David Barrow is author and illustrator of Have You Seen Elephant? and Have You Seen Dinosaur? Come in to his studio…
My studio is at the bottom of my garden. It’s built from an old outbuilding previously used by Kettering shoemakers to make shoes from home. It’s warm, has internet, and is my happy place. Come in, come in! The studio is full of nick nacks that I’ve collected over the years and it’s apparent that I am obsessed with skulls and skeletons. It’s not normally this tidy. I have cleaned for the occasion.
When I am actually allowed in the house, I live with my lovely wife Jo, our son Teddy, and a cat named Harold (who was almost called George Michael but sadly it wasn’t to be). Luckily, they both share my obsession with all things picture books. We have loads.
Have You Seen Dinosaur?
Have You Seen Dinosaur? is the follow-up to my debut picture book Have You Seen Elephant? The gang is all back, Elephant, Boy and Dog. This time they’re looking for something slightly bigger. But despite Dinosaur’s size, it’s genuinely more difficult to spot the creature in the big city that they now find themselves in.
As a few people have already noticed, the city is based on several around the world. Specifically, New York, London and Paris. I know London and Paris quite well, but I’ve never been to New York. So, if anyone would like to send me there on an observational drawing excursion, I’d obviously be very grateful…
These are some VERY rough initial scribbles and early roughs that made it into the book.
Where I begin—sketchbooks
Sketchbooks. I love sketchbooks.
I find drawing from life so beneficial. The things I observe; characters, colours, lighting, atmosphere, all inform my work in some way or another. My favourite place to draw is pubs. I love pubs. I may love pubs more than I love sketchbooks. It is interesting to see how the extreme low lighting and limited colour palettes that I experience in pubs transfers into my illustrative work.
Sketchbooks are also amazing places to play, experiment with medium and make mistakes! As you’ve seen, many germs of ideas for my books were born in sketchbooks. For a much more comprehensive delve into why sketchbooks are so important, check out my old mentor’s @profmartinsalisbury Instagram account. He’s the expert.
These are some pages from sketchbooks over the years (including the origin of our protagonists).
If you’re like me, you’ll obsess over other illustrators’ techniques. I love seeing how things are made.
This video chronicles my process for Have You Seen Dinosaur? The way I do things changes from book to book. I use different media, different mark-making. But the journey remains similar.
Watch out for an appearance by the huge spider that lives outside my studio. She’s been there for a couple of months, continually gorging on unlucky insects that fly into her impressively constructed web. I’ll miss her when she’s gone.
Putting together a picture book spread
This animation shows how I put a spread together, featuring a supporting cast of thousands (erm… six), as well as a couple of other hiding dinosaurs.
I’m on Instagram @davidbarrowillustration, where I post sporadically about picture books, sketchbooks, progressive rock, favourite watering holes and several other interesting subjects.
Have You Seen Dinosaur? is available from all good bookstores.
In this interactive follow-up to international bestselling picture book Have You Seen Elephant? you can play hide and seek in the city with a boy, his animal friends and a dinosaur that’s surprisingly hard to spot.
