Guy Parker-Rees
About Author
Guy Parker-Rees, illustrator of the bestselling Giraffes Can't Dance, was born in Zimbabwe and moved to England with his sister and two brothers when he was three. He went on to do a degree in English and Philosophy at York University, where he also spent a lot of time painting and doodling. He has worked as a mural painter, an arts and crafts teacher and as an art therapist, among other things, before beginning to illustrate children's books.
Interview
NEVER ASK A DINOSAUR TO DINNER
SCHOLASTIC UK
MAY 2014
The familiar bedtime routine, from eating and brushing teeth to finally getting into bed, is given a dangerous twist in this picture book by Gareth Edwards as we are reminded of the things you shouldn't do before bedtime. Never ask a dinosaur to dinner, don't share your toothbrush with a shark, and never choose a bison for a blanket.... just some of the tips we're given in this exuberant bedtime story, which is illustrated with great panache by Guy Parker-Rees.
We asked Guy Parker-Rees to share with us how he set about illustrating Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner.
Q: What was it about Gareth Edwards' text that appealed to you as an illustrator?
A: Well first of all it made me laugh. I thought the forced rhymes were brilliant and fresh. I loved the way in which it was a modern take on the traditional cautionary tale. There were lots of images in it that I knew would be a joy to illustrate - a shark wanting to share a child's toothbrush, a bison being used as a blanket - irresistible, just the sort of daft nonsense I like to illustrate!
Q: How important for you is it to have a text with humour?
A: The thing I am most interested in illustrating is exuberance, that celebration of the joy of being alive. It's probably something we felt more strongly as children. Humour is an expression of exuberance but so are dancing and singing and bright colours - so a text doesn't have to have humour but it usually helps!
Q: How did you decide to approach the text and to get the story to flow through the illustrations?
A: It was quite a tricky one to illustrate. It was important to get the page turns just right. I decided to illustrate the text as if it were spoken by the voice of the teddy. As if he were sounding out the warnings so he had to be in every spread as the sensible one. He makes a good foil to all the daft shenanigans going on.
Q: There is a huge amount of detail on each page - did you have any 'pointers' from the publisher or author of what to include, apart from in the text itself?
A: No, they pretty much leave it up to me. In fact, for me, there is relatively little detail in these books - compared to my Tom and Millie books for example where there are hundreds of characters. I wanted this book to be in a looser more expressive style with just suggested background detail.
Q: Are there any animals that are harder to draw than others?
A: Not really - I just draw them how I want them to look and I take license from Dr Seuss' cats - they look absolutely nothing like cats! It's more the essence I'm going for or something that amuses me - like the bison's fringe; I'm not sure bison have fringes.
Q: Are you happier drawing animals than humans?
A: Drawing animals comes much more naturally to me and I like the universality of their appeal but I think it's high time I painted more human characters!
I chose to make the boy in the story of Afro Carribean ethnic origin - he just appeared as I was doodling. I do feel that there could be more use and even celebration of the incredible cultural variety we have in this wonderful country of ours!
Q: Which is your favourite spread?
A: Well that would be nutella...(groan). I am quite pleased with the beaver's dam coming out of the sink because it was quite a challenge to illustrate and I like the pose and expression of the beaver - as if he were chilling out in his Jacuzzi!
Q: Can you talk us through the process of creating the illustrations - so pencil drawings first, do you run the roughs past the publisher, and how do you colour them? Do you use any digital techniques?
A: There are definite stages. First I doodle up ideas until I get the main characters just right. I like to make a little painting of the main characters before I go any further. Then I draw up thumbnail sketches of the whole book to get an idea of the pacing, page breaks and compositions and then I produce the first stage rough drawings - about half size, to work out where everything is to go on the page.
If the publishers agree that it is all OK I will produce the second stage rough drawings. These are usually shown to the author for comments.
Then I very lightly trace where everything is going to go onto watercolour board and then draw it all in - with as loose a line as I dare! I use colour pencil and oil pastel, then I paint it up with watercolours, watercolour inks and acrylic inks - et voila!
Q: What are you working on next?
A: I'm working on another story by Gareth Edwards in my new looser style. Again it is very funny and it's called 'Fabulous Pie'. It's about a very bad bear who bakes a very big pie - need I say more?
