Fred Blunt, 38, has many books to his credit. He recently helped some Churchfields School pupils discover their own inner artist as part of Swindon’s Youth Festival of Literature. Fred lives in Okus and is married to Clare. The couple have two children, three-year-old Bonnie and one-year-old Sonny THE images Fred Blunt creates in his second floor home studio find their way into childhood consciousness all over the world.

We all remember favourite illustrations in the books we had as children, and the Swindon artist’s appear everywhere from the US to the Middle East.

One of the books on his shelves, for example, is Le Dragon Reticent, the French Edition of an adaptation of the classic Kenneth Grahame tale, The Reluctant Dragon, about a cultured dragon who refuses to hurt anybody.

Fred’s endearing vision of the creature reclines blissfully near a tree stump, sniffing a flower and admiring a bird as it flies overhead.

“One of the great things about illustrating or writing children’s books,” he said, “is that it gives you the opportunity not to have to grow up, in a way.

“You have to be in touch with your inner 10-year-old or five-year-old to be able to do it, I think.”

Ask Fred which works of art he wishes he’d done himself and he names two: an unbroken- line image of a dog drawn by Picasso and an equally delightful unbroken-line cartoon of a man by New Yorker magazine illustrator Saul Steinberg.

Fred was born in Swindon and has five siblings. His dad, also called Fred, worked for Plessey, and mum Pat worked for Swindon Council. Fred can’t remember the first time he drew something, but recalls the first time he enjoyed drawing.

“I can remember very, very clearly that at playschool I did a painting of the Muppets in blue paint.

“I don’t know whether there was a revelation that I could do it, but there was definitely an instant enjoyment. I thought it was a brilliant painting!

“Then I can remember my dad used to bring home art books – Toulouse Lautrec, those sort of artists. I remember drawing a man upside down with no clothes on. He was doing a handstand. Dad saw it and said, ‘What is wrong with this picture?’”

What was wrong with the picture was that a certain part of the upside-down man’s anatomy was pointing in the wrong direction. The incident became hilarious family legend.

“We would all draw – that would be anything from comic strips of the A-Team to whatever was our favourite cartoon on TV. It was cheap, I suppose. It was cheaper than going to the arcades.

“If somebody was good at drawing I was always very impressed. When I was at school I was really obsessed with the stylings of the original Hanna-Barbera cartoons like The Flintstones, Top Cat, that sort of thing.

“I didn’t know who drew them but I do now because the internet is a wonderful thing: it was Ed Benedict. He only died a few years ago. He’s still a big influence on me.

“Later, when I started doing GCSE art, I’d go to the library and look at fine art books – Titian, El Greco, Monet.”

Cartooning and illustration were his main interests, though, and his strongest early influences included Quentin Blake, best known for illustrating many Roald Dahl books.

“I suppose it’s all a big melting pot. They all get chucked in and shaken about a bit, so you end up with something influenced by Quentin Blake and Ed Benedict but which has your own personality and becomes yours. I realised that line was the most important part of my drawings.”

Fred attended Churchfields School, followed by a two-year Swindon College foundation art course and a degree in illustration at the University of the West of England. By his mid-twenties he was living more and more by his pen, supplementing his income with bar work.

Early professional work included a series of caricatures of celebrities for a greetings card company. A certain Robbie Williams was so impressed with his that he invited Fred backstage at a concert.

Fred also drew caricatures of ordinary people, notably images of regulars at the Beehive pub in Old Town which are still displayed there.

His caricatures are funny but never unkind. He recalls once being told by respected Swindon graphic designer Jerome Trilles: “There’s no malice in your work, Freddie.”

Other early work included images for digital TV channel Play UK, and by the mid-2000s he had come to the attention of publishers. Searching under his name on Amazon UK yields everything from bedtime stories to picture books and early reading texts.

Current projects include illustrations for a forthcoming series of children’s books with New York publisher Blue Apple. He also has a publishing deal for is own self-penned and illustrated books, details of which are still under wraps.

His advice for budding illustrators is simple: “Don’t be afraid of hard work because it’s very hard work – but it’s hard work you enjoy.

“Lots of people give up at the first hurdle. Don’t be afraid to get a part time job. I worked in a pub for nine years.

“Also, try to find an original kind of voice – try to let something original naturally develop.”

Fred’s website is fredbluntillustration.com