Jason Chapman
Illustrator and author, Jason Chapman, completed
the Foundation in Art & Design at Bradford &
Ilkley Community College in 1989.
Talented Jason held a solo exhibition of over 50
watercolours and photographs at the Terrace
Gallery at St George’s Hall while he was only 18
and on the Foundation Course.
Jason first worked in editorial illustration.
Working with London design agencies, he
produced large scale interpretation panels for
permanent exhibitions at museums around the
world, including the Natural History Museum,
Chicago Field Museum and Singapore Science
Centre. Jason has also illustrated greeting cards,
advent calendars and books for BBC Worldwide.
His interest in drawing animals (especially
dogs!) was spotted by the London’s famous
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and he was
chosen as their official illustrator. Jason has
always had a passion for children’s books and is
currently writing and illustrating books. Ted, Bo
and Diz was shortlisted for Book Trust Award for
Best Emerging Illustrator in 2007.
“I’ve always been very proud of coming from
Bradford and look back on my foundation
course with fond and inspiring memories.
Spending all day with fellow students
experimenting with painting and drawing,
printing and photography, with an experienced
group of tutors - Grant Devine, Chris Broughton,
Andy Griffiths, Ian Taylor and Dave (burn the
sky in) Rowling - and a range of visiting lecturers
was a great start to my career.
I remember the studios were a very creative
environment to work in and there was a heavy
emphasis on drawing. Students were taught
traditional methods of creating art such as oil
painting and photography and encouraged
to experiment with various techniques to
express their ideas, working in traditional, and
sometimes not so traditional ways. Ian Taylor’s
memorable film showing a bunch of friends
making a giant teradactyl and trying get it to fly
from the top of a steep hill showed one possible
approach to art and design.
We were also introduced to numerous artists,
designers, sculptors, film makers and the
opening of Grove Library gave us history
of art at the end of the road. I enjoyed
photography, painting and illustration and
carried on experimenting with different media
on my degree course at Camberwell College
of Art. However, it was a couple of significant
illustration projects on the Foundation course
which sparked off my interest in becoming an
illustrator and writer of children’s books.”
Photograph supplied by Jason Chapman