EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 14 © 2016 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

77 PR: Did you find it difficult to break into illustration? AS: No. Because my work has always been based on a foundation of traditional drawing, I was able to be quite versatile stylistically. This served me well in those early years. I was happy to take on any job, from wine labels to leaflets about the perils of hypertension, and I managed to earn a living from illustration from the outset. However, the downside to versatility is that it takes longer to establish a style that is unique and recognizable as one’s own. PR: What sort of work did you do to begin with? AS: I did a lot of work for educational publishing in those early days. It wasn’t very glamorous but it was a wonderful apprenticeship of sorts. It often forced me out of my comfort zone, and it taught me to work to a brief and to a deadline. It provided me with valuable experience that has helped me throughout my career. PR: Did you always have a strong sense of the work you wanted to do? AS: During my time working for educational publishing, the jobs I enjoyed most were for fiction. It was clear to me that narrative illustration was the area I found most compelling and rewarding. I knew that ultimately I wanted to write and illustrate my own picture books. I am fascinated by picture books as an art form, and the challenge of telling stories through the balance of words and pictures. I am happy to say that almost all of what I do now is for picture books and children’s fiction. PR: Did you find it easy moving to creating art on the computer? AS: Most of my work is still created by hand but there are some jobs I do partly or completely digitally. In those instances the shift has been gradual, from using the Mac to tweak work, then scanning in hand drawn line art and colouring it digitally, to finally creating the entire illustration with a Wacom tablet and Photoshop . Ultimately ABOVE AND FACING PAGE: Adam Stower's illustrations for 'Mrs. Noodlekugel' ooze charm and personality. Published in 2012 by Candlewick Press , the art provides an exemplar of how great illustration compels the viewer to engage with the text.