Whilst painting this page I recalled the opening scenes of Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, where all the dogs look similar to their owners. It always makes me laugh. Some owners do match their dogs very well.


I primarily work in gouache paint, it’s like a thicker version of water colour, and I love its opaqueness. I work from my thumbnail sketches and, for this book, I worked up bigger roughs as I went along. I was sent a chapter at a time, so it was a good way to pace out the work. Once everything is settled on I normally pencil everything out then paint on top - occasionally changing things as I go, if something isn’t working, or adding a sneaky cat in somewhere. Then once the work has been scanned, a few tweaks and some cleaning up on photoshop the image is ready.


I really enjoyed working on this book and bringing Maggie’s advice to life, I learned to love dogs but secretly I am still a cat person at heart - just don’t tell Maggie.


How to Look After Your Human by Kim Sears illustrated by Helen Hancocks is published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 978-1-8478-0745-8, £14.99 hbk


Tere’s a story for everyone this winter at Frances Lincoln Children’s Books...


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