Staff

Natalie Russell

Lecturer

Tel: 01382 348320
Email: n.russell@dundee.ac.uk
Illustration Department, Basement, Crawford Building,
DJCAD 13 Perth Road DD1 4HT

Biography

Natalie studied Illustration and Printmaking at the University of Dundee, graduating from the Master of Design Programme in 1999. She has taught in Illustration at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Edinburgh College of Art (2003-2006) and all areas of contemporary print at DCA Print Studio (1999-2006). Whilst working at DCA Natalie created prints with international artists, such as Claire Barclay, Martin Boyce and Richard Deacon on the 'Made at DCA' programme and co-ordinated print and book arts projects for schools and community groups, including 'Fully Booked' with the Scottish Book Trust and 'In the Garden' with Edinburgh International Book Festival.

During this time Natalie has continued to work commercially as an author and illustrator of children's picture books; Hamish the Highland Cow, Home Sweet Hamish and Donkey's Busy Day (Bloomsbury. 2003-2009), Moon Rabbit and Brown Rabbit in the City (Macmillan. 2009-2010) and Mrs Floss and Mrs Fleece (Happy Cat. 2008). This is where Natalie's research interests are focussed, within the creative process of composing children's illustrated narratives. Through exploring this creative endeavour, she aims to underpin this complex process and establish a further understanding of the interplay between the written word and related visual image.

Research Projects

Brown Rabbit in the City (Sequel)
32 page picture book (Sole author / Illustrator)
Macmillan Children's Books Ltd.
February 2010
The melodic narrative follows Brown Rabbit and Little Rabbit through a sequence of events that generate an emotional tension. The text leaves many 'telling' factors un-discussed to encourage a deeper, more sophisticated appreciation to be met.

Moon Rabbit
32 page picture book (Sole author / Illustrator)
Macmillan Children's Books Ltd.
February 2009
Written from Little Rabbit's perspective, this simple, ethereal text explores the notion of 'state loneliness' and provides the opportunity for secondary reading audiences to achieve a deeper, symbolic interpretation.

Donkey's Busy Day
32 page picture book (Sole author / Illustrator)
Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd.
January 2009
Focussing on the role of leadership and problem solving, the multi-layered narrative presented the challenge of composing a complex dialogue structure from nine character standpoints.

Mrs Floss and Mrs Fleece
32 pages illustrated picture book (Author - Vivian French)
Happy Cat Books Ltd.
May 2008
The illustration project provided a valuable insight into alternative writing structures / techniques and presented the challenge of interpreting another author's creative vision.