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

Hu Yong Yi

Good Morning China is a lovely children's book published by Roaring Brook Press in New York.  Hu Yong Yi is the artist who has done beautiful work with the illustrations. 

Each illustration or painting shows children having fun in the park, all busy with their different activities.  It's a very gentle book and I love looking at these serene pictures.

Hu Yong Yi has a website where you can see more of her lyrical paintings.

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.

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.