Helen Stephens has written and illustrated about thirty books and illustrated a whole bunch more for authors including Sophie Hannah, Cecile Aubry and Michael Morpurgo. Helen‘s book How to Hide a Lion sold in fourteen languages and was nominated for the Greenaway Medal, the UKLA Awards, the Red House Children’s Book Awards. It has been adapted for stage and tours the UK this summer. One of Helen‘s biggest passions is drawing from life, and she started the #walktosee hashtag on instagram. She has recently started to publish her sketchbook drawings in ‘Sketchbookzines’. She has free resources for illustrators on her website at helenstephens.com. After seventeen years in London she now lives on the windy Northumberland coast with her family and scruffy mutt Peggy.
Connect with Helen on IG as @helenstephenslion and join her hashtag #walktosee.
Find Helen’s Sketchbookzines and signed books in her online shop.
Shownotes
We talk about…
growing up in the English countryside
reading fairy tales under the covers
drawing from life
transitioning from uni
creative playfulness
strategies against perfectionism
taking time off to reconnect to style
inspiration for Fleabag & How to Hide a Lion
illustrating a sense of place
partnering with the right publisher
walking and drawing
how internet changed the world of illustration
sharing your work
dust jackets
guarding time to create
creating as a parent
how to begin drawing
Books from this episode…
How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens
Fleabag by Helen Stephens
When Martha’s Away by Bruce Ingman
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
Links from this episode…
Science Museum (London, England)
V&A Museum (London, England)
Helen’s Sketchbookzines
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If you enjoyed today’s episode I would love to hear what you thought in the Kindle Curiosity FB group.
Cheers,
Sarah