The Skeleton Pirate

About David Lucas

David Lucas - As a child

"I was born in Middlesbrough, where my Mum was a teacher and my Dad worked in the steel works. I am the third of six brothers, and as children we were all dressed the same - same haircut, same jeans, same jumpers. When I was five years old we came to London (my Dad had decided to go to Art College) and at first we lived in a tent before moving to a council flat in Hackney. My parents both loved nature so I often spent holidays exploring forests and wandering on the moors in Yorkshire or by the seashore. I loved ruins and castles too - magical, haunted places. I always enjoyed drawing and in my teens I became fascinated by mythology and fairytales and folklore and began writing stories and inventing imaginary worlds and characters."

As an adult

"I live in east London, close to where I grew up, beside Victoria Park. My home is full of strange old books - books of magic spells and secret alphabets and half forgotten legends. I collect old toys too, and colourful folk art and carvings of scary tribal gods with staring eyes. I've always liked fancy dress parties - it's fun pretending to be someone you're not - and I enjoy being on my own in nature - I love places where I can escape the modern world and imagine I'm living centuries ago. I just feel very lucky to be able to make my living from writing stories and making pictures and mostly I live a very quiet life."

As an artist

"I believe the world is alive with magic - and it's that feeling that really inspires my work. My drawing is picture-writing - I never draw from life - I make patterns, as if I were knitting with ink. Writing, for me, is pattern-making too - putting words together as if they were simple shapes, making story-patterns that are a mixture of autobiography and myth and fairytale. I spend the mornings writing, looking out onto the park, listening to the birds singing and the canal boats chugging past. I paint and draw in my studio near London Fields. As well as making picture books I'm also working on an illustrated fantasy novel."