An interview with SCBWI France's Expression Publication

Expression: Can you tell us in a little about your childhood? What was it that attracted you to illustrating for children in particular?
JS: Half my family are from North Wales. Although I was born in England I was raised with a very strong sense of Welsh heritage, including all the legends and stories of the mountains. From the word go I had a fascination for history and mystery. With an already over-active imagination, the books I read as a child had a big impact on me for their illustrations, especially old books. I think I was naturally attracted to pen drawings from a fairly early age. I toyed with the idea of becoming a wildlife or landscape artist when I was around twelve, but then I discovered (or rather re-discovered) the work of early 20th century fantasy illustrators and was completely obsessed with children’s books from then on. At that time and for many years my main fascination was with fantasy, children’s novels and fairy tales rather than picture books. I only seriously began taking on the challenge of picture books for young children after I’d graduated.

Expression: Was there a particular drawing/book/illustrator that you remember being particularly affected by when you were a child?
JS: In retrospect, my mum’s shabby old 1920’s books of fairy tales had an effect on me. One of them, The Children's Treasury of Great Stories had almost 500 pages in it and illustrations by Arthur Rackham, Harry Rowantree and Chas Robinson. The stories included, Alice in Wonderland, Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb, Gulliver in Lilliput by Dean Swift and Tales from Arabian Nights. We didn’t have many picture books when I was very young. Comics were the regular reading matter in our house, so I started to be influenced by illustration when I began buying my own books at the age of nine or so. Probably the first illustrator who made a big impact on me was Edward Ardizzone. His drawings fascinated me then (and still do) for the archaic timelessness of the work.

Expression: Can you recall the first picture you did that you were really pleased with?
JS: Oh yes. It was a school exhibition project when I was aged 14, a large portrait of a craggy old man’s face rendered in coloured ink, all in line. My parents still have it in its original frame somewhere.

Expression: What do you most enjoy about creating work for children? What aspect do you find the most difficult?
JS: Most enjoyable thing is getting completely absorbed by the project. Not every book does that for you of course, but when it happens, there’s no greater buzz than being sucked in and pulled by your imagination or inspiration along a journey of exploration. When everything seems to flow and the pictures go just in the direction you want. When everything seems to come together without a struggle. Difficult things? Overcoming the procrastination at the start of a project is always a bummer – tinkering with other things instead of getting down to work. Sometimes getting into the groove can take a while. I’m like an old engine that takes forever to start moving, but when I get going it’s full steam ahead, and no stopping till it’s done!

Expression: Can you tell us a little about how you developed the techniques you use?
JS: I’m a traditionalist at heart, so most of my techniques follow a well-trodden path of pen and watercolour, with hints and tips picked up from the masters along the way. In recent years computer illustration has made inroads on my commercial work, but I’m a luddite at heart and I’d rather keep my children’s illustrations away from digital. A good pen nib and the right paper (which I'm still searching for) are my fundamentals, with layers of watercolour washes. The rest is down to observation, occasional experimentation and trial and error.

Expression: Can you talk a little about the other kinds of illustration work you do (editorial, advertising etc) and how these relate to or compare with your children’s book illustration.
JS: In Japan I’ve worked on a lot of commercial illustration. It's in a somewhat different technique, but originates from the same basic style -- I simply use different paper, stronger, bolder pen lines and flat colour fills as opposed to watercolour. I tend to approach commercial illustration and children’s books from opposing points of view. Posters etc need to have strong messages, be punchy, easily understood and memorable, so whenever possible I try to keep the overall image strong and dynamic. Illustrations for children’s books, on the other hand, are for me windows into another reality. Rather than thrust the image at the viewer as in commercial work, I try to gently entice them into the world of the book, and do my best to keep them there. When given the opportunity (which is not always) I try to create pictures that the viewer will come back to again and again and always find something to hold them, whether through tiny details they may have missed before, or atmosphere and mood.

Expression: In what ways did moving from the UK to Japan affect your career?
JS: The market in Japan is very different from the West, which inevitably encouraged me to explore new techniques and styles. Working on pop-art posters for fashion department stores wasn’t at all a thing I’d considered doing when living in the UK, but in Japan I’ve become known for that more than for my children’s books. As a result my work has tended to polarise into two separate fields. I’ve tried to bring the two techniques closer together in the past with mixed results. Now I’m happy to keep them as two separate entities. There are some cross-over points however. Regarding children’s books, as an authentic European I’ve often been approached in Japan to work on fairy tales and other “European” stories which have allowed me to indulge the traditional side of my work more that I possibly would have done in the UK. In recent years the growth of the internet and email has made working with artists based overseas a much easier proposition for publishers, so I’m working a lot more internationally, something that would have been very difficult ten years ago. Living as a Westerner in Japan has made me very aware of the possibilities of the Net. It’s getting to the point that it really doesn’t matter where you live, it’s all down to how confident the client is in using technology. A lot of my recent work is for publishers in the United States. Some western publishers have noted how my colours have become a lot brighter and less shadowy since arriving in Japan. This is probably due to the tastes of the local market, and also how the light in the two countries is very different.

Expression: How, if at all, have your relationships with editors and/or art directors influenced your career so far?
JS: The best children’s editors are those that have the insight to sense what the illustrator is capable of, and to gently inspire the best from them. That’s really all anyone could ever want from an editor. Sometimes you just need to be wound up like a clockwork toy, given the right project (where you have a clear concept of what you want to do), and be left alone with plenty of time to work your thing. Occasionally editors have introduced me to new things – I’m eternally grateful to one Japanese editor who introduced me to Czech and Slovakian children’s illustration some years ago (which had nothing to do with the book we were working on). More than illustration, where editors really come into their own, of course, is with writing. I regard myself primarily as an illustrator and secondarily as a writer, and sometimes, a word or two on my writing from a trusted editor has made all the difference. With art directors, some AD’s in Japan have had a very big impact on my work, especially for commercial illustration, where working as a team has produced something perhaps greater than if I’d been left to my own devices. In children’s books, however, I tend to prefer to be left alone to do my thing.

"The most enjoyable thing is getting completely absorbed by the project.

Not every book does that for you of course, but when it happens, there’s no greater buzz than being sucked in and pulled by your imagination or inspiration along a journey of exploration.

When everything seems to flow and the pictures go just in the direction you want.

When I get going it’s full steam ahead, and no stopping till it’s done!
JOHN SHELLEY

John Shelley Illustration Studio
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1543 301535
Business conducted in Japanese or English
Fees subject to usage and period of use.

All illustrations on this website are copyright and may not be
reproduced or used in any way without express permission from John Shelley.

Children's Book Agents
UK and Europe - Pam Royds and Caroline Knox at Knoxfolio
(+44) 07977 982359 or email

North America - Laura Rennert at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency
(+1) 650-853-1976 or email

John Shelley's commercial, editorial and children's book illustration portfolio spans newspapers, corporate image work for international companies, free clip art ( for MSN / Microsoft), stock illustration, syndicated cartoons, kids books, poster illustration, fashion illustration, mascots, licensed character design, merchandise, fantasy illustration, fairy tales illustration, fairy pictures, book covers, children's illustrations and illustrated graphic design. Artist materials include pen and ink, watercolor , pencil sketch and Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop.

John Shelley's Illustration clients include publishing companies, newspapers, corporate advertising, marketing, trade marks, licencing, television broadcasters, including animated TV commercials and illustration for clients in Kansai * Fukuoka * Hiroshima * Kamakura * Kobe * Kyoto * Nagasaki * Nagoya * Nara * Osaka * Sapporo * Tokyo * Yokohama * Seoul * New York * Miami * Los Angeles * Manchester * London * Birmingham * Paris * Bologna