Graeme Rowland Base

About

Graeme Rowland Base, born on April 6, 1958, in Amersham, England, moved to Melbourne, Australia, with his family at age eight. He displayed early artistic talent, using drawing to integrate socially in his new environment, and developed a passion for Australian wildlife that permeates his work. After attending Box Hill High School and Melbourne High School, he studied graphic design at Swinburne University of Technology, graduating into a brief career in advertising, which he found unfulfilling and from which he was eventually dismissed. Transitioning to freelance illustration, Base entered children's literature serendipitously, creating intricate picture books blending detailed illustrations, puzzles, and verse inspired by his love of music, fantasy, and authors like Mervyn Peake and Lewis Carroll.

Detailed, colorful illustrations with puzzles, alliteration, and surreal fantasy elements