MEET THE AUTHOR
Gus Gordon grew up on a farm in northern NSW Australia and, after leaving school, worked on cattle stations all over the country before deciding to pursue a drawing career. He has since illustrated and/or written nearly 80 books for children. His writing is always anthropomorphic (animals take the place of humans in his stories). Gus lives in NSW with his wife and three children. His latest book is Finding François.
From the publisher:
Alice wishes she had someone her own size to talk to. Then one day her wish comes true.
Through hope and chance, love and loss, two little ones who need each other find each other.
A heartwarming story from award-winning author and illustrator Gus Gordon about loneliness, saying goodbye and the value of life-affirming friendships.
Alice Bonnet (the main character in Finding François) lives in Paris. Are the places where Alice lives and visits based on places you’ve visited in France yourself?
Yes. It’s no secret that I love France, particularly Paris. It is an incredibly inspiring city. I have spent a great deal of time there, wandering the streets aimlessly. Much of the story is based around the river that flows through Paris; the Seine river. In the background of many of the illustrations, you can see the historical buildings that sit beside the river, including the Institut de France and the Musée D’Orsay. The bridge Alice throws the bottle from is the famous Pont Des Arts pedestrian bridge.
Alice and her grandmother live up the hill in the 18th arrondissement village of Montmartre. It is where I always stay when I’m in Paris. It is well known for its artists community and many famous artists have lived and painted there.
The illustrations include snippets that look like they’re cut from the pages of French catalogues, magazines or books. Do you cut up real pages, or do you find these images online?
Most of the images I use are from actual old French Catalogues. Sometimes I source material online if I can’t find what I’m looking for in my collection. Very rarely do I actually cut or tear the pages out of the catalogues. They are far too old and precious (many are well over 100 years old). I also used old postcards, receipts, stamps, letters, labels and advertisements. I scan the image I need into my computer, essentially ‘cutting’ out the image (or paper) and ‘pasting’ it into the artwork. This is all done digitally. Aside from this, every element of each illustration is hand-drawn, painted and collected, then scanned-in, bit by bit, into my computer. I assemble the whole thing, like a glorious puzzle, on the screen. This is good and bad (but mostly good). It allows me to move things around and change my papers and tweak my colours if I need to. Unfortunately I’m not left with any originals so I do prints instead. Everything takes an awful long time but it seems to work out in the end so I’m happy.
Alice likes to write lists of what she plans to do each day. Are you a writer of lists? What’s on your list of plans for today?
Like Alice, I love writing lists. I have to really as I forget things otherwise. Today I am filling out questionnaires like this one, emailing my publisher and others, collecting a framed print and hopefully I’ll have time to do some writing later today.
Have you ever sent (or found) a message in a bottle yourself?
No, I haven’t but I’d love to find a message in a bottle on the beach one day.
Do you have a tip for young artists/illustrators?
My tip for young artists would simply be to keep doing what you’re doing. Do what feels right to YOU and no one else, no matter how unique or peculiar your art is. Stick at it and good things will come your way in time.
Can you tell us a bit about your next writing project?
My next book is about an anxious robot named, Gerald.
AWESOME EXTRAS:
See Gus Gordon working in his studio (YouTube – Paper Bird Home club video)
alphabetsoup.net.au 