Virtually every page of Brian Jacques' personal web site has been brought to life by the work of American artist, Christopher Denise.

Christopher Denise was born in Ashland, Massachusetts in 1967. He grew up in New England and in Shannon, Ireland where his family lived for four years while his dad worked there for General Electric.

Chris took several painting classes while studying history at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He'd always had a vague idea that he wanted to become an artist but he'd never had a set plan for how to get there. His brother was studying architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and Chris liked the atmosphere there, so he enrolled.

While at RISD, Chris took a class from best-selling author-illustrator, David Macaulay. It was Macaulay who introduced him to the work of Ernest Shepard, the man whose illustrations for Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, and other children's classics are almost as famous as the books themselves. "Shepard's illustrations were so beautifully drawn and worked so well with the text that it was amazing. It was the first time I really took illustration seriously."

Another teacher, Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges, also had quite an impact on Chris' career. In her book-making class, Chris was given the assignment of anthropomorphizing animals. "I find myself drawn to drawing animals. It's fun to think, I know an otter couldn't walk up the stairs, but if one could, it would look like this. Animals have a lot of universality; we can see ourselves in them. When I look at my drawings, I see a lot of my friends."

Chris began his career as a freelance illustrator of educational textbooks and newspapers while still in school. He graduated from RISD in 1990 with a degree in illustration. He specializes in work using pastels or charcoal.

Chris was married in October 1999. He and his wife, Anika, honeymooned on Tortolla, British Virgin Islands. They live in Providence, Rhode Island.

Chris and Anika at Prospect Mountain
Lake George, New York.

In 1991, Patricia Lee Gauch, Editorial Director of Philomel Books in New York, saw Chris' work hanging in a co-worker's office. She contacted him and commented that one of his illustrations of an antique hot air balloon reminded her of the Russian folk tale, "The Fool of the World and The Flying Ship". Chris researched several versions of the book, and went on to illustrate a children's version of it as his first picture book.

A page from The Fool of the World and The Flying Ship

Chris has been illustrating Children's books ever since. Titles illustrated by him include:

• The Three Little Pigs
  by Katrin Van Lille (DC Heath, 1995)
• Morris's Snore
  by Leya Roberts (Harcourt Brace, 1996)
• Rabbit and Turtle Go to School
  by Lucy Floyd (Harcourt Brace, 1997)
• Little Raccoon Catches a Cold
  by Susan Canizares (Scholastic, 1997)
• The Sea Man
  by Jane Yolen (Philomel Books, 1998)
• Digger Pig and the Giant Turnip
  by Caron Lee Cohen (Harcourt Brace, 2000)

Patricia Lee Gauch is also Brian Jacques' US editor and his close personal friend. She had been trying to convince Brian to come out with a book for younger Redwallers. Brian was dead-set against it, until he saw The Fool of the World and The Flying Ship.

As Brian told me, "... Christopher got working, and he sent me one or two pictures, and his artwork was so brilliant in these soft pastel colours on sort of brown butcher paper, that I thought Oh I'll have to write -- it's too good a chance to miss, this."

To set the mood Chris created the art for this book in an old farmhouse in South Glastonbury, Connecticut. "Building a book is like balancing a piece of music -- it goes through rhythms and sweeps and sways; there might be a wide open space, a place with a lot of activity, then a quick succession of images and text....I let his [Brian's] words speak and build the world, and then I try to tap into the flavor and the theme, and find the place or act or expression that he hasn't described."

And so, The Great Redwall Feast became the first fully illustrated book in the Redwall series.

The Great Redwall Feast was so successful that Brian decided soon after it's release to write another adventure especially for younger Redwallers. It will be titled A Redwall Winter's Tale. Read all about it in the Library section of Redwall.org, and be sure to take a look at RedwallWinter.com.

Christopher Denise's work has been exhibited at the Society of Illustrators annual show in New York City, and was featured in Communication Arts' Illustration Annual. He has a passion for landscape painting which he hopes to pursue further in the future. Chris has his own web site at http://www.christopherdenise.com

Many of our subscribers submitted questions for Chris. Here's the five most frequently-asked questions:

1. What steps do you take to create an illustration using pastels? (What is the process?)

My process is a bit top heavy on the concept side. The finishing part with the pastels is actually the least involved part of it. I spend alot of time thinking about the book as a whole, the pacing, then the specific drawing. I sketch alot.

Finally, after many grueling planning and drawing sessions over the course of several months, I arrive at a piece that is "cleaned up." The drawing looks and feels the way I want it to and I am ready to transfer the work onto my finished paper.

The most traditional way involves rubbing pencil over a piece of tracing paper, turning this over (graphite side down) and placing my cleaned sketch over this. Then, I go over the lines of the drawing pressing hard enough to transfer the image. It works like old fashioned carbon paper. I go in and work the drawing up in pencil and charcoal, often adding cross hatching lines to shade and give texture.

Then I spray workable fixative over the drawing (and open the window!). The drawing is set and I start to add color. I will get a bit of color on almost everything then fix the drawing again. At this point, I might go back and clean up the drawing a bit more, spray fix, then add another layer of color, and so on. Some works may only have two or three layers; some have eight or nine.

2. What research did you do for creating the illustrations for The Great Redwall Feast?

I look at alot of books on medieval art and architecture. I spend lots of time in libraries and have a passion for collecting books. Most importantly, I read all of Brian's books. It's all in there, we just have to let our imaginations go.

3. Will it be possible to buy frameable prints of the illustrations in The Great Redwall Feast and A Redwall Winter's Tale?

At the moment, there are no prints of the Redwall work available, but I think it's a terrific idea and one which I've been working on! My suggestion is to keep sending your requests to me. I'm saving them and hope to be able to produce prints in the near future.

4. What advice would you give someone in junior high school or high school who is interested in becoming a book illustrator?

Draw, draw, draw all the time!

Look at lots of art, if you can't go to the museum, take out books at the library. Consider summer programs at art schools or community arts programs because they encourage creativity and can start to give you ideas about how to pursue a professional career in the arts. (And they're fun!)

5. How did you find your first customers when you became an illustrator?

I made what is called a promotional mailer. I selected three pieces that I enjoyed creating and had them photographed. Then I had them printed with my name and phone number so people would know who was sending them this work and how to get in touch with me if they liked it. I sent the printed mailer out to newspapers, publishing houses and school publishers.

It's not as hard as you might think! For example, perhaps you like a magazine because of the writing and/or the illustrations. Somewhere in the first few pages of the front of the magazine they print the names of the people that work there and the address of the magazine. Type a short note to the art director or to the art department asking them to keep your work on file. Put it in an envelope and send it off.

Do not call them. They will probably not reply in any way, but be patient. I still get calls from things I sent out three years ago. Start your own mailing list and send them a new mailer when you can. Some professionals send out new mailers every six months. This can get kind of expensive so when you are starting out, just do what you can.

I recommend only sending out examples of work done in the techniques you enjoy doing. Be patient, keep drawing and good luck!

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