open to feedback througout the process, and to aim to please.

After nealry 30 years of being a professional artist I'm still trying to prefect my skills, so I try and make each project better than the last one.

Once the client is happy with the sketches, I'll begin the process of creating the final versions. My current go-to piece of kit is my iPad and Procreate. Previously I used my Wacom Cintiq with either Photoshop or Coral Painter, but I find the iPad gives me a lot more flexibility.

Once all the spreads are complete, if the client is self-publishing I can create the rest of the book design in InDesign. Otherwise I'll upload all the final spreads to Google Drive for the client to work their magic.

What do you hope children take away from your drawings?

We recently had a sort out of the books in our daughter's bedroom, and although she's now a teenager she vividly remembered the picture books that my wife and I would read to her at bedtime. I never experienced that as a child as my parents split up when I was very young, but I'd love to help create those moments like we had with our son and daughter - where they'd point at the picture as tots and laugh - or gasp in shock. Either way, the illustrations always created a reaction and helped the kids become involved in the story.

I'm hoping that the books I illustrate will have the same effect and create memories for children and adults for years to come.

Share your favourite piece of artwork from your portfolio and walk us through its creation.

Dogs are full of character, and like people they each have their own personality. In this picture Mathelda and Clemmie (who are best friends) is are heading out for a walk with their dogs, while discussing the exciting letter that Mathelda recieved that morning.

The dogs, meanwhile, don't care about letters - they're far more interested in having fun with each other.

The reason that this is my favourite image is that I love being outdoors, and I wanted to add the extra elements that are all around us but we can so easily dismiss. We are a nature-loving family, and we love watching all the wide variety of birds in our garden - plus the cheeky squirrels. I want to include as much of nature into my artwork as I can, because I'm well aware that there are many children who can't access it for themsleves so easily - especially in the busy urban areas. I love the fact that where I live we're also surrounded by a big sky, with lots of space. I aim to create that feeling of space in my art too, so hopefully it's relaxing on the eye and on the mind too.

I'll also often try to put as many different species of birds in the backgrounds of my illustrations almost like a trademark, so to speak. In the first image you'll see the swallow speeding past. These are probably my favourite birds as they're incredible. I love watching them sweep low over the fields almost as if they're performing aerobatic stunts.

Which project are you most proud of?

The Clemmie and Mathelda series of books. They were lovely to work on, and hopefully there's more to come!

Animals feature heavily in children’s books – do you have a pet?

We have a two year sheepdog called Bronwen. Her hobbies include -

Sprinting around on a deserted beach whilst chasing a ball
Having a good swim
Playing with her canine friends (of all shapes and sizes) in a large field
Sleeping and dreaming of all the above
Winding up her feline sister

We also have a six year old tabby cat called Polly, who we rescued as a kitten. Her hobbies include -

Sleeping
Eating
Waking us up a 5:45am every morning for breakfast
Eating some more
Reminding us at 4:45pm that it's time for her evening meal (although this can start at 3pm)
Winding up her canine sister

Greg David