Illustrator’s Portfolio 131:
ALI PYE
“a walk by the Thames”
Age: old enough to know better
Nationality: British
Living in: London
“crows”
What is in your sketchbook?
Birds, animals. Strange creatures from my imagination.
illustrations for the book “who stole summer?”
illustrations for the book “where is Fred?”
Where do you illustrate?
At home or on the train to work.
What inspires your work?
I really like natural history paintings from the era when Europeans were first exploring the wider world. They produced beautiful drawings and watercolours of creatures that must have seemed like aliens at the time. The images are often quite poor representations of the real thing, but that gives them a special charm that a perfect drawing wouldn’t have.
Living in London is always inspiring – just walking around, seeing what everyone is wearing, finding unusual things on every corner. Also, my children’s drawings – I have two boys and they are into stuff like monsters, crocodiles and spaceships.
What music do you listen to?
Deerhunter, Altas Sound at present.
“The Alice Project”
What did you have for breakfast?
Cheerios, yum.
