ELLAN RANKIN

CLASS OF 2013

Author/Illustrator

Hello, I am Ellan and I am a picture book author and illustrator. I loved school, and have many stories that I can't mention here... but one memory that sticks out for me is when our English teacher brought in Jon Klassen’s I Want my Hat Back picture book. He thought it was hilarious and he read it to us “as a treat” for finishing our A Levels. It was a joke, but I thought it was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. I didn’t realise how words and pictures could work together, but the idea of people writing and illustrating books seemed like a far-fetched job to 18 year-old me. I studied art in school and that then led to me studying illustration at university, which, in time, brought me to making my own books. So it was all kind of started by our teacher reading that book as a joke.

Apart from that, the most important things that affected me from school were teachers being encouraging. I had teachers who would visit the art rooms to see what your latest artwork was, who would share your work with your year because they knew you were too shy to talk about it. I had one teacher who, when I said I was thinking about becoming a teacher myself, told me I was "far too talented for that!" I now have my first book published and others on the way!

I write and illustrate my own books, so I start with a story or idea, which goes through a long writing process with my publishers in London. Then I can start drawing. All my artwork is digital, so I draw using my laptop and tablet. My favourite thing about my job is how I get to be creative every day: imagining worlds where my characters live, researching clothing styles they would wear, putting life stories and details into every page. I think being creative is such a gift that should be nurtured and appreciated, and it's thanks to my teachers I am where I am today.