Discover works of Hairy Maclary author Dame Lynley Dodd

DAME Lynley Dodd’s work has captured the imaginations of children for more than 40 years. The Hairy Maclary author spoke candidly about her work before the opening of the The Lynley Dodd Story exhibition.

Dame Lynley Dodd at Redcliffe City Art Gallery ahead of the exhibition.

DAME Lynley Dodd’s work has captured the imaginations of children for more than 40 years. She spoke candidly about her work ahead of the opening of The Lynley Dodd Story exhibition which is at Redcliffe City Art Gallery until March 17. The display has 13 sections, each featuring a character from her books.

How did it all begin?

I had been teaching until I began my family and so I was at home then and thought I’d keep my hand in by taking on illustrating work. So, I did about two years of working for The Correspondents School illustrating their fortnightly sets. My husband’s cousin Eve Sutton said “let’s do a picture book together”. This was way back in the late 60s, but when she got back to me in the 70s I agreed to do it. We based it on our family cat and that was My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes. My children were toddlers and I became keen on picture books and decided I really would rather like to try and write as well. I was terrified of it but I did.

Were your young children the main motivation?

That and the fact that I’d always wanted to illustrate. I was very lucky to land the job doing the illustrating for The Correspondents School. I didn’t get much money for it but it certainly kept my hand in. The fact that it was going to turn into books was only really Eve chasing me up. We were absolutely astonished when it was accepted for publication.

When did Hairy Maclary come into being?

Ten years later. There were five books between the first one and Hairy Maclary coming along in 1983.

What’s the creative process?

I have an ideas book which is what I say to all children particularly, or anybody who wants to write, that you really need to have something to note down things you’ve suddenly heard or seen or thought about that might make an idea for a book. If you don’t, you’re going to forget them. I keep one – it’s the scruffiest looking thing. It’s a collection of photographs, a collection of jottings, newspaper cuttings all sorts of things I heard, things I’ve seen, ridiculous stories in the newspaper, anything that suddenly makes you think “ooh there’s something there”.

Dame Lynley Dodd at the official opening of The Lynley Dodd Story at Redcliffe City Art Gallery. Photo: Katie Bennett from Embellysh.

Do you write the story first, or conjure up a character and an idea and draw first?

I have to start writing the text, but at the same time I’m visualising what the pictures will be. I don’t do the pictures then but I do sketches of key points. For example, my latest book is about a cat taking a ride on the top of a car and there are an awful lot of vehicles in that one. It required serious research of how you draw trucks and cars - an awful lot of wheels.

I’m writing my books on the old computer paper that had lines and holes down the side - that’s what I use because I can get a whole book on one page. It’s a very good way of me seeing not only the writing but the visual aspect of the writing. I like having language that kids really get into and quote that’s really important. So all the time I’m writing, I’m trying to come up with lines that sound really nice and the rhyme that sounds as smooth as possible as though it’s been no trouble at all. I then do a little dummy book, in pencil, for every page in the book and the cover design. By the time I’ve finished that little book, it’s a very good idea of what the final book will look like. All the basis of each picture is in that little dummy and that’s what goes off to the publisher with the manuscript and the publisher either says yes or no. I’ve been rather lucky they tend to say yes (laughs). After that I have to do the final pictures.

Do you hand paint those?

Yes. I don’t work on the computer at all. I don’t like this barrier between myself and the result. It’s got to be right in front of me to be right for me.

Do you have a favourite character or is it like children, you’re not allowed to have one?

Well, it’s probably not wise to have a favourite character but of course Hairy Maclary is the one that has literally taken off and dragged all his friends with him. No, I haven’t really got one. I’m really fond of Slinky because he was based on our original family cat.

So the characters are based on real animals?

A lot of them are. Hairy himself has been an amalgam of dogs I’ve known including a very naughty dog that belonged to a friend of mine. And Schnitzel was based on the dachshund my family had when I was a teenager. They all tend to come from somewhere. Hairy himself has been an amalgam of dogs I’ve known including a very naughty dog that belonged to a friend.

What do you think as you walk around The Lynley Dodd Story exhibition?

When (curator) Penny Jackson and I got together and she wanted to do a retrospective for her gallery in Tauranga, where we live, I was quite embarrassed. Illustration has not been regarded up until relatively recently as a form of art for galleries. It is a thrill to know that one’s work is being shown in galleries.