Dave Petzold is an author and illustrator living on Bundjalung Country in the northern rivers of Australia.
Bio
My grandparents had a huge influence on me when I was young and I attribute my love of creating children's books to them. My Grandpa was an engineer and an artist who worked with leather and wood and occasionally dabbled in opal polishing, diamond faceting, and taxidermy. My Grandma grew fruit trees, cooked amazing German food and often talked to Cocky, her rose-breasted galah. Their home in Adelaide was a treasure trove of heirlooms and trinkets that had traveled with them from Munich in the late ‘50s, and as a boy I spent many a day engrossed in that wonderfully strange and eclectic world.
I loved the cuckoo clock hanging in the hall and the unfinished wooden carving of a clydesdale horse on the credenza, but the garage was my favourite place to hang out. My Grandpa had a small studio at the back, and I’d squeeze past the old Holden and sit at his drafting table. Insects in formaldehyde lined the walls and a red taxidermy crab, with one huge claw, hung on the wall. In a corner sat a piano accordion and an opal polishing wheel. I also loved finding my Grandpa’s rough sketches for his leatherwork, tucked away in the pages of his bird books.
I don’t think they realised it but this is where the seeds of my imagination were planted and where I gained a love of making things, exploring, and above all, being curious.
I love creating characters who are curious and question the status quo and I hope that if you read my books you become curious about your world, too.
I use a mixture of traditional and digital when creating my illustrations. I work initially with graphite pencil, ink or oil paint to create the line work and then I move to the computer to add colour and texture.
