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Patrick Benson was born in 1956. He went to Eton then studied classical drawing in Florence followed by taking a foundation year in Art at Chelsea Art School. After a year out he went to St Martins and from there he moved into the fashion business. A chance meeting with Sebastian Walker's sister introduced him to Walker Books, then in its infancy, and moved him into illustrating for a living.

Winner of the 1984 Mother Goose Award given for the most promising newcomer in children's book illustration and National Art Library Illustration Award. He has illustrated over 24 titles for authors including Kenneth Grahame, Roald Dahl and Russell Hoban. A passionate fly fisherman, Patrick illustrated Fly Fishing by J. R. Hartley (of Yellow Pages television advertisement fame).

On his work

'I think the most important thing that an illustrator has to do is provide lots of visual clues, bits of information – rather like snapshots – that will act as a sort of springboard for the imagination.' 

'I do quite a lot of preparatory drawings. Usually I start with a pen and ink drawing on which I apply the colour. In the case of Owl Babies, because it's a night-time story, I wanted it very dark, but I also wanted rich colours. I solved it by transferring the black-and-white drawing onto clear film, then, lifting the film, I coloured underneath.'

INSPIRATION

'The people are many and various. I think we all borrow a little here and there, even if we don't let on.'
Fritz Wegner – my tutor at St Martins.
Edward Ardizzone – creator of Little Tim.
E. H. Shepard – famous for Winnie the Pooh.
William Heath Robinson – for his early work such as Midsummer Night's Dream, Song of English and Rabelais illustrations.

Albrecht Durer – German painter and engraver.

As well as Tunnicliffe, Cecil Aldin, Hokusai, Job and Maurice Lenoir.

'One thing I'm always conscious of is that illustrations can fail. I know that the wrong ones can literally destroy a dream and, however powerful the text, it's the images that stick in the mind.'

'I've also had a lot of help from good editors. Owl Babies was something I might well have overlooked. But my editor rightly identified it as a perfect picture-book text and talked me into it. It's now my most successful book.'

See the entry for Patrick Benson on ContemporaryWriters.com

See details of books in print from enCompassCulture.com