Annie O'Dowd - Early Seadogs

I have always loved drawing animal characters. At some point around the age of 20, I began drawing lots of little dogs who lived by the sea. The early seadogs were an anonymous collective of animals- their number essential to their character. They were sort of part mouse part dog, yet aquatic like a seal. I'm not sure why they were dogs, as I'm more of a cat person. They seemed to mysteriously emerge from my imagination, and once out, they began to grow and change.

A seadog play with some foreshadowing of 'Left Shoe and the Foundling'

Early creatures in burrows

Seadogs having fun on the beach

Another 'journey and return' story I began in 1982 but didn't finish

This character had some seadog sort of charactistics

This picture has been on my friend Lisa-Jane's wall since about 1983

Another painting featuring animal characters

This next painting was a pivotal moment in the development of the character. I'm not sure why, but after this the seadogs really became very vivid in my imagination- just like in the picture. The painting was the springboard for the first completed seadog story- 'Claire and the Seadogs'. Although this picture of the seadog dream was the first I painted for the story, it ended up as the narrative's final image.

'Claire and the Seadogs' (1987) was written to suit a 3-6 age group picture book format and was about a little girl who rescues a sick seadog she finds under a tree. I took great care to make the illustrations but was often frustrated by my lack of skill. In a way, my deficiencies helped to create my style. I went over my pencil drawings with ink and then painted them- almost like a sort of colouring in. My materials were crude- cheap cartridge paper and a child's Reeve's paint box. I approached many publishers- one or two were encouraging but most sent me a polite 'no'. Everything was shelved with the momentous event of our first baby, Thomas who was born in early 1991.

Claire asked Granny Goanna what could be wrong with the little creature

Granny advised her to take it to the shady trees

Help Sfrom a fish

To the sea at last-via turtle

Scenes from the seadog village

A cure at last

That night-seadog dreams

Shells

Fish

A gift from the seadogs

My rejection letters

Some time later, before Imogen was born, I made another pitch to be published. My friend Helen, always a wonderful and encouraging mentor, convinced me to consider the seadogs as a kind of brand; an idea which could be developed. Helen at that time was a graphic designer and she helped me to lay out a really simple spiral bound A3 book made of illustration board. Framed good quality scans and colour prints were presented next to simple text to communicate the charm of the characters. We spent a lot of time with scalpel, cutting board and spay adhesive to create the books. We made 10 copies and I sent them to publishers all around the world. Again, I received many rejection letters.

With my friend Helen in 2004- collaborator, mentor and fellow creative

Frustrated by my lack of success, I put aside my writing and illustrating aspirations and focused on my family. As a young mother, I had a great interest in classic children's clothes yet struggled to find them in shops. So I created my own label, 'Red Hen' and designed and produced a range of old fashioned linen shirts, nightdresses, overalls, knitwear , rompers and bloomers for infants up to the age of 2. However, after only one season, the birth of Kitty, our third child, brought everything else to a grinding halt.

Years passed and when Kitty was old enough to go to Kindy, I took on some part time teaching. In 2000, we left to go on our English adventure. It was only after returning home to Australia too late in 2003 to secure any teaching, that I decided to try to find work as an illustrator. I made up a one page flyer which I emailed to publishers showing examples of my work. The feedback was- 'we like those seadogs'. Helen again encouraged me. I entered into a new phase of productivity. With each new painting, I invented more and more about the seadogs- where they lived, what they ate, what they liked and who was their biggest foe. I wished that someone would appear out of the ether to collaborate with me and write the story for my pictures. Eventually Helen asked me why I didn't write it myself? Well… why not? What followed was another version-an illustrated chapter book for 4-10 year olds. Again, Helen helped me. She laid out my watercolours and text so it could be printed in booklet form. This time the story was called, 'Left Shoe and the Foundling' Her husband Peter made me 10 wooden boxes to display the booklet, seadog treasure, shells and map. I also made some felt characters of Left Shoe and Marigold. I sent these special boxes to publishers.