FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS…

Where can I buy your books?

Why thanks! Most local bookshops will stock them or order in for you if can’t buy in store. Otherwise the publishers sometimes have their own website shops, or bookshop.org is an ethical alternative to amazon.

Also you can always see if your local library has a copy - supporting libraries, especially in this time is so important. They are wonderful spaces and free!

What materials do you like to work with?

I work in mixed media - I love texture and collage especially. I mainly use inks, pastel, coloured pencils and neocolor. I also use a lot of cut out paper, coloured by myself and found papers sourced from old magazines, stamps, newspapers etc to give me pattern and texture. I’m quite obsessed with working onto newsprint - I find it the smoothest to lay down colour, and I like the off white colour. I draw onto it and then cut out and put all the elements together like a jigsaw piece. I find this way it gives me the opportunity to make composition decisions much as you would do in layers in photoshop. I like to explore many ways of working and don’t like to feel tied to one particular way of working. 

Read more about my materials I use here: Jacksons Art Blog

Where do you get the ideas for your picture books?

It normally stems from a spark of an idea or drawings from sketchbooks. I have quite a large collection of sketchbooks now and I often go back to them to flip through if I’m stuck for inspiration. For me keeping a sketchbook is a huge part of my practise and you can see much more of an insight to this on my Patreon.

How reliant are you on digital media to produce your work?

Short answer - I’m not! 

Although I am interested in how digital media would help my working process and give me access to new methods and results. Currently though I don’t have the time to explore it fully and I’m comfortable with the way I work. Each picture book spread is hand drawn, and then scanned by the publishers when I deliver the artwork. It doesn’t affect my working relationship with my publishers to still work this way.

Your animal characters are very distinctive, where did you find inspiration for them?

I like to draw animals that interest me, or that vary in shape and size and texture. It is fun for me to take an animal and breathe new characteristics into it. I also enjoy making up monster characters - it is great fun to create something completely new and have free reign over how they develop. I often use animal body parts for my monsters as a starting point and then develop them from there. 

Do you have a favourite of your books?

That is a hard question! I guess it is my first book ‘Five Little Fiends’ as I still enjoy reading it now 20 years later to school groups and at events. I’m proud of it as it was the book that kick started this lovely career of mine.

How do you juggle work and being a parent?

Sometimes well, often quite badly. Being a parent and an artist is hard, I want to do both well and sometimes that’s not possible. I split childcare with my husband and the kids go to school and nursery which obviously gives me large parts of time to work. I try very hard not to work weekends and I am around for bedtime, even if I have to work after.

It does seem to get easier when they get older, the guilt never really goes but it gets easier to manage. So if you are the parent of a very young child trying to navigate work around them take heart that it can get easier!

How much do your children influence your writing and illustration?

My children are 11, 7 and 3, and they are inspiring me more and more. I have always read to them and they have a true love of books and I have a vast collection now! 

By reading books out loud to a child it really lets me see straight away what works and why, and what they are interested in. I occasionally get ideas from them too, what is important to a five year old for example, may not have been obvious to me as an adult. They are also handy to draw from - observational drawing is very important to me, so it’s great to have these different ages to draw from and build up a catalogue of different poses and little quirks.

Do you have a strict work schedule?

Not really, although I value my childfree time and try and use it well. I work better in the morning so I tend to start early (when the children are in school and nursery) around half 9, always with a cup of tea and 6 music on! Then I have to finish working when I pick up my children. Depending on the work I have on I’ll either be at my desk or out location drawing. 

How did you find the right publisher for you?

My first book was published with Bloomsbury before I left Kingston University and I was lucky that there was a good relationship between the publisher and the university for me to be able to get that opportunity to show them my work. Now I’ve worked with Francis Lincoln, Otter Barry Books, Tate and Templar as well. My books tend to be slightly different depending on who I’m working with. With Templar for example the books are a series of non fiction younger books, quite different to my picture books. I think with so many different publishers out there you can find the right ‘home’ for you. Not all publishers want and are looking for the same thing so it can take a while to find the right fit. It is always a good idea to see what you like in bookshops and find out who publishes it before approaching just anyone.

What advice would you give to an aspiring picture book creator?

It sounds obvious but to just keep going and make lots of work! It is a really competitive environment and I would never put anyone off wanting to become an author or an illustrator. It is a good idea to have a good understanding of what is currently popular, and what sells well. Being a regular to your children’s book section in your library or independent bookshop will help you see what is out there at the moment. Having an agent is in no way essential but if you want to approach ones make sure you look at their guidelines.

This is a really great book to read too.

Which other illustrators or artists inspire you?

So many other picture book illustrators making a difference to the industry. People I admire include Beatrice Alemagna, David Roberts, Christian Robinson, Victoria Semykina, Oga Mora, Alexis Deacon, Helen Stephens, Kveta Pacovska, and Laura Carlin. Favourites from my childhood are Richard Scarry and Quentin Blake, as well as other artists like Saul Steinburg, and Eric Ravilious - too many to name really!