Bob and Zoë Alley visit Illustration 3

Instructor Emilie Boon and her students listen as Bob talks about his multi-media technique.

On November 16, Bob Alley, illustrator of the current version of Paddington Bear for the past 20 years, visited Emilie Boon's Illustration 3 class. His wife with his author wife, Zoë Alley. They focused their talk on two graphic novels for young children that they collaborated on, "There's a Wolf at the Door,"  and "There's a Princess in the Palace." 

The couple spoke to Illustration III, with visitors from Illustration I and Book Dummy attending. They met in the newly renovated ISB, Illustration Studies Building, with it's exposed brick and ductwork and updated electronics.

Bob's storyboard with comments, and the finished book

Students look closely at different stages of the Alley's collaborative work.

Their explanation of the process of a husband-wife team collaborating on a such a large-scale project was filled with humor.

Graphic novels are a growing trend in the children's book industry, but graphic novels for young children are still quite rare. These two are a re-take on familiar fairy tales that morph into one ongoing tale. Between them, the books garnered starred reviews in Horn Book Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and Booklist, not to mention many more awards.

Original crow-quill pen art, and finished art.

Bob shared insights into the process of story-boarding, and explained how he did the artwork. He does all his work traditionally, using mixed media, including ink, watercolors, colored pencils and gouache.





Don't miss Bob and Zoe's great work. Here are some links to their websites.
http://www.rwalley.com/



Go here to see a schedule of places where you can meet the Alley's yourself, and purchase some of their books.
http://www.zoeballey.com/bio.htm