The Wacky and Grubby World of Danny Best: A Q&A With Illustrator Mitch Vane

Recectly, Better Reading chatted to illustrator extraordinaire about her latest book, Danny Best: Me First!. We covered world domination, her Danny Best partner-in-crime Jen Storer and that her inclination towards a messy workspace.

How would you describe the illustrative style of the Danny Best books?

Loose, wacky, and dare I say a bit on the grubby side.

The style reflects Danny’s ‘relaxed’ attitude to most things – although he does see himself as a pretty good artist and does his own drawings in some of the chapters. He actually thinks he’s better than me (he can be a little competitive).

Danny Best uses very dynamic text, alongside the illustration – how does the design of these come about? Do you have much involvement in how the illustrations are placed around the text?

I was given a specific brief, but from the very beginning, I was given a lot of creative freedom in deciding how the pages would look and how the characters interacted with the text on the page. I can be a bit of a control freak, so luckily, we all had a similar goal in mind, which was to create a lot of chaos and activity around Jen’s solid hilarious storyline. We were also very lucky to have Stephanie Spartels on board who waved her magic design wand over all that chaos, added her special touches, especially with using expressive typefaces and made everything look incredible. I think it is important to have a great designer on board when you have a book with a large illustrative content.

Danny is a wonderfully illustrated character, how was he developed? Did you have quite a strong idea of what he would look like?

I’m never really sure what my characters are going to look like until I start scribbling ideas on the page – that’s when a definite ‘look’ or type of character emerges. And in this case, Jen and our publisher had a very clear vision of what kind of person Danny was and guided me in certain directions once we had some sketches on the board. The most important thing was that Danny had a cheeky face and looked like trouble, but not mean. That is something that can be determined with the tweak of an eyebrow so they were on to me if he started looking a bit evil.

This is now your third book with Jen Storer, how collaborative is the process between you?

Well Jen, like most authors, can be a little strange. She swears, IN WRITING, that she has never met me. We all know that’s not true…I mean, would you believe someone who says she lives on an island in the Pacific Ocean in a giant cave shaped like a gorilla’s head? Only someone like that could come up with a character like Danny Best. She’s actually a lot of fun to work with. I like crazy people.

How did you come into children’s illustration work? Was it a career you had planned for?

I didn’t plan this career. It found me. But I am very pleased it did – otherwise I would still be drawing pictures on packaging, or storyboards for TV ads.

I was commissioned to do a small reader when I took my folio in to Reed Books many years ago. I will always remember the first time I saw my work in print. In a book! – so thrilling. And I have to say, it never gets old. When I first set eyes on Steph’s magnificent cover for Danny Best Me First, I felt that same level of excitement and pleasure – if not more!!

Why do you think young readers so LOVE illustrated fiction?

As young babies, we learn to understand words and stories with picture books. Even when we are able to read without the help of images, we are still mesmerised by an artist’s interpretation of a story. An illustrator’s role is to enhance the text, illuminate the story, make it funnier, or spookier, or whatever is required to engage the reader. I always loved getting into a story and looking for hidden meanings or jokes in the illustrations, and now I love to add extra elements and running gags to the stories I am illustrating. I still have a fascination for comic books and graphic novels.

What medium do you prefer working in?

I love working in black and white with a scratch dip Pen and Indian ink.

My studio is proof of that – it is covered in blobs and blotches from spilt or spattered ink. So are my clothes.

So are my hands

So is my artwork!

Luckily the Danny Best books suit blotchy messy illustrations with fingerprints, otherwise I’d be in trouble.

Who are the three current illustrators who’s work you love?

Well, I have many many many MANY current illustrators with many different styles that I really love so it’s a little unfair to name only three.

But if you twisted my arm…

Leigh Hobbs. A huge fave. He makes me laugh OUT LOUD.

I mean, Old Tom. Mr Chicken! His exquisite crazy line work! Irresistible.

Ronald Searle. A long-time hero. I queued up for hours in London to get his autograph.

His St Trinians series would have to be the most deliciously evil and beautifully illustrated books I have ever read (parental guidance recommended).

Dream classic children’s book you would love to illustrate?

Any of Roald Dahl’s classics would be fun – The Witches, The Twits, Matilda. All of them (even though Quentin Blake has already done a might fine job).

Actually, I’d love to illustrate the NEXT undiscovered classic children’s book. Then world domination. Bwah ha ha ha.

What’s next for you?

World domination.

And perhaps a bit of painting.

I have a few personal art projects that I have neglected lately, so I would like to make time to develop those. It’s really important for me to take a break from book illustration every so often to keep that buzz of excitement when I’m working on them. I need to keep my mind open to new ideas and broaden my palette. Stay fresh. As soon as I get too comfortable and safe with what I’m illustrating, my work gets a little predictable.

I think it’s really healthy to be just a teensy bit scared when you start on something new and challenging.