Sebastiaan Van Doninck . Children’s Illustration from the dark side to the light.

Sebastiaan Van Doninck describes himself as an Illustrative Illusionist, a kind of Houdini of the hand drawn world of imagery.  A teacher and book illustrator alike, he conjures a magical world where sometimes sinister, yet captivating characters come to life.

Sebastiaan says ” 75% of the time I work digitally, ie with the laptop and tablet. But sometimes I hate that rotcomputer and I work by hand and create everything with paper and ink. But the mood to work with the computer, always comes back. On holiday I can work manually. Then I take great sketch books and work on landscapes. I do this every year. Spontaneously, I work directly and quickly.  Hand work is a trend with other illustrators. The drawings are warmer, you have more contact with the materials and it feels natural. I am also a fan of heavy ink paint. Stains and marks I scan in colour, puzzle them together on the computer and so I often arrive with a collage, with minimal edits in Photoshop. ” (taken from Coffee Klatch)

His work for children’s books are occasionally a little on the edgy side, like Metro Monsters, again something UK publishers seems to steer away from. Perhaps Sebastiaan is creating books for the child inside the adult instead.

Some refreshingly creative work.

There are some great pieces and observations on his blog.  Here’s where the artist in action resides !

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