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I began illustrating children's books because of a growing disillusionment with the sort of work I was doing in the advertising industry. Book publishing offered me the chance to be far more creative.

I have been illustrating Tolkien's books ever since I first read them, long before illustration became my profession.

I have 17 full-time archivists working for me who put away in books all the diversity of artwork I do, from drawing to etching to monotypes to prints to lithographs.

I'll always write picture books - it's just what I do. I'd even do it if I wasn't being paid.

I'm a very visual person, and I love opening beautiful books on art or design and looking through them.

Before I began concentrating on writing, in my free time I was an artist, making and selling etchings illustrating stories based on my readings in classical literature.

I've written many nonfiction books, but that's a special gift.

Books are the heart of any home, and I spend hours going through books for design inspiration.

I hadn't thought specifically about doing graphic novels until a couple of my friends got contracts for them. Then I started picturing how various of my stories or poems would work in an illustrated format and thinking how cool that would be.