SAMMY: I've loved meeting some of our wonderful authors in the last few weeks, but this week, for the very first time, I get to chat with one of our talented illustrators. Monty Lee provided the beautiful illustrations for Lynn Ward's new picture book Grumpy Bear, Grouchy Bear, which will be in bookshops mid-September. I can't wait to find out all about what it's like to be an illustrator, so let's get started! Monty, did you always want to be an artist or illustrator when you were growing up?

MONTY: I can’t remember ever wanting to do anything else. As both my parents were artists and my father taught art, we had lots of paints/inks/pencils and papers in the house. We were allowed to use almost everything (but had to stay away from the oil paints and turps). I would spend hours and hours in my room painting and drawing. If I wasn’t painting I was reading. The combination of stories and drawings in children’s books were just magical and I have never stopped admiring picture books.

SAMMY: How did you get your first job as an illustrator? Have you illustrated any books for children before?

MONTY: I think I was still a teenager when I was commissioned to make a series of illustrations for a medical conference to “brighten” things up a bit. The brief I got was that the speaker would address the responsibilities and the power of the medical world. I was handed a script with some highlighted paragraphs and had to go from there. I can’t remember all of it but I do remember two drawings in particular. One of the paragraphs was about patients not feeling in control of what was happening to them and sometimes feeling fearful to ask questions – I drew a doctor holding a hoop and a shivering patient ready to jump. Another one was about the faith we put in modern medicine – I drew God, sitting high up in the clouds, holding the ends of an electrocardiogram. I do remember it was a very colourful set of ink drawings. Before now, I haven't had the chance to illustrate a children's picture book for publication, but I have created illustrations for a CD of children's songs and limericks called Songs to Edward Lear by Sjef Frenken.

SAMMY: What do you enjoy most about illustrating?

MONTY: Illustrating is almost like meditating, you really don’t think of anything else but that one piece of paper in front of you. When you make an illustration (or a print or painting), you are in that particular illustration, you become part of it. It is a great feeling.

SAMMY: Do you prefer to work with digital illustration tools or manual artistic techniques?

MONTY: I have found a combination of these two techniques perfect. I draw all my background and characters and scan them. I make a digital collage of my manual work. This way you can see if a composition works or not. It also makes manipulation easier. Instead of having to redo the whole drawing you might just have to redo a part of the illustration and replace that particular part on the computer.

SAMMY: What was it like working as an illustrator on another author's book and helping them to bring their ideas to life?

MONTY: Grumpy Bear, Grouchy Bear was such a delightful story. I loved the rhythm of it and I could imagine straight away what I could do with it. I worked closely with the publisher on this story. They sent me the manuscript with a few guidelines as indicated by the author. This story brought out so many different ideas, that it didn’t take long to get creative and produce the main idea of where I wanted to go with the illustrations. During the process of illustrating I got constant feedback from the publishers. It has been a very enriching experience and I made some good friends on the way.

SAMMY: Have you ever both written and illustrated your own picture book?

MONTY: I have written and illustrated several stories for my children, family and friends. I also collaborated with my friend Megan Strauss on a little book made with clay art. As it was a book intended for our children, we got them and some more family members involved in creating clay figures and some drawings. This was one of the most fun experiences for all of us and we are were very proud of the result.

I thoroughly enjoy writing and illustrating a book myself.  The process of writing and illustrating becomes an intertwined affair. Sometimes the illustration gives you an idea for the story and as the story develops it gives you more ideas to draw.

SAMMY: Is there a book from your childhood that you wish you could have illustrated?

MONTY: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. When I was still very young my parents gave me Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the looking glass as a present.  The illustrations were by John Tenniel and I just couldn’t get enough of them. Over the years there have been many articles and books about the symbolism and stories behind the characters but as a child I just loved the book. It was absurd and funny and the drawings were exquisite. That was all I needed to know. Now I have a book shelf full of Alice-books. It is always a pleasure to see different illustrations to that magical story. And who knows maybe one day…

SAMMY: Wow! Thanks for taking the time to chat to me, Monty, I learned so much today about you and your illustrations. And Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  is one of my favourite books too. Grumpy Bear, Grouchy Bear is available in your local bookshop and online mid-September, so make sure to pick up your copy and join Bear on his journey to find some breakfast!

Until next time...

Sammy