Author Biography
Neale Osborne was born in Birmingham, England, in 1970. A freelance illustrator since 1992, he is best known for his pen-and-ink caricature work - in the expressive tradition of cartoon greats Ralph Steadman and Gerald Scarfe. Over the years, Neale has also cultivated a decorative graphic style, drawing upon a range of influences: from the ornate exoticism of Russian folk miniatures, and the theater designs of Leon Bakst, to the linear stylization of classical Greek art, and the Nouveau arabesques of Aubrey Beardsley. Indeed, Neale's first exhibited piece was for a 1998 show in Brighton called 'Shock!' - a fin-de-siecle tribute to Beardsley - featuring contributions by many leading cartoonists including Steadman, Honeysett and Steve Bell. A few years later, Neale staged his first solo shows, most notably a 2006 exhibition at Birmingham's Symphony Hall, created to coincide with a week of concerts by the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and maestro Valery Gergiev. 2006 was also the year in which Neale began an ongoing association with the prestigious Lebrecht Music + Arts picture library. As an illustrator, he has contributed to many publications including the very first issue of Mojo (the rock 'n' roll magazine) in 1993. His work has also graced the pages (and web pages) of Vogue, Le Scienze, The Mail on Sunday, The Times, Times Literary Supplement, and the New Statesman; in 2002 he began a four-year stint drawing portraits of celebrity music-lovers for 'The Gramophone'. A devotee of classical music himself, Neale has also provided various designs to the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Chandos and Regis Records, and to concert programmes for the BBC Proms, CBSO and Mariinsky Opera. In 2005, he was chosen to illustrate a complete Easter range for 'Whittard of Chelsea' - on the theme of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. As a writer of fiction, Neale's breakthrough came with the 2009 publication, by Oxford University Press, of his children's novel 'Lydia's Tin Lid Drum'. This was followed in 2011 by the darker fantasy of 'The Castle of Desires'; in 2013, by 'Lydia's Golden Drum', the Arabian Nights-inspired sequel to his debut; and by 'Jason Rascal's Seasonal Dreamworlds', a series of illustrated novelettes in 2015.
