#JaneHissey - Miani, Reka and Zoe were so honoured and excited to be able to chat with world renowned UK author/illustrator of the 'Old Bear' series, Jane Hissey, at her home in Brighton in England, to celebrate Old Bear's 30th Birthday - Jane even read a little from her new book 'Happy Birthday Old Bear'! Check out this great podcast and then head over to Jane's website so see some of her wonderful illustrations and books adored by millions of children and parents around the world.
http://www.janehissey.co.uk/
Here's a little bit of Jane's bio: Jane has always loved writing and drawing. Throughout much of her childhood she lived in Norfolk and wandered the fields and lanes with pencil and sketchbook.
She studied illustration and design in Brighton, where she met her husband, Ivan, who is also an illustrator. After college, they settled in Sussex and Jane taught art for a few years before leaving to have her first child, Owen. Since then she has had two more children; Alison and Ralph, and has written and illustrated over 20 picture books.
She prepares a dummy book of rough sketches before she begins the finished drawings. For these she draws first in pencil then, using coloured pencils, she builds up layers of colour, adding details towards the end. Each drawing takes many, many hours and a whole book can take a year.