Artists & Illustrators - April 2016_

26 Artists & Illustrators

THE PERFECT GUIDE

After illustrating more than

30 children’s books, Lynne

has just published her first

practical art title. Sketching

People is a guide to drawing

figures and faces on the go.

OPENING OUT

Lynne is working on a series

of concertina sketchbooks

for an exhibition in July. She

plans to clip them to the wall.

How long have you been in this studio?

About 10 years. I’m a Londoner and I moved to

Sheffield in 1990. I thought moving would be a huge

culture shock – I didn’t want to come particularly,

but the quality of life is great here: the people are

nice, the money goes further and there’s countryside.

Did you find the transition tricky?

Yes, because when I moved up I was an editorial

illustrator and the work dwindled. I needed to meet

people so I did a bit of teaching at the local art college

and that’s when I decided to do the children’s books.

I spent a year developing a portfolio of work and my

first book was published in 1999.

Did you make any changes to the studio?

It’s been decorated and we put in the plan chests –

the drawers are all different sizes. We put in the extra

windows, the daylight bulbs and this island in the

middle too. It was a case of fine-tuning the space really.

Your picture books are all in pastel, whereas

your sketchbooks use a variety of different media.

How did that strand of your work develop?

I’ve always kept a sketchbook. I studied textile design

but I got a job as an illustrator when people saw my

sketchbooks. When I moved into children’s books,

I started getting invited to do workshops, which meant

travelling about a lot. I thought I should be drawing on

the train because I was surrounded by free life models.

How did you become involved with the Urban

Sketchers community?

I started posting the train drawings online and Gabi

[Urban Sketchers founder Gabriel Campanario] was

LYNNE

IN THE STUDIO

THE CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATOR

AND URBAN SKETCHER INVITES US

INTO HER SHEFFIELD ATTIC STUDIO.

WORDS AND PHOTOS: STEVE PILL

CHAPMAN

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