On 13th March 2020 Guest speaker on Desert Island Discs is Chris Riddell, Illustrator, Author and Political Cartoonist.
The Radio 4 information introduces Chris Riddell as an illustrator, author of children’s books and a political cartoonist. From 2015 to 2017 he was this Children’s Laureate, and he has won three Greenaway Medals for his work .
He was born in 1962 in Cape Town, South Africa, where his parents were both anti-apartheid activists. They moved to the UK when Chris was a year old. He grew up first in rural England and later in South London, where his father became Chaplain of Brixton Prison.
He started drawing as a young boy when he was given paper and pencils by his mother to keep him quiet during his father’s sermons. After school he studied illustration under Raymond Briggs at Brighton Polytechnic and received his first commission while still at art school. As a writer his work ranges from picture books to chapter book series including Ottoline and Goth Girl and as an illustrator he has frequently collaborated ith authors such as Paul Stewart and Neil Gaurian.
He started as a political cartoonist in the late 1980’s and has drawn the Observer’s weekly cartoon since 1995, celebrating 25 years at the paper this year. As Children’s Laureate he encouraged children to draw and championed the importance of school libraries and librarians.
Chris is married to Jo, a fellow illustrator and print maker, with whom he has three grown children, among them Katy, another illustrator.
Book choice: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, with the Tenniel illustrations.
Luxury Item: Sketchbooks and pens.
Castaway Favourite: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
it is a pleasure listening to this programme. Chris talks about his love of drawing and how he always carries a sketchbook with him. His sketchbook feels like his own personal space. He finds drawing relaxing especially accompanied by music. Drawing to Chris is a verb, a doing and it helps to externalise his feelings and thoughts as well as being mindful and calming.
As Children’s Laureate Chris encouraged children in the “joy of creativity” and still pins up drawings he receives from children as their artwork is often imaginative and refreshing.
He advises not to worry about styles of drawing, just see how various situations affect your style and the style should find you.
I enjoy Chris explaining about his studio (an old coach house) at the bottom of his garden he shares with his daughter (also an illustrator), – a little walk through trees from the kitchen.
However his work is not hushed forever in the quiet of the garden. At some point it has to be communicated and shared so others need to see it, hear it and react to it.
Other valuable information given on the programme is about Trust. I find this particularly interesting as my “wild” mood board is about Trust. Trust is at the heart of the collaboration between Illustrator and Author – knowing when and when not to intervene. Chris considers the primacy of the text to interpret but not to get in front of it as an illustrator. Not to be too descriptive but rather to evoke than to describe.
This programme holds some good advice as noted in the summary above. I find Chris positive to listen to and the programme is enjoyable.
Adelaide Art 