This past Monday we were lucky enough to meet up with the friendly David Melling…
And his very affable bear, Hugless Douglas…
What could be better on a wintry day… than a friendly bookshop,
With a delightful coffee and cocoa spread…
Story time…
A drawing lesson…
And of course… Hugless Douglas… (note to self: this child needs a bear already).
Se7en + 1 Interview Questions for David Melling
- Did you always know you were going to create books?
- What were your favourite childhood books?
- Are you disciplined or inspired?
- How do you find your characters?
- Tell us about your work process.
- How does one get to be an illustrator?
- What do you eat for breakfast?
- If you could pick anywhere in the world to go on holiday where would you choose?
No, but I was a big reader, and so when I discovered a job in making books I was overjoyed.
I loved reading everything, but my favourite was Asterix and Obelix.
Disciplined – illustrating is a job, although I really do enjoy it. I have an office that I go to and work certain hours every day.
I love drawing animals and once I find one that I enjoy drawing I draw it and draw it so that I can get to know the character well.
I always have a notebook with me to capture ideas. I like letting ideas develop, and then leaving them to stew and coming back later to see if they can’t go down another path. Otherwise, I draw and draw and draw, I love drawing and drawing is like a muscle, you have to keep it trained.
Don’t stop drawing when you hit high school, just keep at it and practice all the time.
While Hugless Douglas has honey for breakfast, David Melling eats cereal.
Well, now that he has been here, on a flying visit, he definitely wants to visit South Africa with his family.
And we have a new beautiful sketch in our sketchbook…
Thank you so much David Melling for a fabulous time and The Book Lounge for the perfect venue and of course, PanMacmillan, South Africa for organizing it all.
well, will you look at that… he is a lefty too 🙂
Ha Irene, I noticed that too… in a family with 90% lefties it was the first thing I spotted!!! Hope you have had a great week!!!
What lovely books; and illustrations!
Don’t stop drawing. I guess what he is saying is don’t stop doing your passions 🙂 GREAT life lesson there.
How lovely!!!
Does Hood 8 have a bear he would prefer? Can I get him one?
Also, hood 1 is suddenly looking too GROWN UP (like that, in caps!).
Oh Aunty Muffin, The books are too sweet and your little guy would love them. Hope you have had a great week!!!
Oh Marcia, On your birthday you stopped by…. Hope you have had a fantastic day. And yes indeed what a great life lesson. It just occurred to me as I was looking at the photographs that we have never found a bear that we loved for Hood #8. I have seen youh ave very good taste in cuddly bars, but somehow we have never found the right one for him… what it is to be number 8!!! Not to mention that I just cannot comment on the growth of these kids… every winter they seem to sprout six feet!!!
Lovely! I like to part about discipline. So many of us look to being inspired but discipline is KEY!!!
Isn’t that the truth Mrs FF, So many folk say, “They wish they could do that…” but they don’t necessarily want to do all the daily, step by step, work. There is a lot to be said for slow and steady wins the race. Thanks for stopping by, hope you had a great week!!!