 | To celebrate the publication of The Dangerous Pet Lover's Guide to Dragons, we asked Alice a bit about her experience illustrating Lindsay Hirst's story... This book is a lot of fun - which part of the project did you particularly enjoy illustrating? I had soooo much fun coming up with the little details that you may not spot on the first time round reading the book. For instance, the escaped centaur poster showing Neighthan the Centaur in the Dangerous Pets Lost and Found Department. He also appears in a painting in the bedroom in the cross section of the house earlier in the book. The ghosts that are hiding in all the mirrors were fun to do too. |
There are quite a lot of dragons in the book - how did you go about designing them all?
I had a TON of fun designing the dragons! I had drawn pages and pages and pages of all different shapes and sizes, sometimes taking inspiration from other animals, like crocodiles, and even pigs. Some of them ended up in the book, but most didn’t unfortunately. Others were based on silhouettes, or shapes, but in the end I went for a goofy and friendly, but cute looking dragon for our main character- I wanted a silly dog-like personality to go with it too. The fire dragons were great fun to design as well, as I could go wild with frames for their spines, and big horns and teeth- these were the really mean ‘fiery’ personalities, so I could have a lot of fun with them interacting with each other too.
I had a TON of fun designing the dragons! I had drawn pages and pages and pages of all different shapes and sizes, sometimes taking inspiration from other animals, like crocodiles, and even pigs. Some of them ended up in the book, but most didn’t unfortunately. Others were based on silhouettes, or shapes, but in the end I went for a goofy and friendly, but cute looking dragon for our main character- I wanted a silly dog-like personality to go with it too. The fire dragons were great fun to design as well, as I could go wild with frames for their spines, and big horns and teeth- these were the really mean ‘fiery’ personalities, so I could have a lot of fun with them interacting with each other too.
| Do you have a favourite dragon drawing or character? Other than the main dragon character, I think my favourite dragon is the really weird one with a smaller dragon growing out of it’s back! I made my self laugh when I drew it trying to run away from it’s own back-dragon. I was over the moon that that Bloomsbury and Lindsay were happy with me go a bit bonkers with the designs. |  |
Can you tell us a bit about your process - how do you create your illustrations?
I start with lots of thumbnails of the spreads, and then choose the best composition or design that conveys the text in the most fun or interesting way.
Then I will do a more detailed rough which I print out and put on my Lightbox. Here I draw out my scenes with pencil, water colour textures and a dry brush ink pen, which then all gets scanned in to be coloured up on photoshop.
I start with lots of thumbnails of the spreads, and then choose the best composition or design that conveys the text in the most fun or interesting way.
Then I will do a more detailed rough which I print out and put on my Lightbox. Here I draw out my scenes with pencil, water colour textures and a dry brush ink pen, which then all gets scanned in to be coloured up on photoshop.
Was there something that ended up being scrapped/not in the book that you wish had made it?
Oooo good question! Initially the first spread was a scene of our main character in her room preparing to go on her quest to find her pet dragon. But it was a little complicated and we went for a more simplistic opening in the end (below). So there isn’t really anything I wish was in the book that didn’t make it, as ultimately I think all the choices with the wonderful team made the book better and more readable.
Oooo good question! Initially the first spread was a scene of our main character in her room preparing to go on her quest to find her pet dragon. But it was a little complicated and we went for a more simplistic opening in the end (below). So there isn’t really anything I wish was in the book that didn’t make it, as ultimately I think all the choices with the wonderful team made the book better and more readable.
| What was a challenging aspect of the project? I think the most challenging aspect was right at the start when we were trying to establish how to show the guide book pages amongst all the scenes in a way that it was easy to understand for the viewer. I played with scrap-book ideas, with photos stuck to the pages with the scenes on and all sorts! But in the end we had a mix of full scenes with the text locked up with the graph paper behind it to link the full scenes to the guide book. |  |
| Are there any images that changed significantly whilst working on the book? Yes, a few - the ‘Feeding’ spread changed a bit and went through a few variations before I settled on a cross section of a house. I quite liked the idea of a Dragon trying to get into the Dad’s car with him to find food. |  |
 | There’s a recurring cat that pops up throughout - what was the idea behind this character? I always love adding in a side character for kids reading the book to spot on every page. And because the Dragon is a sort of dog personality, it made sense to me to have a cat as the side character- especially if it added a bit of added narrative or conflict between the two. |
| Final question - what kind of dragon would you have? I think the main character did well with choosing her Swamp Dragon- they seem to have the calmest (albeit stinkiest) of the temperaments. But I think my favourite kind would be a cross between an Ice Dragon and a Swamp Dragon- I’m particularly fond on the one at the end of the book flying through a pair of pants. It looks suitably silly- I think we would get on! The Dangerous Pet Lover's Guide to Dragons published by Bloomsbury Children's Books is out now. |  |