What can I tell you about my work? I just love it. I really, really do. I like drawing people. I like drawing animals. I like drawing, it’s that simple. OK, I don’t like drawing machinery or technical stuff – it gives me a headache!

I vary my style as much as I can get away with, because I like to feel that each day holds something new. So I experiment a lot. I paint in watercolours, gouache, acrylics. I use ink, pencils, pencil crayons, even the computer – whatever feels like it will communicate the message of the story best. Sometimes I’ll make up a 3-D collage and photograph it to achieve what I want. It’s great fun being an illustrator!

Then there’s the writing. Now that’s an interesting story all by itself. One of the publishers I work for was sighing on the telephone about her current batch of stories. She asked me if I had any lying around that I wanted to send her. I did. So I sent them. Then I received a call from another publisher who’d read my stories and wanted me to have a go at writing a new one for the picture book series she was working on. I was so afraid I’d get it wrong that I wrote two stories – that were both accepted and published! Since then, I’ve joined the KZN Midlands Writers and written a whole lot more. I’m even getting my first chapter books published soon! Very exciting stuff!

Chantelle Thorne - 2008