How I got My first Book Deal

How a visit to see Dali’s Christ of St. John of the Cross led eventually to my first book deal.

Salvadore Dali's Christ of St. John of the Cross (oils)

As an Art College student I was always attracted to the visual narrative of  Salvadore Dali’s surrealist  paintings. Then on a visit to see my Grandfather in Scotland I had the opportunity to see one of Dali’s paintings in Glasgow. It was Christ of St. John of the Cross and I was very excited to have the opportunity to pour over this piece first hand.

As I went over the painting up close, from the middle of the room, then from the other side of the room and from every possible angle to try and take in its size and composition. My gaze was then strangely drawn to another painting in the room that hung on another wall. This painting was The Fairy Raid (Carrying off a changeling-Midsummer Eve) by Sir Joseph Noel Paton. I had never heard of this artist before but I was fascinated by this painting and its attention to detail. Needless to say I spent the rest of my visit pouring over this painting to the point I almost completely exhausted my visual capabilities.

Joseph Noel Paton's The Fairy Raid ( Carrying off a changeling-Midsummer Eve) (oils)

 Although I was delighted to have had the opportunity to see the Dali piece, it was the Fairy Raid that had a major impact on my thoughts at that time. I had already been interested in the work of Alan Lee (who did the visual concepts for the Lord of The Rings trilogy) and Brian Froud.



(who did the visual concepts for the movies  Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal)

Coming from Ireland and having an interest in the fairy folklore of my own country it is no surprise therefore that I would complete work influenced by these artists who were also influenced by this subject matter.

After a couple of months and a lot of hard work I managed to complete “The Woodcutter” which I then reproduced as a print and sent out to publishers.

Andrew Whitson The Woodcutter (Watercolour)

A week later I got a book offer from a local publisher called Appletree Press which had a text on their table called “ A Field Guide to Irish Fairies.” I was delighted to have been offered this opportunity and got straight to work on this project.

A Field Guide to Irish Fairies in English, German and French

Needless to say, I still like the work of Dali but it was the unexpected opportunity to also see the work of Joseph Noel Paton that was the direct catalyst in making me sit down to complete my own fairy painting.

You just never know where an unexpected situation  may take you!

Making a Book App with whistles and bells

Andrew Whitson making Book Apps

Over the past couple of years I have been working on two book apps for the iPad.This hasn't been an easy process as I have had to re-think my working practices in order to try and cover all the bases.
What I am trying to say is that I can no longer think of artwork in terms of "flat" pictures. I must now think of what the finished image may look like in terms of its composition etc and then de-construct that image  rendering  its "ASSETS" separately so that when these are placed within the relevant format then all these " ASSETS"  become fluid and moveable.

This re-thinking has its pros and cons but also brings in the need for the use of Photoshop which As everyone and their granny knows has been the stable mate of artists for years, but in terms of my practice it is now crucial if I am going to provide imagery that can be used across all disciplines i.e, traditional books, e-Books , Book Apps, animations and games.
In a way the use of Photoshop has become a tool for putting together the de-constructed image in a range of ways that will suit the environment for which it is needed .I find this a very interesting thought process as these "collages" can almost be infinite and completely flexible in their variety.

Here you can see two images for the game section of the book app Cogito which  are made up of many separate assets such as the girl standing with the case or the fairy on the bird and they have all been cut out and repositioned on the pages using Photoshop and its layer facility.

I really don't feel that such imagery can be created if I had approached them as one flat artwork.

Andrew Whitson The watercolour paints he uses for his illustration work.

Always use the best you can afford.

I have found through a lot of experimentation over the years that  it is always better to use the absolute best materials that you can afford when it comes to rendering final artworks.
Obviously what works for one person may not always work for someone else, so here are a few photos and some notes to illustrate what I have found works for me.

 I have been using the Daler Rowney Artists quality watercolour tubes for a number of years namely because of their rich colour characteristics.

It is essential though to use these sparingly due to the richness of the pigment in these tubes.

My general process ( which I will discuss in another article) uses .5mm technical drawing pencils with an HB lead which is quite hard but leaves a lighter line when transposing an image onto the often expensive paper.

 I have found the best brushes for painting in watercolour have always been sable 

 as opposed to artificial brushes. These are invaluable, especially when applying large washes as the sable hairs have the ability to absorb great quantities of colour that can be fully applied to the paper.

Andrew Whitson's lovely nice clean art studio.

Perhaps the next time I do this there will be a before and after scenario...

I don't know about anyone else, but when I get started on a new project my studio becomes a living chameleon changing on a daily basis as I leave stuff lying everywhere as I am usually in the throws of thinking only of the work I am doing. Fully absorbed is probably the best way to describe this but eventually after the project in question is completed I look around and despair at the chaos I have created around me.

There is however a cathartic feeling when I am able to drag myself up to the studio once more and clean it all out in preparation for the next project. I am always amazed at other artist's studios ......Francis Bacon even made his chaos into a visitor attraction, or is that art?

All I know it makes me feel good to start a new project with everything in its place, to hand, poised and ready for the assault! 

Andrew Whitson and the team recording a narration of their new title Cogito for the DVD and new e-book.

What a great result !

Tonight was very productive as An tSnáthaid Mhór had the pleasure of assisting with the recording of the narration of its new title Cogito. Brid Gallagher did a first class job of narrating the story and was excellent in all aspects! Well done Brid and to all who were involved.We can't wait to hear the final version on our new DVD and e-book when they are released at the end of March!


Simon from Journeyfor Initiative based in Belfast Ireland is managing this aspect of the project and is doing a great job!

Andrew Whitson: A New Title: A whole new approach in acrylics and oils!

Acrylics and oils!

This year will see me jumping into a new title where I will be using acrylics and oils! This is a very exciting venture but the emphasis on the word title in all its manifestations will prove challenging in many aspects.

1. The story for instance is a lot lighter than our latest title : COGITO and therefore will require a certain "Fun" approach to the illustrations and how they interact with the text.



















2.The illustrations are going to be assembled as a set of ASSETS which can be assembled in photoshop and moved around in a collage system that will lend to an exploration of shapes and objects and how they interact with each other, not only in shape but also colour.

Watch this space for further photos and progress reports.