It's Christmas!

Christmas is a special time of year.  To celebrate, I'm showing a selection of illustrations from different artists. They are all from fun books about Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all!  May next year be filled with good times!

Artist-Deborah Niland

Artist-Deborah Niland

Artist-Fernando Krahn

Artist-John Burningham

Artist-Janet Ahlberg

Artist-Justin Todd

Artist-Kilmeny Niland

Artist-Marc Boulavant

Raymond Briggs

A Niland Art Exhibition

 
I've been busy the last couple of months sorting, painting and framing many of my works to be exhibited alongside my sister Kilmeny's fabulous array of her own paintings from her art collection.

This exhibition is presented as a tribute to Kilmeny's lifelong interest in art and will be held at the Artarmon Galleries in Sydney from the 6th to the 23rd October, 2012.

There will be a wide variety of artwork on show and for sale: original illustrations from books, oil paintings, watercolours, ink, humorous paintings, serious paintings, enigmatic paintings, portraits of people and portraits of fruit. There will be a scattering of hippos, monkeys and cows, dogs and cats, but no pigs.
You'll see big paintings and tiny paintings.

Come and visit the gallery if you are interested in book illustration and painting. Kilmeny has left a beautiful legacy.

Some more paintings on show from the exhibition.

Kilmeny Niland

Deborah Niland

A Favourite Book

I used to love reading this book to my kids when they were little.  They loved it too.

The Fisherman and His Wife is a classic tale and has been illustrated by many artists over the years.  The version I have was illustrated by Mark Southgate in 1987.  It was published by Andersen Press Ltd, London.

Here are some of the quirky pictures from this book. It is still a great favourite.

Pamela Lofts

Some more sad news. This time about the well-loved illustrator and artist Pamela Lofts who died on July 4th, 2012.

Although I didn't know Pamela personally, I was a great admirer of her fine illustrations in many children's books over the years.

She will be remembered for her wonderful work in Wombat Stew written by Marcia Vaughan. Also the delightful drawings in Snug as a Hug, also written by Marcia.

Other books, illustrated by Pamela, include Mem Fox's Koala Lou and Hunwick's Egg brought vividly to life by Pamela's gorgeous illustrations.

Besides her work with children's books, Pamela was well-known as a fine artist with many art exhibitions to her credit.

Pamela Lofts will be deeply missed by the art and illustration world.

Jean Chapman

I was very sorry to hear of the loss of Jean Chapman recently.  She was an author who wrote specifically for young people and made a long lasting impact and contribution to the world of children's literature.
She was a lovely person with a lively humorous spirit.

My sister Kilmeny and I were fortunate to have illustrated many of her stories over the years.
Jean compiled various collections of folk tales, poems, activities and songs, retold in her easy going style with close attention to detail.

Her works have been consistently popular, and although the collections I mentioned are now out of print, they are well represented in libraries around Australia.

The illustrations below are from the book, Tell Me Another Tale, a collection written and compiled by Jean Chapman, and first published in 1976.  Kilmeny and I had a great time creating some imaginative illustrations inspired by Jean's writings.

Jean will be sadly missed.

 

 

All illustrations are by Deborah and Kilmeny Niland.

Stuff & Nonsense

These drawings are from a book of humorous poetry which I illustrated way back last century.
The book was published by William Collins Pty Ltd in Sydney, and the poems were compiled by Michael Dugan from various authors.

Each illustration was drawn in black ink.

Illustration by Deborah Niland

Illustration by Deborah Niland

Illustration by Deborah Niland

Illustration by Deborah Niland

Illustration by Deborah Niland

Maurice Sendak

The illustration and children's book world has lost a major figure with the death of Maurice Sendak.
He influenced the techniques of many, many illustrators over the years and his books have been enjoyed by adults and children alike.

I remember the fuss that was made after the publication in 1963 of  his classic Where the Wild Things Are.

'Experts' in child development were adamant that children would be terrified and have recurring nightmares if shown this book. Nearly fifty years later this book is still popular and I'm sure the nightmares have proved to be non-existent.

The beautiful pictures below by Maurice Sendak are from some of his books I still have on my shelves.

Where The Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak 1963

Where The Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak 1963

Thr Griffon and the Minor Canon - Maurice Sendak 1963

The Bee-Man of Orn - Maurice Sendak 1964

The Bee-Man of Orn - Maurice Sendak 1964

Outside Over There -Maurice Sendak 1981

A Catty Display

Here are some illustrations from various books of mine featuring the cat.
I've used different techniques for each illustration. Pen and ink, watercolour, and digital.

I'm really a dog person, though.

Annie's Chair

I've recently received copies of my book, Annie's Chair, which has been published in a new Chinese edition.
The publisher is Beijing King Ear Images.  It looks a beautiful production!

I believe this edition is not available in Australia but copies are selling online from here.

Here are some pictures from the book.

Arnold Lobel

I have a small collection of books illustrated by Arnold Lobel.

He was an artist who was an important influence when I was starting out as a book illustrator. I've always admired his work and still do.

Arnold Lobel worked on a wide variety of books and always imbued his illustratrations with warmth and wit.
 He created splendid pigs as in The Book of Pigericks (1983) and of course he was well known for his Frog and Toad series of books (from 1970).

These works below are just some of my favourites.