Christopher Wormell (born 1955) is an English printmaker, principally known for his
illustrated books
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images.
The ima ...
.
Biography
He was born in 1955 in
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
Gainsborough () is a market town and civil parish in the West Lindsey Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. The population was 20,842 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 23,243 in 2019. It lies on the east bank of the ...
. He had no formal training as an artist, working as a road-sweeper, rubbish collector, postman, and a factory worker. An interest in landscape painting led him to buy a set of wood engraving tools in 1982, and to teach himself how to use them. His first commercial book, ''
An Alphabet of Animals'', published in 1990 won that year's Graphics Prize at the
Bologna International Children's Book Fair. He was the recipient of the 2004 ''
New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' Best Illustrated Children's Book Award for ''
Teeth, Tails, and Tentacles''.
He has published some 14 illustrated books and acted as illustrator of others' work on at least 18 more. His work has also been published as greeting cards and he designed the artwork for a series of advertisements for
Adnams
Adnams is a regional brewery founded in 1872 in Southwold, Suffolk, England, by George and Ernest Adnams. It produces cask ale and bottled beers. Annual production is around 85,000 barrels.
In 2010, the company established the Copper House d ...
, a regional brewer based in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
.
On 6 April 2016,
Aston Villa Football Club
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional Association football, football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English foot ...
unveiled a newly designed club badge, featuring a heraldic lion designed by Wormell.
He lives in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
with his wife and three children.
Lino Artwork
He also makes many pieces of
lino artwork. He has made and printed many different types of lino pieces varying in detail and size. They can be seen on his website.
Bibliography
As author and illustrator
*''
An Alphabet of Animals'' (1990)
*''A Number of Animals'' (1993)
*''Kitchen Wisdom'' (1995)
*''What I Eat'' (1996)
*''Where I Live'' (1996)
*''The Art of the Kitchen'' (1998)
*''Blue Rabbit and Friends'' (1999)
*''Blue Rabbit and the Runaway Wheel'' (1999)
*''The Animal Train'' (2000)
*''Off to the Fair'' (2001)
*''Puff-Puff, Chugga-Chugga'' (2001)
*''George and the Dragon'' (2002)
*''The New Alphabet of Animals'' (2002)
*''In the Woods'' (2003)
*''
Two Frogs
''Two Frogs'' is a 2003 children's picture book written and illustrated by Chris Wormell. It won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Bronze Award and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal
The Carnegie Medal for Illustration (until 2022 th ...
'' (2003)
*''The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit'' (2004)
*''Teeth, Tails, and Tentacles'' (2004)
*''Mice, Morals, and Monkey Business'' (2005)
*''The Sea Monster'' (2005)
*''The Wild Girl'' (2005)
*''Henry and the Fox'' (2006)
*''Through the Animals' Eyes'' (2006)
*''George, the Dragon and the Princess'' (2007)
*''The Saddest King'' (2007)
*''Wings, Horns, and Claws'' (2007)
*''Molly and the Night Monster'' (2008)
*''The Animals Came Two By Two'' (2008)
*''Ferocious Wild Beasts'' (2009)
*''One Smart Fish'' (2010)
As illustrator only
*''The Story of a Norfolk Farm'' (1986)
*''English Country Traditions'' (1988)
*''Mowgli's Brothers'' (1992)
*''The Cook's Journal'' (1994)
*''Mediterranean Flavours: Savouring the Sun'' (1995)
*''The Gardener's Journal'' (1997)
*''Wines of the Rhone Valley'' (1997)
*''Bordeaux: A Comprehensive Guide'' (1998)
*''Ahab's Wife'' (1999)
*''Field Green'' (2003)
*''Pinewoods of the Black Mount'' (2003)
*''Swan Song'' (2003)
*''Island Home'' (2015)
*"The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" (2017)
*"Erebus" (2018)
*"The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth" (2019)
References
'Island Home A Landscape Memoir' Tim Winton
External links
Portfolio of Wormell's work at TheArtWorks
1955 births
Living people
English illustrators
English wood engravers
{{UK-illustrator-stub