theSalariya inDESKigates…Jane Hissey!
To find out how Old Bear and his pals come to life, we had a snoop around Jane Hissey’s messy desk…
We’ve been thinking here at Book House, and we’ve decided we aren’t being nosey enough. Nowhere near. All our unsuspecting authors and illustrators have got off incredibly lightly so far, and theSalariya blog thinks it’s time for some serious snooping.
Ever wondered how our books are really made — from a little idea to a fantastic finished product? Well, it all starts with a desk. For a writer or an illustrator, this is where it all happens: the ‘lightbulb’ moments, the procrastinations, the artistic visions, the writer’s block freakouts and (we bet) the serious tea-drinking. So, we’re putting on our sneakiest hat, and investigating our writers’ desks… indeskigating, if you will.
This week theSalariya paid a visit to Jane Hissey to find out exactly where she brings Old Bear and his pals to life. We found a wonderful muddle of things — from colouring pencils in ice cream boxes, to real-life toys… and a rather mischievous kitten!
What are your must-have items when you’re working?
I always have my radio, which is permanently tuned to radio 4. I listen to it all the time when I’m working. Then, of course, there’s the characters that I am drawing! I have them set up in front of me, usually pinned in position on a piece of foam (or a cardboard box) with cotton threads. I’ve got hundreds of colouring pencils in old ice-cream boxes; I keep all the blues, reds, greens etc together. Pencil sharpeners and putty rubbers are an essential too, as well as my drawing board that I have used for at least 40 years. Then there’s my lamp: I only work under artificial light so the light doesn’t change whatever time of day or night I work. Oh, and there’s usually a cup of tea on my desk… or several cold ones because I make them and then get engrossed in the drawing and forget to drink them!
Have you got any special personal objects on your desk?
My desk is always an incredible muddle when I am working on a book. There isn’t room for anything more personal. I would like to have my kitten, Mia, for company but she thinks it’s a great game to pull the pins out that are holding my still life group up and sit under my lamp! Having found her in the middle of a collapsed group arrangement that had taken me a day to set up, I now have to keep my studio door firmly shut. She sits in the drawer of my husband Ivan’s desk instead. Ivan is an illustrator too, but he mostly works on the computer, so there’s no toys in there for her to destroy!
What time of the day are you most productive?
I can only write in the mornings but I can draw at any time of the day or evening (I think drawing uses a different bit of the brain!). When I am busy with a new book (as I am now), I like drawing late into the night when there are no distractions.
What do you do when you’re stuck for ideas?
I like going for long walks with Ivan. We look up a nice round walk on the map, print it out and take an hour or two off from drawing. There are hundreds of wonderful walks near where we live. We usually come back more inspired and calmer than when we set off!
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