As a little boy, Jonathan Bentley liked football and drawing. When he was about eight years old he realised he wasn’t going to be good enough to play football for Leeds United, so he concentrated on drawing instead.

When he left school he studied at Brighton Polytechnic. Jonathan worked as a builder’s labourer and kitchen hand for many years before he became a full-time illustrator, and he worked in London and Sydney before moving to Brisbane, Australia.

Jonathan has been an Editorial Illustrator at the Courier Mail newspaper for ten years, and has illustrated books for Margaret Wild, The Wiggles and Andrew Daddo.

Jonathan likes to work with a range of materials including acrylics, oils, and line and watercolour, and he looks forward to the day when he has a big barn-like studio somewhere in the countryside.