Welcome to #TheQuickSixInterview with Sarah Jane Lightfoot!
It’s a pleasure to welcome talented author-illustrator, Sarah Jane Lightfoot to the blog, to share her jurassic journey in creating her brilliant new picture book, When Dinosaurs Roamed Australia. It’s a budding palaeontologist’s delight with all manner of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ankylosaurs and titanosaurs roaming, soaring and gliding across the pages. Written in a romping rhythmic verse, Sarah captures the prehistoric playfulness of crater-footed GIANTS, bumpy-beaked FLYING LIZARDS, the snake-like tails of TOWERING TITANS and more, all busy living their best lives in amongst the Australian habitats. The stunning light-filled, colour-rich watercolours of Sarah’s illustrations bring energy and life back to these now-extinct creatures with expert detail and realism, particularly in her botanical landscapes. Complete with dinosaur names, descriptions, a fun Fossil Map and ‘spot the fossil’ activity (plus gorgeous endpapers!), young enthusiasts will be raring to visit these diverse and wonderful Australian dinosaurs for millions of years to come!
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Sarah! 🙂
About the Author – Illustrator
Sarah Jane Lightfoot is the bestselling author-illustrator of Down the Road, Little Bee and is an experienced textile graphic designer. She is also a freelance illustrator and workshop instructor, facilitating workshops for the NGV, WorkShop Melbourne and Creative Space.
Sarah Jane specialises in watercolour and botanical illustrations and lives in Melbourne.
Please find Sarah Jane Lightfoot at her website: BOOKS | sarahjanelightfoot and on Pinterest | Instagram
When Dinosaurs Roamed Australia is available for purchase from Affirm Press and local bookstores.
We thank Affirm Press for providing a complimentary copy of this book.
WHO wrote, illustrated and published this book?
Sarah Jane Lightfoot with Affirm Press.
WHAT is it about?
Dinosaurs! And not just any dinosaurs, Australia’s very own dinosaurs. This book is about some of the dinosaurs that roamed the land we now call Australia millions of years ago in the cretaceous period.
What is your favourite part of this book?
The Weewarrasaurs page is my favourite. Weewarrasaurus was discovered as a fossilized opal so I made sure its spread was filled with sunset reflections and opal-like colours. I also love the scavenger hunt for all the fossils hidden in the pages. I’m a sucker for a ‘did you spot’ book.
What media did you use to illustrate it?
When Dinosaurs Roamed Australia was developed using digital mediums. Initially, I developed all my sketching and roughs in Procreate on my iPad. Then once happy with the final roughs, I used my favourite coloured pencil and watercolour brushes in Photoshop to render the vibrant, prehistoric world.
WHEN is its release / launch date?
27th of August is the publication date.
WHERE did the inspiration for this book come from?
The inspiration for the book came from a painting I did of a sauropod eating blossoms from a eucalyptus tree, titled “Bruno Eats Blossoms for Breakfast.” After posting it on Instagram, my publisher Tash at Affirm Press saw it, loved it, and emailed me, suggesting that Bruno could be a great picture book character. I was immediately excited and started researching Australia’s dinosaurs and came up with the idea for When Dinosaurs Roamed Australia.
WHY is this book meaningful to you?
This book is meaningful to me because I believe in honouring and celebrating Australia’s unique flora and fauna. From kangaroos to banksias, our natural history is incredibly unique and amazing, and this stretches right back millions of years to the dinosaurs. I think it’s important for dinosaurs like Muttaburrasaurus to take centre stage here in Australia, rather than the usual T-rex and Triceratops.
Why would its message resonate with readers?
This book will resonate with any young Australian dinosaur lover. Anyone who loves to discover new things and learn about the prehistoric world of giants roaming the land we now call Australia.
HOW long did it take to write?
Writing took a few months, mainly due to how much research needed to go into it. The hardest part was deciding which Australian dinosaurs to include and what attributes I wanted to highlight. Once that was established the writing came about a lot quicker.
How long did it take to illustrate?
The illustrations took quite a while for the same reason as the text. I had to do a lot of research and development in my sketchbook. I based my dinosaur sketches on what palaeontologists think they looked like, then simplified them into friendly characters while keeping their key features. I paid extra attention to the three sauropods and two ankylosaurs, using colours and markings to set them apart. The entire illustration process took about a year.
How do you feel about the text / illustrations? Do they convey the feeling or mood you envisioned?
I really love how this book turned out. My aim was to create a fun and colourful book that showcases Australia’s unique dinosaurs. I wanted the book to be educational and engaging for young readers, introducing them to the Australian landscape millions of years ago in an approachable and playful way.
OTHER information or experiences you’d like to share?
I was initially excited about showing dinosaurs walking among gumtrees, but then I learned that dinosaurs were long gone before the first flowering gum appeared. Australia was a lot different millions of years ago but I still wanted this book to represent the Australia we know today. So, I blended beach and forest scenes with native plants that were around in the Cretaceous period, like Waratahs, Banksias, and Grevilleas, to establish that these dinosaurs were uniquely Australian.
This book is spectacularosaurus! Congratulations, Sarah! 🙂
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