Windows into Illustration: Petr Horáček

Petr Horáček’s bold and imaginative illustrations captivate readers of all ages and have won many awards around the world. He has twice been shortlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal (in 2012 and 2018). His illustrations are always distinctive with their evocative use of colour and texture. Here, he reveals the inspiration for a scene in his book, The Long Walk, recently published in English.

Although I live in England, I was born and grew up in the Czech Republic. My books are written and first published in English. They are later translated into other languages including my own mother tongue.

The Long Walk is the only book which was originally written in Czech and was first published in the Czech Republic.

I wrote the book as a ‘side project’ some time ago and left it in my drawer for a couple of years. At the time I didn’t know if the book would ever be published, which meant I had absolute freedom to do whatever I wanted in it. There was no editor, no page count to adhere to, no deadline; all I wanted was to make a book I would be happy with.

In the book the garden gnome Frank walks out of his garden, visiting different places and cities. He walks through the spring, summer, autumn and winter. Everywhere he goes he plants a little seed or a little flower to make the place better or at least better looking. The observant reader will note that Frank gets older and his beard gets longer as he walks. In the winter scenery I paid homage to one of my favourite Czech illustrators Josef Lada; anyone familiar with his paintings of winter scenes will spot the references.

When illustrating I am inspired by materials, from different papers to different kinds of paint and drawing materials. I use collage, I print, scratch into paper; I use watercolours, acrylic paint, wax crayons, oil pastels, coloured pencils and graphite.

If I must pick one illustration from the book as a favourite, I would choose the spread featuring Prague, the city where I was born. Here I used mostly graphite and it’s almost a realistic drawing; something which is not exactly typical for me. Apart from graphite I also used watercolour, acrylic paint and collage.

These days Prague is one of the most visited cities in Europe and it seems very changed to me. I grew up in a totalitarian, communistic country and the grey city, as I knew it, is now full of colours, full of tourists, fancy restaurants and shops with kitschy nicknacks.  But at its root Prague, with its historical heritage and great architecture, is just the same. It’s magical, mysterious and as beautiful as it always was. On his long walk Frank hasn’t changed much either. He is older and perhaps, like most of us, a little bit wiser.

The Long Walk is published by Ragged Bears, 978-1857144994, £14.99 hbk.

Find out more about Petr on his website www.petrhoracek.co.uk