Hippopotamus at Glen St Theatre

Who would have thought that everyone's favourite hippo would be residing on the roof at Glen St Theatre, Belrose, Sydney?

He has been starring in the popular new musical especially for kids, called Hippo! Hippo! A new musical adventure!

The school holidays are on in Sydney so it is a great time to see this fun show which has been adapted from the books written by Hazel Edwards and illustrated by me. The first book of the series is There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake,  published in 1980 and continuously in print.

I'm taking some young family members this week. We are all looking forward to seeing the hippo singing and dancing!

A Musical Hippopotamus

Coming to many venues throughout Australia, in the next few months, is Hippo! Hippo! A Big New Musical Adventure!

Showing in popular areas in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, this fun production would appeal to all young children and adults who have a soft spot for a friendly pink hippo. 

It is based on the classic children's book 'There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake' written by Hazel Edwards and illustrated by me. 

The musical has been created by Gary Ginivan who has produced many exciting shows based on popular Australian books.

I'm looking forward to seeing the hippo star in his stage debut!  He'll rock it I'm sure!

http://touringselector.com/production?p=2438

This Little Piggy Went Singing

At last my illustrations have been published in a brand new picture book and it's in the book shops now!.  This is a sequel to This Little Piggy Went Singing written by Margaret Wild.  The new book features the piggies getting ready for Christmas and excitedly enjoying the journey to the big day!

It is just the book to get you in the Christmas mood. The illustrations were great fun to do especially as they involved happy piglets in a festive spirit.  I love the sparkly glittery cover.

Thanks to Allen and Unwin, the publishers! 

Piggy Cover by Deborah Niland

Piggy shopping by Deborah Niland

Piggy playing flute by Deborah Niland

More Piggies

I've been hard at work illustrating a sequel to This Little Piggy Went Dancing!  The new picture book will be called This Little Piggy Went Singing and is again written by Margaret Wild. 

This time the piggies are preparing for Christmas and all the illustrations have a joyous happy vibe.  The book is planned for publication towards the end of this year.

Below is a sneak peek!

Looking for Santa

Baking gingerbread

Hanging Christmas stockings

This Little Piggy Went Dancing

 My new book has just been published and it's swarming with little pigs!

Teaming up with the fabulous Margaret Wild who wrote the words, I have let myself loose by creating an abundance of active piglets!

To get into a piggy mood, I'll be adding some fun activity pages in the coming week.

This book is published by Allen & Unwin and is available now.

Mulga Bill's Bicycle...Part 5

Mulga Bill's Bicycle 2013

I have been doing some research into the background of 'Banjo' Paterson's poem, Mulga Bill's Bicycle.

My father, the writer D'Arcy Niland, grew up in a household where books were a rarity.  When he had a family of his own, he would often frequent the local second-hand bookshops and bring home boxes of books to add to our home library.

The titles varied from the weird to classic, to fiction and non-fiction.  Books of poetry stood next to titles like Monsters of the Deep. It was a treasure trove to our family growing up.
There was always a book on hand to suit the mood.

It also encouraged a love of history, science, natural history, humour, poetry and songs.

So it was one of these books plucked from a shelf that inspired our illustrated version of Mulga Bill's Bicycle.

That book was Rio Grande's Last Race and other Verses by A B Paterson. The edition I have is a very old copy, dated 1924.

In the last few years historical research has become easier online, as many libraries and institutions are digitising their records, books and newspapers.  When researching the background of the poem Mulga Bill's Bicycle, I found a small newspaper item from The Sydney Morning Herald, 17th July 1896.

As the first illustrator of this poem was Norman Hardy, I did a little research on this artist as well.
This item is from The Sydney Mail, 8th January, 1898.

This Norman Hardy painting below now resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

I haven't uncovered the illustrations he drew for Mulga Bill's Bicycle as yet. 
That research will be for another time.

Mulga Bill's Bicycle...Part 4

Here are some more activities to celebrate my long-living Mulga Bill's Bicycle picture book.
Please click on each image to print out the size you require.

One maze is a little more challenging than the other.

Have fun!

Annie's Chair

Annie's Chair is the title one of my children's books which I wrote and illustrated.  First published in 2005 by Penguin Group Australia, it has been incredibly successful with editions published in Korea, China, USA and Canada.

I have received some lovely letters and emails from kids about this book.

You can read more about Annie's Chair here.

I based the dog in the story on my own beautiful dog.  He's been a great companion and enjoys life every day.  He still thinks he's a puppy even though his increasing white whiskers betray that notion.

I have created an activity for the kids based on an illustration from my book.
Click on the image to print out in the size you want, and colour in bright colours.

Mulga Bill's Bicycle...Part 3

I have been looking through my old sketchbooks and came across this drawing.  It's a study for one of the illustrations my sister and I completed for our picture book Mulga Bill's Bicycle.

In those days I did a lot of sketching with a nib pen and ink or ink wash. The result is a freer expression and a way to capture the essence of a situation or character without a lot of detail.

Preliminary sketch 1972 - Mulga Bill's Bicycle -Deborah Niland

Using this sketch as a base, the following illustration was finished using a fine pen and watercolour.

Published illustration 1973 - Mulga Bill's Bicycle - Kilmeny and Deborah Niland

Mulga Bill's Bicycle...Part 2

In celebration of my sister's and my picture-book version of Mulga Bill's Bicycle's 40th birthday, I'm posting a free activity to download and colour.

The activity below has been adapted from a poster we designed, and had been used to promote the children's book of Mulga Bill's Bicycle, first published in Australia in 1973.

Wouldn't it be fun for kids to design their own hapless Mulga Bill?  Let your imaginations run riot!

More information and activities here in the coming months.

Mulga Bill's Bicycle...Part 1

Mulga Bill's Bicycle 1973.  Illustrations Kilmeny and Deborah Niland

This year, 2013, marks the 40th anniversary (yes 40th! ) of the first publication of my picture book, Mulga Bill's Bicycle.

The amazing thing is that this book has been in continuous print since 1973.  I believe it is quite rare to have a picture book still in print after all these years.

Mulga Bill's Bicycle is the name of a poem written in 1896 by Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson.

This picture-book version of  Banjo Paterson's poem was illustrated by my sister Kilmeny and me and first published by William Collins (Australia) Ltd in 1973.

To celebrate this book's long life, I thought I would post, at intervals, various snippets and original sketches which relate to the finished illustrations.  I would also like to make up some activity sheets for kids to download and print.

Mulga Bill's Bicycle 2007.  Illustrations Kilmeny and Deborah Niland

Some Black and White Illustrations

I've been looking through a lot of my older work of late, scanning and sorting. 

The works below are from a title published way back last century, in 1974.
The title of the book is Tell Me A Tale, stories retold and copyrighted by Jean Chapman and illustrations copyrighted by Deborah and Kilmeny Niland.

It's weird looking at your ownl work again after such a long time.  It was gratifying to see that the originals are so much finer and delicate as compared with the printed version.  As an illustrator you tend to forget that the printed work can be quite dissimilar to the original art.

Printing methods today are so much better which means good quality is more easily achievable in book production.

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

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

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.