A TALENTED Swindonian has just completed the most exciting venture of his life so far – illustrating a children’s book in collaboration with celebrated comedian/musician Tim Minchin.

Artist and storyteller Steve Antony, 41, of Old Town says he was a daydreamer as a child, always making up little stories and drawing pictures to go with them.

He studied at Cirencester College in the late 1990s, having returned to the Cotswolds after a few years living with his parents in New Mexico.

But after a Higher National Diploma in illustration at Swindon College, then completing art college he found it hard to get work as an artist.

After spells as a shelf stacker, a toilet cleaner and a wrapper of Christmas presents in a department store he settled for a career at Thames Water’s Swindon call centre for nine years.

In his spare time, however, he continued to illustrate his own stories and to pester agents and publishers until in 2010 he decided to leave Thames Water and study for a master’s degree in children’s book illustration at Cambridge.

He graduated two and a half years later and at his graduation show, attended by a number of publishers, had three picture books on display.

To his amazement he was signed up for a book deal shortly afterwards and has since had 11 of his own children’s books – including The Queen’s Hat and Please Mr Panda – published.

“That changed my life,” he said. “I have been working full time as an artist illustrator ever since.”

Just as he was thinking he would like to collaborate with a writer and illustrate someone else’s words, his agent asked if Steve would be interested in illustrating the words of Minchin’s song When I Grow Up from his stage hit Matilda The Musical.

Minchin had seen Steve’s work and thought he would be the perfect partner for an illustrated children’s book based on the song.

“I was delighted, of course, and just knew it was the right thing to do,” Steve said.

“He wanted me to look at the song with fresh eyes,” said Steve. “And when he saw what I came up with he said: ‘This is fantastic.’”

Steve explained that the song contains a rollercoaster of emotions and while it is fundamentally a book for kids, adults will also get a lot from it.

“Adults will be able to reflect and remember what it was like to be imaginative and carefree and how they have lost those qualities over the years,” he said.

Eventually the pair met up, after which most of the collaboration took place on Skype and via phone calls as Minchin now lives in Los Angeles.

The launch of the book When I Grow Up wasat the Leicester Square Theatre, London, where Steve drew live on stage, with Minchin playing the piano beside him.

Tickets for the launch sold out within 24 hours of the event being publicised on the Waterstones’ website.

“It was entirely improvised. I did not know half of what I was going to draw beforehand and made most of it up as I went along,” said Steve.

“But it went really well and the response from the audience was incredible.

“At one point, while Tim was playing When I Grow Up from the musical I was drawing Tim as a child sitting at his piano and looking down at an empty stool and fantasising.

“When he looked up at the drawing I could tell he was moved and everyone in the audience was welling up too. It was a unique experience, unforgettable.”

Steve is now working on his own book about a miniature dragon called Zibbo who meets a little boy who uses a wheelchair.

The child then teaches Zibbo how to do all kinds of things like make friends, and even fly!

“It’s a fun, light story about friendship and how you can do anything if you believe in yourself,” he said.

Steve, who is patron to Swindon Library’s Children’s Services, picked out five winners in a drawing competition organised by the library.

He has now handed them 15 copies of When I Grow Up to them and hopes to organise more activities there in the new year.

You can find examples of Steve’s work on his website Steveantony.com or follow him on Twitter @MrSteveAntony

When I Grow Up, published by Scholastic, is available online and from bookshops now, at £12.99.