Hamish Vigne Christie "Korky" Paul (born 1951) is a British illustrator of children's books. He was born and raised in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, but now lives in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England. His work, characteristically executed with bright watercolour paint and pen and ink, is recognisable by an anarchic yet detailed style and for its "wild characterisation". He is most known for his illustration of the series '' Winnie the Witch''.

Biography

Paul was born in 1951 into a family of seven children in Salisbury,

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

(now

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, Zimbabwe) where he had what he calls "a wild and privileged childhood" in the African

Bushveld The Bushveld (from af, bosveld, af, bos 'bush' and af, veld) is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. It encompasses most of Limpopo Province and a small part of ...

. He went to Estcourt High School before graduating from Durban School of Art in 1972 and working at an advertising agency in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. In 1976 he travelled to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

where he met James Watt, then working for a Greek publisher who commissioned Paul to illustrate a series of educational books teaching Greek children to speak the 'Queen's English'. He then spent some time working in an advertising agency in London and Los Angeles, and then studied film animation under

Jules Engel Jules Engel (born Gyula Engel, March 11, 1909 – September 6, 2003) was an American filmmaker, painter, sculptor, graphic artist, set designer, animator, film director, and teacher. He was the founding director of the experimental animation ...

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

in Valencia, California. His first children's book was a pop-up called ''The Crocodile and the Dumper Truck'' published in 1980, with paper engineering by Ray Marshall. In 1986 Paul met the editor, Ron Heapy, at

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, who looked at his work and commissioned him to draw several pictures for a short book about a witch written by Valerie Thomas as part of OUP's Reading Tree programme. Paul liked the story enough to turn it into a complete picture book. Although this was not strictly within Paul's brief, Heapy nevertheless presented it to the OUP delegates. The resulting book, '' Winnie the Witch'', went on to win the

Red House Children's Book Award The Federation of Children's Book Groups Children's Book Award is a set of annual literary prizes for children's books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar year. It recognises one "Overall" winner and one book in each of three cat ...

in 1988 and has since been published in over 10 languages. Paul's illustrations for this are full of visual jokes and witty detail. Since then he has illustrated a further nineteen ''Winnie the Witch'' titles that have sold over 7 million copies. Of Paul's contribution to the success of ''Winnie and Wilbur'', Helen Mortimer of OUP writes, "Winnie is such a loved character. It's partly because the artwork is so distinctive and detailed; there is so much to pour over in every single spread." Of his illustration of Winnie in the books, Paul told the Telegraph: "I didn't want witchy colours... I love throwing in colour, it makes me feel like Jackson Pollock." Three of Paul's picture books have been adapted for CD-ROM; ''The Fish Who Could Wish'' which won the European Multi-Media Award (EMMA) in 1995, ''Dragon Poems'' and ''Winnie the Witch''. His anarchic yet detailed work, executed with bright watercolour paint and pen and ink, is distinguished by its "wild characterisation". It has been compared to

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

cartoons, and also to the artists

Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's S ...

and

Ralph Steadman Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration and friendship with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture b ...

. He has original artwork on display at The Mazza Collection Galleria,

University of Findlay The University of Findlay (UF) is a private university, private Christianity, Christian university in Findlay, Ohio. It was established in 1882 through a joint partnership between the Churches of God General Conference (Winebrenner), Churches ...

, Findlay, Ohio, US. Paul lives in

and is married to the artist Susan Moxley. Together they have two children, Oska and Zoë. Describing the technical details of his work he says: "I use an Apple Mac, Schminke watercolours, Caran d'Ache pencil crayons (with electric sharpener), Saunders Waterford paper 190gm3 , black kandahar and coloured inks with a dip pen, toothbrush, porcupine quills, and my trusty left hand." In 2015/2016, he was the 7th most borrowed illustrator in UK public libraries.

Partial bibliography

Written and Illustrated

*''The Big Book'' (Methuen) 1985 *''The Fat Book'' (Methuen) 1985 *''The Thin Book'' (Methuen) 1985 * ''The Coconut Feast,'' Orbis (London, England), 1985. * ''Adventures with the Creep,'' Orbis (London, England), 1985. * ''The Special Romance,'' Orbis (London, England), 1985. * ''The Fruit Salad Tangle,'' Orbis (London, England), 1985. *''Billy Bumps Builds a Palace'' (

) 1995

Illustrated

Winnie the Witch

*Valerie Thomas, '' Winnie the Witch'' (Kane/Miller) 1987, winner of the

Children's Book Award Children's Book Award is a generic term that has been applied to: * Caldecott Medal, Caldecott Medal, annual "most distinguished American picture book for children" * Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award from the Vermont Department of Lib ...

*Valerie Thomas, ''Winnie in Winter'' (Oxford University Press) 1996, shortlisted for the

*Valerie Thomas, ''Winnie Flies Again'' (Oxford University Press) 1999 *Valerie Thomas, ''Winnie's Magic Wand'' (Oxford University Press) 2002 *Valerie Thomas, ''Winnie's New Computer'' (Oxford University Press) 2003 * 2005 ''Winnie at the Seaside'' * 2006 ''Winnie's Midnight Dragon'' * Valerie Thomas, ''Happy Birthday Winnie'' (Oxford University Press) 2008 * 2008 ''Winnie's Flying Carpet'' * 2009 ''Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin'' * 2010 ''Winnie in Space'' * 2011 ''Winnie Under the Sea'' * 2012 ''Winnie's Dinosaur Day'' * 2013 ''Winnie`s Pirate Adventure'' * 2014 ''Winnie`s Big Bad Robot'' * 2015 ''Winnie's Haunted House'' * Valerie Thomas, ''Winnie and Wilbur in Space'' (OUP) 2016 * 2016 ''Winnie & Wilbur Meet Santa'' * 2017 ''Winnie & Wilbur and the Naughty Knight''

Others

*Ray Marshall, Sara Sharpe, ''The Crocodile and the Dumper Truck: A Reptilian Guide to London'' ( Atheneum) 1982 *Ray Marshall, ''Cats Up: Purring Pop-Ups'' ( Little Simon) 1982 *Ray Marshall, ''Doors'' (Dutton) 1982 *Ray Marshall, ''Hey Diddle Diddle'' (Little Simon) 1983 *Ray Marshall, ''Humpty Dumpty'' (Little Simon) 1983 *Ray Marshall, ''Jack and Jill'' (Little Simon) 1983 *Ray Marshall, ''Sing a Song of Sixpence'' (Little Simon) 1983 *John Bush, ''This Is a Book about Baboons'' (Kestrel) 1983 *John Bush, ''This Is a Book about Giraffes'' (Kestrel) 1983 *John Bush, ''This Is a Book about Hippos'' (Kestrel) 1983 *Ray Marshall, ''Pop-Up Numbers'' (Dutton) 1984 *Ray Marshall, ''Pop-Up Addition'' (Kestrel) 1984 *Ray Marshall, ''Pop-Up Subtraction'' (Kestrel) 1984 *Ray Marshall, ''Pop-Up Multiplication'' (Kestrel) 1984 *Ray Marshall, ''Pop-Up Division'' (Kestrel) 1984 *Keren Kristal, The Brainbox, ( Methuen) 1986 * Peter Carter, ''Captain Teachum's Buried Treasure'' (

) 1989, shortlisted for the

Kate Greenaway Medal The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ...

Tessa Dahl Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl (born 11 April 1957) is an English author and former actress. She is the daughter of British author Roald Dahl and American actress Patricia Neal. Early life Dahl was born in Oxford, the second daughter of British au ...

, ''Gwenda and the Animals'' (

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which was ...

) 1989 *Tandi Jackson, ''The Wonderhair Restorer'' (

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

) 1990 *John Foster, ''Never Say Boo to a Ghost'' (Oxford University Press) 1990 *Tessa Dahl, ''School Can Wait'' (Hamish Hamilton) 1990 *Stephen Wyllie, ''Dinner with Fox'' (Dial) 1990 *John Bush, ''The Fish Who Could Wish'', (Kane/Miller) 1991 *''The Pop-Up Book of Ghost Tales'' ( Harcourt) 1991 *John Foster, ''Dragon Poems'' (Oxford University Press) 1991 *Robin Tzannes, ''Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions'', (Oxford University Press) 1992 *Jonathan Long, ''The Dog That Dug'', (

Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...

) 1992, shortlisted for the

*Shen Roddie, ''Mrs. Wolf'' (Tango) 1992 *Robin Tzannes, ''The Great Robbery'' (Tango) 1993 *Robin Tzannes, ''Sanji and the Baker'', (Oxford University Press) 1993 *John Foster, compiler, ''Dinosaur Poems'' (Oxford University Press) 1993 *Robin Tzannes, ''Mookie Goes Fishing'' (Oxford University Press) 1994 *Jonathan Long, ''The Cat That Scratched'' (Bodley Head) 1994 *

Jeanne Willis Jeanne Willis (born St Albans, England) is an author of several children's books, including '' The Monster Bed'' (1986),''The Monster Bed'', about the author the '' Dr. Xargle's Book of...'' series (1988–2004), and ''Shamanka'' (2007). Willis wa ...

, ''The Rascally Cake'', (

Andersen Press Andersen Press is a British book publishing company. It was founded in 1976 by Klaus Flugge, and was named after Hans Christian Andersen "because it is easier to pronounce and spell than Flugge". Random House has a holding in the company and a s ...

) (London, England), 1994, winner of the

*Peter Tabern, ''Pirates'', (Andersen Press) 1994 *Peter Tabern, ''Blood and Thunder'' (Andersen Press) 1994 *Peter Harris, ''Have You Seen Max?'' (Aladdin) 1994 *Michel Piquemal, ''The Monster Book of Horrible Horrors'', translated by Peter Haswell, (Bodley Head) 1995 *John Foster, compiler, ''Monster Poems'' (Oxford University Press) 1995 *Jonathan Long, ''The Duck That Had No Luck'' (Bodley Head) 1996, shortlisted for the

*Julianna Bethlen, ''Dracula Junior and the Fake Fangs'', paper engineering by Richard Ferguson (Dial) 1996 *John Foster, compiler, ''Magic Poems'' (Oxford University Press) 1997 *

Vivian French Vivian June Isoult French (born 1945) is a British writer of picture book texts, novels, plays, and non-fiction for children and young adults. She has written more than 250 books – including the picture book ''Oliver's Vegetables'' (1995), The ...

, reteller, ''Aesop's Funky Fables'' (Hamish Hamilton) 1997 *John Foster, compiler, ''Dragons, Dinosaurs, and Monster Poems'' (Oxford University Press) 1998 *

John Agard John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949 in British Guiana) is an Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children's writer, now living in Britain. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

, ''Brer Rabbit: The Great Tug-o-War'', ( Barron's Educational) 1998 *Teresa Lynch, ''Call Me Sam'', (Oxford University Press) 1998. * W. J. Corbett, ''The Battle of Chinnbrook Wood'', (Hodder) 1998 *Jonathan Long, ''The Wonkey Donkey'' (Bodley Head) 1999 *

Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. Early life Michael Wayne Ros ...

, ''Lunch Boxes Don't Fly'', (

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

) 1999 *John Foster, compiler, ''Pet Poems'' (Oxford University Press) 2000 *Vivian French, reteller, ''Funky Tales'' (Hamish Hamilton) 2000 *

, ''Uncle Billy Being Silly'' (Puffin Books) 2001 *John Foster, compiler, ''Fantastic Football Poems'' (Oxford University) 2001 *Michael Rosen, ''No Breathing in Class'' (Puffin Books) 2002 *Paul Rogers, ''Tiny'' (Bodley Head) 2002 *Mary Arrigan, ''Pa Jinglebob: The Fastest Knitter in the West'' (Egmont) 2002 * Jon Blake, ''The Deadly Secret of Dorothy W.'' (Hodder) 2003 *Giles Andreae, ''Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants'' (Oxford University Press) 2012 Paul has also illustrated books for

The Prison Phoenix Trust The Prison Phoenix Trust (PPT) is a charity registered in England in 1988 that offers help to prisoners through the disciplines of meditation and yoga, working with silence and the breath. The PPT encourages prisoners – and prison staff – t ...

, sent to prisoners free of charge: * ''Freeing the Spirit through Meditation and Yoga'' by Sandy Chubb and Sister Elaine MacInnes, 2005 * ''Yoga Without Words'' by Sandy Chubb and Jo Child, 2008

News articles

References

External links

*
Winnie the Witch website
at Oxford University Press
Oxford Children's Book Group
a local charity for whom Paul has illustrated {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Korky 1951 births Artists from Harare Artists from Oxford Living people British children's book illustrators British illustrators Oxford University Press people Rhodesian expatriates in the United Kingdom Southern Rhodesian expatriates Date of birth missing (living people)