The illustrator: Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith is an artist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was educated at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. His traditional drawing style has captured the attention of both the young and old and the admiration of other artists. Renowned for his narrative imagination, Smith is creating an impressive body of work that has been featured in print, fabric, large-scale installations, and animation.

Using traditional mediums such as Ink and watercolour, Smith sources older illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Japanese Woodblock prints, Rennaisance paintings and etchings, comics, and fellow contemporary illustrators and image makers. Smith’s images evoke a sense of fantasy and the subconscious, often referencing his own dreams.

Generally speaking, publishers don't allow authors and illustrators to gather in public groups. They divide us into unspeaking camps and it sounds terrible but they've got a reason. Authors tend to get very attached to how they think things should look, and this complicates the art direction process. I can understand that but couldn't help myself. I dug a hole underneath the fence and crawled across the yard and Sydney was there behind his fence, and he was digging a hole too. So we asked Nimbus if it was all right, and they agreed.

Sydney brought so much to the book. He intuited what to draw, and he did it sublimely.

We share stomping grounds—the south shore of Nova Scotia. As he read the manuscript and began visualizing the characters and the setting, he was pulling from the same palette. Sketch meetings were my favourite part of the production process. It was like meeting children that I already loved, getting to see faces for the first time. And there wasn't a single jarring line that Sydney drew. Gloomy and beautiful, and so Maritime. It was such a thrill to watch it come together. ~ Canadian Bookshelf (Kate Inglis interview)

Peek inside Sydney's Sketchbook.