Nikalas Catlow Biography

I was born in Stockport in Cheshire but spent most of my childhood residing in my own imagination, believing at an early age that I was in fact an alien sent to observe earthlings. Drawing was always a passion from an early age as was a love of story telling or making things up. To any child telling fibs is always a great sign of creativity!  I was about 7 before I could read properly and it is because of this that I always loved pictures in books.  The pictures spoke to me much more than the text did and by looking at a picture I could often just make up my own story in my head. 

I didn’t actually have any formal art training to begin with; instead I worked in a theatre for several years whilst teaching myself to draw on the theatre post-it note pads.  I then went on to work as an animator within the London advertising industry, deciding a few years that I should be doing something with slightly more substance and less gloss. 

In 2003 started an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art, alongside which I worked for Michael O’Mara books as a junior designer and later worked freelance on various book commissions.  I’m now currently working with companies both in England and Holland on various commissions.

Creating books is a passion; I can see the whole thing in my head before I start and I enjoy living inside that book for the amount of time it takes to complete it.