Portarlington illustrator launches book on Tom Crean
Louise McSharry Lettering Artist and David Butler Artist Photos: Jimmy Fullam
A BOOK bringing together deep historical knowledge and creative visual storytelling was launched in Kildare town recently.
is the work of illustrator and animator Dave Butler and author Michael Smith with littering by Louise McSharry.
Dave orginally from Kildare but now living in Portarlington has a busy life, balancing family, responsibility and his passion.
By day, Dave works in Pfizer in Newbridge, and by night, he sketches out ideas for his latest projects.
But for Dave, his craft is no side project – it’s a necessity.
“I feel like I need it,” he said. “I need that creative release to keep my world going.”
Dave’s journey into animation started at the age of 12 when he discovered that the popular cartoon, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was made in Ireland, which opened up that line of work for him in his mind.
“That blew my mind,” he said. “That people in Ireland were making the Ninja Turtles – it just made it feel possible.”
Dave continued with his passion, carrying skill, determination and a special mentorship from his Kildare Town art teacher, Kieran Behan.
“He saw that I had a bit of talent, but he challenged it and opened my mind about a few different things. He would tell me the artists that I would have loved, he showed me who influenced them in art history and stuff like that, so it made it all relevant.”
All of this led him to Dun Laoighaire to study animation, which was a place where David felt he found his people.
Although the path to a full-time creative career shifted after the birth of his daughter in 2001, Dave never stopped pursuing art and continued to draw late into the evening after he finished up working in his day job at Pfizer.
“There’s never enough time or money, but I say just finish the project, get it to a high standard, draw a line under it and move on,” Dave advised.
Dave’s strong work ethic and drive have resulted in the creation of several books and animations, from a self-published children’s book, to a graphic novel on Michael Collins released in 2022.
One of his most recent projects was illustrating .
The project was launched on Saturday 17 May 17 in Kildare Town Library, and featured speakers including Kevin Kenny of the Shackleton Museum and Ivan O’Brien of O’Brien Press.
Dave said: “It was an absolute dream come true to work on a Tom Crean project – and to do it with Michael Smith, the author of ."
Polar exploration author and journalist, Michael Smith, agreed to work on this project with Dave after they met up for a drink to discuss things.
Dave pitched the idea for the book to Smith with a bit of “cheeky” determination.
“I told him, if you don’t say yes, I’m doing it with someone else,” Dave laughed. “I was doing it regardless.” T
Two days later, Smith got back in touch, and the project was on.
Bringing together Michael’s deep historical knowledge on Tom Crean and Dave’s engaging visual storytelling, the pair created a graphic novel that aims to bring Tom Crean’s Antarctic adventures to a new generation of readers.
Dave’s advice to budding animators and illustrators wanting to get their work out there is to work hard and keep going:
“Work hard,” he said. “If you want to be creative you have to be disciplined.”
He concluded: “What you put in you get back out."
