Tom Gauld – Booked
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I make a weekly cartoon for The Guardian newspaper about books and a weekly science cartoon for New Scientist magazine. I work as an illustrator and have written a number of comic books and, most recently, a children’s book called The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess. I’ve drawn ten covers for The New Yorker and a number of illustrations, but never a cartoon: which is something that I hope to remedy sooner or later.
The above mini-autobiography by Tom Gauld was written
while filling out a recent survey for the A Case For Pencils site.
Tools of choice:? My favourite drawing tool is a ballpen: the Uniball Eye micro, which gives a lovely smooth line and has very good ink. I love to draw in Maruman Art-Spiral Sketchbooks. For me, the sketchbook is the most important part of my process. It’s a great place to play around with ideas, and look at them in different ways, without feeling anything is fixed.
all is © Tom Gauld
In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Raju Narisetti chats with Tom Gauld, a cartoonist and illustrator who makes weekly cartoons for New Scientist and the Guardian and occasional covers for the New Yorker. In his first picture book for children, The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess (Neal Porter BooksIn this edition of Author Talks,, August 2021), a little wooden robot embarks on a quest to find his missing sister. The fairy tale, inspired by a bedtime story Gauld made up for his daughters, is brought to life with detailed illustrations, quirky humor, and magical characters sure to stir young readers’ imaginations.
Tom is also being interviewed about his new children’s book.
Here at Author Talks and here at Max’s Boat.
You’ve certainly built a successful career illustrating for the likes of the New Yorker and the Guardian. What made you want to publish your first picture book?
“The most important thing for me was having children and reading stories to them almost every night for more than five years.
I learned a lot about writing picture books by reading them aloud and realising there were books that were written so well that they made me a good reader and performer, and there were others that were a real struggle.
Which leads us back to the beginning and Tom’s comic strip for The Guardian …
… and this recent notice from publisher Drawn and Quarterly:
Tom Gauld’s The Revenge of the Librarians is our second Work In Progress. Out in Fall 2022, the collection from the Eisner-winning cartoonist is going to be jam-packed with more uproarious comics about literature crossed with pop culture and knowing jokes about being a reader. Foreign rights available now.
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