Korky Paul

Hamish Vigne Christie "Korky" Paul (born 1951) is a British illustrator of children's books. He was born and raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), but now lives in Oxford, 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 (now Harare, Zimbabwe) where he had what he calls "a wild and privileged childhood" in the African Bushveld.

He went to Estcourt High School before graduating from Durban School of Art in 1972 and working at an advertising agency in Cape Town. In 1976, he travelled to Greece 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 at California Institute of the Arts 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, 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 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. 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 cartoons, and also to the artists Ronald Searle and Ralph Steadman. He has original artwork on display at The Mazza Collection Galleria, University of Findlay, Findlay, Ohio, US.

Paul lives in Oxford and is married to the artist Susan Moxley. Together they have two children, Oska and Zoë.

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 (Oxford University Press) 1995

Illustrated

Winnie the Witch Valerie Thomas, Winnie the Witch (Kane/Miller) 1987, winner of the Children's Book Award Valerie Thomas, Winnie in Winter (Oxford University Press) 1996, shortlisted for the Children's Book Award 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 (Oxford University Press) 1989, shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal Tessa Dahl, Gwenda and the Animals (Hamish Hamilton) 1989 Tandi Jackson, The Wonderhair Restorer (Heinemann) 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) 1992, shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal 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, The Rascally Cake, (Andersen Press) (London, England), 1994, winner of the Children's Book Award 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 Kate Greenaway Medal 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, reteller, Aesop's Funky Fables (Hamish Hamilton) 1997 John Foster, compiler, Dragons, Dinosaurs, and Monster Poems (Oxford University Press) 1998 John Agard, 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, Lunch Boxes Don't Fly, (Puffin Books) 1999 John Foster, compiler, Pet Poems (Oxford University Press) 2000 Vivian French, reteller, Funky Tales (Hamish Hamilton) 2000 Michael Rosen, 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, 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

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