Helen Stephens (Children's Book Illustrator/Writer)

Today at the Bowes museum, the group and myself had a lecture by the lovely Helen Stephens. She is a children's book illustrator who has both commissioned work, and has interestingly herself produced her own books.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeibfFHFDrJ-BM0QIUkR0EyCxj78gvhKb-DauPQlWV-lFIAC2OB7-OWRFg6Ygy_Wg1jYX_rZ7c0-KZhKHhrpDYWgwagitj_93bFCU3bL-7xd_r1mvKMw38fd3oTdxO4MbHywA1dGIF4A/s1600/hstephens.jpg < image reference at this link.

I found her talk to be very interesting, especially as it relates to some of the work that I produce. I love to draw in a scratchy style, and I also like using strong, bright colours. Children's illustration is a market that I could comfortable see myself entering in the future, as one of my career paths after university.

The above images are examples of her art style, as well as an example of a children's book she wrote, and illustrated.

She talked about her beginnings, attending art school, and struggling in the higher education environment. She said that she found taking in briefs the most challenging part, however after recieving work from publishers, she now finds briefs a lot less tedious. She also talked about her troubles of trying to incorporate her personal style, into her publishing work, as the two styles of illustrations did not match up. She also discussed how she worked with such writers as Michael Morpurgo, and how she travelled to Venice to grasp inspiration for his book.

http://www.helenstephens.com/images/sketchbooks/big/helenstephensillustrator1.jpg < image reference at this link.

The image above is an example of her own scratchy style, this drawing is of Berwick, in the north of England. This is the style that she wanted to incorporate into her children's book publishing work

At the end of the talk, she exhibited some of her original pieces, which contained some work from the book I display above. 

A very kind woman, and also a very talented artist, writer and illustrator. I found relation to her work, as with the Nobrow brief, I must plan, write, and illustrate my own story. As well as this, my book will be in the layout of a children's book, so I found looking through Helens assortment of books helpful. I have taken some inspiration from Helen, and I will think about my book some more.

Thomas.