Meet the illustrator: Chris Mould

Meet the brilliant artist behind The Truth Pixie and the fabulous new edition of The Iron Man…

“…the things I remember that I loved in childhood were imagined things… I remember my childhood in stories…”

At The Children’s Furniture Company we love books – especially ones with striking and beautiful illustrations. The pictures we see in childhood stay with us for life –  so we thought it would be fun to meet the people who are making those memories for our own kids. We often know the images really well, but know nothing about the artist behind them.

Our first ‘Meet the illustrator’ Q&A is with Chris Mould…

Were you really good at drawing at school?

Yes. I used to make money decorating people’s jackets and coats with band names and logos and doing little drawings.

How did you get started in children’s book illustration?

I always drew at school and went off to art school at 16. I spent six years meandering around different courses and finding the right thing until I discovered ‘book illustration’ was actually a possibility. After that I was on my own in the big wide world. Illustration is pretty much a freelance career.
 

Visualising a book’s characters must be a big responsibility! Do you have a particular process such as discussing your initial ideas with the author, or do you have complete artistic freedom?

This tends to vary depending on the author and the publisher. Some authors are very visual and can see their characters clearly (even if they’re not described in a text). Others prefer to give a free rein.

I’ll usually be asked if I want an art brief or not by an art director. I prefer to be left alone. I feel it’s the best way to get the maximum out of an illustrator because you’re paying for their thought process and individuality.

At The Children’s Furniture Company we particularly love The Truth Pixie, which you created with author Matt Haig. What was that like to work on?

I really love working with Matt and with Canongate publishing. They’re very keen to just let me do what I do.  When I first met Matt and the team (with my agent Penny Holroyde), I’d read the first of his Christmas books as an unedited manuscript and I’d turned up with a sketchbook full of visuals of characters and scenes.

Matt was so open to everything I’d done and they just wanted me to carry on so it was a perfect working circumstance for me. Obviously there are points of adjustment and change and sometimes a story line diverts a bit, post edit, but mostly it was me just doing my thing.

I worked closely with Matt and Rafi Romaya who is the art director there and they feel like a little extra family to me. That’s one of the nice things about publishing. You have extra little families dotted around who you always look forward to meeting up with a couple of times in the year.

Which of your books are you most proud of?

Definitely all the books with Matt and Canongate. They sell well and Canongate turn out a smart looking product. Also a book called Amazing Transport that came out recently because it’s packed with detail that took me FOREVER. Same with the new version of Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man. And because I’ve loved that story since I found it in the school library.

Also the ones I’ve written myself as well as illustrated. For example Pocket Pirates which is a fun ‘Borrowers’ style series about tiny pirates. I love writing but I only go there once in a while, when I feel like there’s something there.

Chris Mould’s The Pocket Pirates

What illustrations from your own childhood are strongest or most magical in your memory?

If I think of childhood I was quite unhappy because school was difficult (for various reasons), so the things I remember that I loved were imagined things and not real things.

So I agree strongly. I remember my childhood in stories: Where The Wild Things Are by  Maurice Sendak; The Iron Man (particularly Andrew Davidson’s black and white drawings) by Ted Hughes; The Tiger Who Came To Tea by  Judith Kerr; The Narnia Chronicles by C. S. Lewis ; and Mary Norton’s The Borrowers.
One of Diana Stanley’s illustrations for The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Do you have kids – and if so, what do they make of your work?

I have two daughters (and I have nieces and nephews courtesy of my brother and sister – I’m the one in the middle). It’s always been an extra pleasure and indulgence to share my work with them but at the end of the day I’m aware that I’m also very definitely an embarrassing dad. And so I should be.

So no matter what exists in book form, I shall remain a pain. ‘Tis my job as a male parent to two beautiful ladies…

Do you have any particular illustrator heroes or artistic influences?

Yes, both. Illustrators and artists: Ralph Steadman, Ronald Searle, George Cruikshank, Thomas Rowlandson, William Hogarth, Carl Giles, Phil May, Paul Slater, my ex tutor John Ross, Thai Schierenberg, Jenny Savile, Lucien Freud, Rembrandt, Pieter Brueghel, Hieronymius Bosch…The list goes on.

I also love sculpture and 3D art. I’ve recently discovered and love Yayoi Kusama. Sophie Ryder is my favourite 3 dimensional artist.

Other current children’s illustrators I admire include Jamie Hewlett, Julia Sarda, Adam Stower, Alex T Smith, Peter Goes, David Melling, Chris Riddell…To be honest it’s another endless list.

Some of Chris Mould’s illustrations for The Iron Man (Faber & Faber, 2019)


If you could illustrate a new edition of any children’s book from history, what would you choose?

Well prior to The Iron Man it would have been… The Iron Man! So I guess I’d go back to childhood favourites. The Narnia Chronicles would be very special.

Finally, what are you working on next?

I could tell you but I’d have to kill you! One of my current tasks is a book cover for something I illustrated as a student and it’s a very relevant text for modern times so I’ll keep that under my hat for now. Watch this space….

Follow Chris Mould on Instagram and Twitter.

The Iron Man by Ted Hughes; illustrated by Chris Mould will be published by Faber & Faber on 1 August 2019. You can pre-order it here.

More reading: Every picture tells a story – The magic of children’s book illustration and 12 brilliant illustrators bringing today’s children’s books to life.

At the Children’s Furniture Company we believe kids’ furniture should be practical but with a sprinkle of magic dust. Find the perfect children’s bookcase for your little ones’ bedside here.