About me

David schoolboy

David,1959

DAVID ELLIOT –  Illustrator and author

I was born in 1952 in Ashburton, New Zealand, in the middle of the Canterbury plains where there wasn’t much going on but sheep and pine trees.

I quickly invented a pretend lamb as a friend (really just the piece of string I led around) and have been making things up ever since.

David with husky 

David with husky pups, Antarctica1979

 

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved stories and drawing and that eventually led me to art school and on out into the thorny world of trying to make a living out of my imagination.

I have been very lucky that I have almost accidentally ended up in places and situations that couldn’t help but inspire me. A stint working in Antarctica in 1979 (where some huskies licked me into shape) followed later by a job as gateman at Edinburgh Zoo (where I was egged on by a parrot), confirmed to me that I wanted to write and illustrate stories and although I ended up first designing interiors then teaching for a long time, books have always been my real love.

 David with parrot

David, Edinburgh Zoo 1982

 

At last in 1998 my wonderful wife Gillian convinced me that I should try working on books fulltime. Fortunately things have worked out pretty well!

David portrait

 

More about David

New Zealand Arts Foundation

The New Zealand Book Council

Hunting with David Elliot

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