When the Wild Things Were

Ink, acrylics and Inktense pencils on watercolour paper

Like most people my age, I remember as a child being read the story ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Then many years later, I saw that it was made into a film.

However, it was not until my children picked up a fiftieth anniversary edition of the book that I paid much attention to it, and was immediately struck by Sendak’s amazing illustrations which overwhelmed me with their uniqueness and beauty. We had to buy the book that day, whether they wanted it or not!

In preparing for my ‘Connections’ exhibition in 2019, which had a strong nature and conservation theme, the idea came to me to make an artwork that would be a playful sattire of the book. This artwork was a chance to challenge myself to step outside my comfort zone of producing mainly detailed, respresentational work.

My version features three of Australia’s extinct ‘wild things’ - our most famous, the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger), as well as two of our lesser known extinct species - the Lesser Bilby and the dwarf King Island Emu.

Look closely for the subtle playful differences to the boy and the boat, with him being dressed in sheep’s clothing (instead of the wolf suit in Sendak’s original).

While I had fun coming up with the ideas for this artwork, and bringing them to life, I could not help but be a little disappointed that I did not produce something as amazing as Sendak’s illustrations.

If you haven’t read the book in many years, check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Have you got an idea for an illustration capturing a message or idea that’s important to you? Let’s discuss making it a reality.