‘I’ve worked in factories and things – that’s real work! But for me there’s nothing nicer than what I do. In the morning I can look from the bedroom down the passage to the workroom where I’ll be spending most of the day and I think how lucky I am. I don’t have to trek anywhere, I don’t have to be polite to anyone, I can just sit there and do it. And then I can go for a walk up to Putney Heath through the woods and see the changes and so forth and then go back to work feeling refreshed. And when you look at the work again you can spot where it’s not coming off or what’s boring about it. And if it’s really boring I will put it in a drawer and work at the other book I am also engaged on at the same time.’
What about the future?
‘I am beginning to get more and more driven, to not waste a moment, because there is an awful lot of stuff I want to do and there’s less and less time to do it. And now I’ve got grandchildren, I get so much more material from them and the way they see things. And every day there are stories in the press you also want to respond to.’
The exhibition also includes examples of the initial preparation Michael makes in the course of producing the picture book he has in mind. It can be a long business before he feels he has finally got it right. This artistic perfectionism makes every one of his books special, well worth poring over again and again to get some idea of the skill that has gone into their creation. A nice man and such a fine illustrator – we are lucky to have him.
Nicholas Tucker is honorary senior lecturer in Cultural and Community Studies at Sussex University.
Books mentioned: The General, Janet Chartres, illus Michael Foreman, Templar Publishing, 978-1-8487-7160-4, £6.99 pbk War Boy: A Country Childhood, Michael Foreman, Pavilion Children’s Books, 978-1-8436-5087-4, £9.99
Books for Keeps No.214 September 2015 13
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