David Hughes is an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

Biography

David Hughes, born in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

(in 1952? ') describes himself as "a graphic designer who happens to illustrate."The Pentagram Award - David Hughes
Retrieved 7 February 2008 He studied at Twickenham Technical College in the early 1970s.Interview with David Hughes by Ian Massey, 1 August 2000
. Retrieved 14 March 2008 Towards the very end of his course, he discovered an interest in etching and produced "a small series of etchings based on a piece of jazz by

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

." After leaving college, he produced his first commissions for ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

''s cookery page, but became frustrated and disillusioned by the lack of creativity involved. A lack of "sympathetic advice" saw him abandon drawing for "a year or so," to become a postman. During this time (mid-1970s), he was re-inspired by a Post Office colleague to take up

life drawing A figure drawing is a drawing of the human form in any of its various shapes and postures using any of the drawing media. The term can also refer to the act of producing such a drawing. The degree of representation may range from highly detailed, ...

again, and eventually became aware (through the work of "amongst others, Ian Pollock, Russell Mills and Chloe Cheese") that there was a market for his talents.

Granada TV and The Observer

In 1980 he was given a job at

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

, Manchester as a graphic designer, giving him the financial security of paid employment to experiment artistically. This led to a freelance commission from David Pocknell to "produce 40 black and white pencil and charcoal illustrations" for

Eric Morecambe John Eric Bartholomew, (14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984), known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's de ...

's book "On Fishing," which ultimately inspired Hughes to leave Granada in 1985 to become a full-time illustrator – a decision that some found hard to understand: :"I was in a well-paid job and people felt that I was mad to leave, but I felt a compulsion to be an illustrator." Another key moment occurred in 1988, when, having long been working on ''Strat and Chatto'' by

Jan Mark Jan Mark (22 June 1943 – 16 January 2006) was a British writer best known for children's books. In all she wrote over fifty novels and plays and many anthologised short stories. She won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, ...

he found that after his "early drawings in pencil/charcoal ererejected as too sophisticated," and he felt that pencil-work often suffered from printing techniques he experimented in improving his pen and ink style. "Submitt nga rough pen and ink drawing to Pentagram", he found that they "chose to use it as a finished piece" as the cover to a book by

Don Marquis Donald Robert Perry Marquis ( ; July 29, 1878 – December 29, 1937) was an American humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters Ar ...

entitled "

Archy and Mehitabel Archy and Mehitabel (styled as archy and mehitabel) are fictional characters created in 1916 by Don Marquis, a columnist for ''The Evening Sun'' newspaper in New York City. Archy, a cockroach, and Mehitabel, an alley cat, appeared in hundreds of ...

". In late 1989, "he was invited by

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

magazine to produce drawings for a topical weekly medical column, "A Doctor Writes" by Dr. John Collee," first as one of a number of rotating artists, but soon as the solo, regular weekly artist. Describing his aversion to roughing out his work, Hughes notes the immediacy and challenge of producing full work as tending to allow an artist to produce better work: :"Roughs are the kiss of death. I hate doing roughs. . .I don't rough anything out in pencil, it's always pen and ink.., it's the moment; it's the difference between the practice run and the actual reality, it lifts your game. It's really demanding. Pencils easier, lovely, for me it's almost like relaxing."

Spoleto festival

In 1991,

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...

, director of the

Spoleto festival The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conce ...

in Italy and his son

Francis Menotti Francis "Chip" Menotti (born Francis Phelan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States in 1938) is an actor and former figure skater who was the president and artistic director of Festival dei Due Mondi. Early years and personal life Born in Phi ...

, invited Hughes to produce poster designs to advertise the 1992 festival, having seen his work in The Observer.Biographical information at David Hughes Illustration
Retrieved 7 February 2008 Hughes also "mounted a major exhibition of his work as part of the festival," which subsequently transferred to the Charleston Festival in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in 1993. Hughes was also asked by the Menottis to design an operatic version for their 1993 season of ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings ''A Rake's Progres ...

'', a task he was wary of taking "because of

Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of ...

's famously lauded version". In late 1992, Hockney's opera was staged in Manchester, and Hughes attended, leaving with the opinion that: :"It was very clever, but there was only one scene where I thought 'I can't top that, that's fantastic.'" Attempting to 'update the biting satire of Hogarth's etchings', Hughes took a satirical approach to 'give the work a contemporary relevance,' utilising all manner of historical styles and imagery associated with sports and gambling, as well as indulging in 'appropriately playful bawdyness'. Hailed by Italian critics as a complete success, Hughes feels in retrospect that its biggest help to himself was that it "made imthink about colour more, and form."

''Today'' and beyond

After the "adrenalin-fuelled team work of opera", Hughes was 'kept sane' by creating press adverts for

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

as well as being given carte blanch (in 1993) by journalist Christopher Wilson to draw "weekly portrait drawings" for the newspaper '' Today's'' "Poison Pen" gossip column. He was subsequently invited to design another opera for Spoleto - ''The Cunning Little Vixen'' for their 1998 season, considering it: :"... totally simplified in comparison. I went the other way, which was good, I'd got all the ornate crap out in Rakes Progress." His work on ''The Cunning Little Vixen'' included

3-dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...

sculptural collages "with letterforms and fiat colour", Ian Massey suggests that Hughes "uses collage elements as accents or as punctuation," and he concurs, noting that he has used simple collage elements from some of his earliest work. Hughes particularly favours the use of

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s in his work, not just because of what they evoke: :"... you look at old letters, people write beautifully, and you see the stamps, the seal, the frank mark," but also because he is an avid collector - "cigarette cards, bubble gum cards, stamps, matchbox labels, beermats ..." and the like. His Graphic Novel Walking The Dog, was published in 2009 to critical claim. The Observer wrote - On the outside, Walking the Dog looks like the kind of hardback a certain kind of man leaves on his coffee table so everyone can see how eclectic he is: expensive, colourful, mildly quirky. Open it up, however, and anarchy reigns. 2015 saw the publication of his net Graphic Novel, The Pillbox. Neil Mukherjee wrote in The New Statesman, Hughes has captured something ineluctably English in the combination of seediness, violence, sensationlism and humour; the book's biggest effect, however is the resonance of the present-day story, which will leave at least one haunting question ringing in your head. Hughes Was commissioned by The Folio Society(2015) to illustrate Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Style and other credits

His work incorporates aspects of illustration, graphic design, photography and animation, and his

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

drawings (often on the themes of "war, politics and social crisis"), have appeared in ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', ''

'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', as well as being exhibited internationally.David Hughes biography at ''Images of Delight''
. Retrieved 7 February 2008 Hughes states that he rarely uses references, favouring "develop ngforms through drawing": :"You don't think of ideas.., you know, sometimes an idea pops into your head but rarely for me. ideas come through drawing." His work has also appeared in the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', '' GQ'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and ''

'', while Hughes has also produced work for UK TV station

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

.David Hughes bio from Alibaba Verlag
Retrieved 7 February 2008 His design work for the stage includes two operatic productions at

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

, in 1993 and 1998. Widely acclaimed as a children's book illustrator, Hughes also writes some of the books he illustrates, as well as illustrating the work of others. In autumn 2006, he provided the illustrations of

Jan Needle James Albert Needle (born 1943), known as Jan Needle, is an English author. He was born and grew up in Portsmouth on the south coast of England, coming from a family with strong naval and military connections. He has written over thirty novels, a ...

's retelling of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's ''

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story o ...

''.

Awards and nominations

''Strat and Chatto'' (by

), won Hughes the

Mother Goose Award The Mother Goose Award was an award annually presented to "the most exciting newcomer to British children's book illustration." It was inaugurated in 1979 and last awarded in 1999. Sponsored by Books for Children booksellers, award winners receive ...

for "most exciting newcomer to British children's book illustration" in 1990. ''Bully'' was shortlisted for the

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...

in 1993. ''Little Robert'' was selected by the

Association of Illustrators The Association of Illustrators (AOI) is a British trade association for illustration, to advance and protect illustrators' rights. It was established in the United Kingdom in 1973. The AOI promotes and encourages commercial and ethical standards ...

in 1997 for ''Image 22'', and was subsequently exhibited at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, and later touring. In 1999 he received a

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

Silver Award for his illustrations of ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

''.

Partial bibliography

* Mark, Jan, ''Strat and Chatto'' (1990) Walker Books *''Bully'' (1992) Walker Books *''Little Robert'' (1996) Alibaba Verlag *Shakespeare's Othello. Alibaba Verlag 1998 *Silent Night, author Sandy Turner. Atheneum (USA) Walker Books (GB) 2000 *''David Hughes: Drawings'' (Kerber Verlag 2003) *Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, adapted by Jan Needle Walker Books 2006 *Walking The Dog. Jonathan Cape, 2009 *The Pillbox. Vintage/Jonathan Cape 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, David Living people English illustrators British children's book illustrators People from Marple, Greater Manchester Year of birth missing (living people)