A vivid, searching memoir of life, love and book-making by an internationally acclaimed master of the art of the picture book form.
When somebody sends me a story that in some mysterious way turns my heart around, first of all, of course, I am stunned – stopped in my tracks by it. And then I try to find a way of drawing that answers the voice in the writing.
My heart is opened to the voice, to the heart within the words.
That, for me, is the heart of the matter.
That's where I draw from.
This is the record of a stellar career in picture books – if Australia had a Children’s Laureate as England does, Ron Brooks would be a candidate. It combines vivid and engaging memoir, profound soulsearching and self-questioning, and fascinating reflections on the making of such classics as The Bunyip of Berkeley’s Creek and John
Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat – both in print continuously for over 30 years – as well as Old Pig and the multi-award-winning Fox by Margaret Wild.
Yet success never came easy and in Drawn from the Heart, Brooks recreates his life as artist, husband and father, with all its twists and turns, its pain and joy. Along the way he offers rare insights into the ‘secret’ process of picture-making and story-shaping. Illustrated with roughs and finished art from his best-loved books, this is destined to become a classic in its own right.
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