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

Kawase Hasui

Hasui Kawase (1883-1957) was a Japanese artist who produced a magnificent body of work.

Kawase worked on landscape and urban prints based on sketches he made during travels around Japan. Earlier ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). were influential in Kawase's work

Kawase was a realist and used Western compositions in his paintings . He made travel and landscape prints from woodblocks and watercolours. His paintings are beautiful in their natural tones of light and shade.^.
 He also painted works in oil, and produced traditional hanging scrolls.

 His artistry was much appreciated worldwide and in 1956 was named a Living National Treasure in Japan.

Hans de Beer

Hans de Beer is a favourite artist of mine.  He has written and illustrated many books for children.
His very well known ones feature Lars the little Polar bear and his adventures.

I have other books that are beautifully illustrated by him.  He has a muted approach with watercolour and delicate inkwork in his art work. His animal characters always show great empathy without going overboard in the facial expressions.

Ollie the Elephant

Little Polar Bear

Illustration Hans de Beer

Ahoy There Little Polar Bear

Prince Valentino

 All his works are worth looking at for his fine drawing and reading for the amusing and heartwarming stories written by Hans de Beer and other authors.

Christmas Greetings!

Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone! 
Wishing you all a jolly festive season with family and friends.
Looking forward to more fun in 2015.

Here are some beautiful illustrations of birds in the colours of Christmas!

For Dog Lovers

David Shannon has a special way with dogs.  Any dog owner reading or looking at this book will recognize that the author has nailed it.  The illustrations captures the quirky nature of Fergus, his beloved West Highland terrier.

The pictures below are from Good Boy, Fergus. It was written and illustrated by David Shannon, and published by The Blue Sky Press in New York.

A funny cheerful book for children.

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 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

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.