Tony De Saulles

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Tony De Saulles is a British author and illustrator currently residing at Gloucestershire, England with his family. He is a former book designer and then he became an illustrator for children's books. He illustrates the Award winning series Horrible Science by Nick Arnold.

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Tony De Saulles lives in Cheltenham with his wife and two children. He has been drawing silly pictures for as long as he can remember, and is very pleased to be getting paid for it!

He trained for one year at the West Surrey College of Art and Design and a further three at The London College of Printing. He has a varied background in design, having worked in advertising, general graphics and book design. His time is now spent illustrating, presenting events at book fairs, going for long walks and playing squash. He also likes to take the occasional art class at his children’s primary school.




Q AND A SESSION WITH TONY

1. What was your favourite book when you were a child?

Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone. It was a story that I enjoyed reading again and again even though I knew the ending! You can still buy it today - the illustrations are old fashioned but lovely. Years later, I enjoyed reading the Tim books (there are several of them) to my own children. They're great books to read out loud and I loved doing all the different voices… sadly!


 2. If you could be any character from a book, who would you be and why?

I’ve just read Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. Being Alex Ryder would be excellent fun. You're guaranteed some amazingly exciting and dangerous adventures and you can be sure you'll survive them so you can appear in the next book!


 3. Can you tell us a secret about yourself? Something that readers might be surprised to learn about their favourite author?

I find drawing really hard! I think some people imagine that illustrators can think of a picture and rattle it off but it's not like that – at least, not for me. I love drawing but it takes a lot of concentration and brainpower. Ideas for illustrations and jokes come into my head quickly, it's getting them down on paper that's the tricky bit.


 4. Have you always loved drawing?

Yes, although I didn't realize I wanted to be an illustrator until I'd done a few other jobs. At college I studied graphic design which involved the design of packaging, logos, posters and advertisements. Most of my designs had illustrations in them though, so maybe I wanted to be an illustrator back then without realizing it!


 5. Who inspired you to become an illustrator and what illustrators do you admire now?

My Mum encouraged me to go to art college. She didn't actually say, 'You might as well cos you're not much good at anything else.' But I reckon that's what she was thinking and she would have been quite right!

It was when I had children of my own and started to read children's books again that I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I especially love Quentin Blake, Tony Ross and Lauren Child.


 6. Can you believe it's 10 years since the first Horrible Science book?

What’s been the best thing about the last 10 years?

The 10 years have shot by. I look at all the titles lined up on the bookshelf and can hardly believe I’ve drawn all those pictures! The best thing has been to have my name on the cover of a best-selling series of books – any illustrator would be proud of that!


 7. Are there any subjects not yet covered by Horrible Science which you're really keen to draw?

More animal books! There are some pretty weird and amazing creatures swimming about in the depths of our oceans… and I want to draw them! Another thing that children sometimes forget is that science is all around us in everything we do from eating our breakfast to playing football: digestion, nutrition, gravity, materials, respiration, vision, IT'S ALL AROUND US! So maybe a book about the science in a day in the life of Joe Bloggs would be interesting.


 8. What advice would you give to any children who would like to become illustrators?

Practice, practice, practice! That's the best way to improve. Find other illustrators that you like and copy their pictures - it's not cheating! Look at the different ways they draw faces, hands, animals, etc. and try it yourself. Each time you copy something you learn something new. After a while you'll discover a way of drawing that suits you best and you'll soon be creating pictures of your own… IN YOUR OWN STYLE!


 9. Why do you think Horrible Science has been such a huge success?

Man-eating crocs, body-sizzling bolts of lightening, farts, cowpats, pools of sick, guillotined bodies, killer mushrooms, ghastly gases, deadly diseases and cut-up-corpses are interesting to read about!

Presenting science in a shocking, revolting and horribly fascinating way (with plenty of laughs thrown in) is a format that children love. And it's good fun to draw, too!