Hello! I was born in Chatham, Kent, England in 1971, one year before The A-Team was sent to a military prison for a crime they didn't commit. I attended Horsted Infant School when I was 4 and Mrs Glover approved of a painting I did and raved about it to the other children. Thanks Mrs Glover, I think you helped sew a seed there.
I promptly escaped to Horsted Junior School and I don't really know what to say about my time there. Our Headmaster, Mr Pavley, only had one lung if that's of any interest? It was interesting to him because he kept telling us about it. Every single assembly he'd go, "I'm singing louder than you and I've only got one lung!"
Then Elvis died. I wish that hadn't happened.
Sometime around now I sat down to see Jackanory and I vividly remember watching Quentin Blake tell a story whilst simultaneously illustrating it on huge boards. And I was awestruck. From then on I drew and drew and drew and one colouring book followed another and crayons became pencils which became felt tips which became paints which became charcoal which became pastels which became...you get the idea. Thanks Quentin.
All of which led me to make up my own
characters and write stories about them. Now, some people are influenced by the songs of Leonard Cohen and some are
inspired by the works of Shakespeare but I think I was most heavily influenced by The Munch Bunch because I came up
with a little guy called Dr Pea. He was the same as Dr Who but in pea form! Eh?
How brilliant is that? His enemy were the Daleeks. When I wasn't drawing I'd get my dad to draw me pictures and he'd
do a matchstick Superman doing super things and they were perfect and I loved it. Thanks Dad.
And all the while my Mum encouraged and coaxed my scribbles and looked at ways in which I might progress with it (er, and still does). Thanks Mum.
It was about this time that my little brother buried one of my stormtroopers in the back garden and he hasn't been seen since (the stormtrooper, not my little brother). Thanks Cris.
I went to Chatham Grammar School for Boys and left as a man barely talented although, let's be honest, when you're as beautiful as me you don't really need to be talented too. Talent's just a bonus innit? But nevertheless, I went to Rochester Tutors College (now Rochester Independent College) to study art and was rebuilt as an illustrator by Peter Gower and Jackie Clarke who made me a better drawer than I was before. Better. Stronger. Faster. Thanks Jackie, thanks Pete.
It was about this time that my big brother kicked the brand new football that I got for my birthday over the back fence* and we've not seen it since. It went over Nathan's and his mum's a bit of a cow about stray footballs. Thanks Craig.
I then studied at (KIAD) Maidstone where I specialised in creative skiving. I was a misfit. A loose cannon. A loose cannon living on the edge. A loose cannon living on the edge who played by his own rules. A bit of a lone wolf who danced to his own tune and woe betide that small group of graphic design students that tried to bully me that year! I passed with distinction. Them graphic designers didn't. They were rubbish. They were better at bullying than they were at graphic design and they weren't even good at bullying. And I enjoyed every minute with the possible exception of the first few but you know what? I love it when a plan comes together; let 'em spend 6 months thinking they're winning and turn the tables on 'em in the fortnight. I don't recall your names but thanks anyway, it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without you. Do you still slick your hair back and wear those shell suits? Still tucking your rugby shirts into your jeans? Ahh, I hope so. Still doing graphic design? Nah, thought not.
I did my BA(hons) Degree at Camberwell College of Arts and I must have fallen off the edge I was living on because I was terrible there! Completely terrible!! And my tutors spent 3 years telling me I couldn't draw. Cor, they loved that. The only thing of note I did at Camberwell was to get a regular cartoon series published in Dr Who Magazine for about a year and a half but I think the general consensus amongst Dr Who fandom is that it was fairly terrible too. Ah well. Having my first published work connected to Dr Who made up for such a tricksy time though. Confidence was low.
Then came my wilderness years. I was lost and in the dark for so long. Then I came out of my wilderness years and everything was fine!
I followed my Degree with a Chelsea chaser where the illustrator Carolyn Dinan advised me on the specifics of book illustration and sent me on my way with a newly formed enthusiam. Confidence restored. Thanks Carolyn.
I went round to see book publishers and sent work off to others and got nowhere for ages and ages and just as it looked as though I'd never get anywhere with it, I got somewhere with it! I received a phone call from Mike Graham-Cameron from the Graham-Cameron Illustration agency who offered to represent me and my work. And they've been brilliant with me and I've now freelanced for some of the biggest publishers in the country. Thanks Mike, thanks Helen, thanks Duncan.
And I have a daughter too. Elodie has gained fluent french from her mum and fluent gibberish from me. You know how I wrote above about how beautiful I am? Well that's just me telling fibs I'm afraid but Elodie really is beautiful and she gets that from her mum. And her brains. Thanks Solange.
If only Elvis were still with us, things would be perfect.
So today, if you need a drawing and no-one else can help and if you can find me (which is easy, just click on the contact tab at the top of the screen) maybe you can hire me, Leighton, illustrator of fortune, clinging to the edge. By my fingertips. It's beginning to hurt, sucker, it's beginning to hurt.
*Bend your body over the ball when you strike it and the ball stays down. It's that simple.