Behind the Scenes - Steven Lenton

1st April 2012: Featuring one of our favourite artists Steven Lenton whose contemproary characters offer a delightful twist and alternative view on life

What's your favourite design/piece of work & why? My favourite character is Little Bell – the dog with no bark.  She is based on my little deaf Jack Russell Holly so she has a special place in my heart.  I am still working on her story but I’m hoping at some point in the near future she will be on the bookshelves!

What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date? I hope my Children’s Books sell well of course but my best selling design to date is actually my Royal Wedding commemorative illustration that I sold through various boutiques and online in 2011.  I thought I would sell a hundred or so but sales grew to well over a thousand in the end.

Which part of the process do you like most? I love the initial character sketches – you can’t beat gestural, free drawing with a nice sharp 2B pencil

Which part do you like the least?! There isn’t really a part of the process that I dislike, though sometimes coming up with initial ideas can take a bit longer than I would like!

What would your dream project be? I would really like to illustrate a book of fairytales.  I would really like Little Bell to be released as a beautiful book too – that would be a dream come true. I would also love to do a caricature of Miranda Hart – I might just do that anyway!

Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration? I have been lucky to be encouraged throughout my career so far by wonderful teachers, animators and illustrators.  Author/illustrator Leigh Hodgkinson is a big inspiration as she made me realise that animators can also be successful illustrators so she gave me the confidence to give it a go myself.

  Leigh Hodginkson               Steven's first publication      Alex T Smith         Ruth Green

Which is your favourite Art House Licensing artist & why? It HAS to be Alex T. Smith – another inspirational artist.  His characters, colours, textures and cheeky wit makes anything he does look stunning.

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art artist & why? (www.yellowhouseart.com – our sister site selling original artworks) I love Ruth Green’s prints.  Her bold palette and characters make a charming combination that really works for me

Do you have your own work at home? I have a couple of my prints on the walls – I live in Crouch End so I have my Crouch End typography piece over the fireplace and my Crouch End Clocktower lady is walking her sausage dogs on my kitchen wall!

When designing your studio, what was the most important factor? Fun and inspirational work has to surround me all the time as a constant source of motivation and smiles.  And fairy lights to sparkle on those long late nights!

What's been your biggest mistake/cock-up?! I think not starting illustrating sooner was a bit of a mistake – I wish I had had the confidence to start doing this years ago – I’m having the best time at the moment.  I have enjoyed animating though and am still working in the animation industry.

What's on your drawing-board/ in your kiln / on your easel / etc. right now? On my screen today is a little Pug playing on an iPad ready to be coloured in for The Booksniffer blog’s new sister blog ‘The App Puppy’.  It’s very cute!

What is the last book you read? Marks out of 10? I am reading The Night Circus at the moment and Im really enjoying it – I love books with magic and mystery and this has both in bucket loads.  8/10 so far.

What is the last exhibition you went to? Marks out of 10? I recently went to the Illustration Cupboard in London and it is an absolute treasure trove of Children’s Book illustration – a must see for any author/illustrator or lover of books.  Seeing original pieces by famous illustrators is very exciting and inspirational.

If you could own a masterpiece, what would it be? Any sketch by Degas would look lovely in my flat please. That's interesting! Did you know Art House license Degas' work?!

What’s your proudest achievement? Signing my Children’s picture book deals was a wonderful moment.  I had waited a few years to get a deal and then two came along at once – I was very lucky. 

What’s been your biggest challenge? Creating my style when I embarked on my illustration ‘journey’ (sorry that’s very X-Factor isn’t it!) was very tricky.  I had been so used to designing characters for projects that varied widely that I had lost my own style.  It took me about a year to recreate and enhance my individual style but I got there in the end!

What’s the main advantage/your favourite aspect about working with Art House Licensing? The lovely people at Arthouse advise me on the best route to take my work so that it has the best chance of being sold to a mass market.  This means I don’t have to worry about designing something that will only stay in my computer but has the best chance to get out there and be seen by a large audience.  I also don’t have to worry about contacting shops/product makers etc because they do all that on my behalf which means I have more time to design. 

Thanks Steven! It's fascinating to find out more about your work...the only thing we'd like to know now is a bit more all those images of Coronation Street stars in your gorgeous, twinkly studio!