Illustrator fact file: Dapo Adeola

Dapo Adeola is a British illustrator of Nigerian heritage. He grew up in his beloved Brixton and regularly goes back for a haircut at his trusted barbers. He has loved drawing from a very young age when he would sketch his favourite cartoon, comic, and video-game characters. 

At university, Dapo initially studied graphic design as he thought it would be a more 'credible' profession. But he soon realised his natural talent for illustration could not be squashed and, jump forward to today, he is fast becoming one of the UK's most popular children's book artists. 

Inspired by African American illustrators, Dapo has a very distinctive style. His endearing story characters challenge expected gender roles in a fun and uplifting way and he loves playing with different perspectives and adding layers of meaning in his detailed page spreads.

Dapo's highly successful picture books Look Up! and Clean Up! are about an ambitious super-smart Black girl, Rocket, and her family. Dapo co-created the books with his friend Nathan Bryon and their debut, Look Up!, achieved the coveted number-one spot on The Sunday Times Bestseller List. It also won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2020. Rocket has stolen the hearts of children and adults alike, so much so she's now a popular dress-up choice for World Book Day.

Dapo is extremely passionate about mentoring would-be illustrators and he often teaches illustration and character design workshops for adults and children. One of his main aims is to demystify the creative industries, helping to make them more accessible for inner-city children and encourage them into the wonderfully imaginative world of illustration.

Other books Dapo has illustrated include the fiction series The Last Day of Summer and the picture book My Dad Is a Grizzly Bear. He currently lives in East London.

Download FREE illustrator fact file here. (PDF version) 

Download FREE illustrator fact file here. (editable Word version)

Download FREE slideshow here.

Reading of Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola

       

Notes for teachers and parents: If you open the Word file and slideshow with Google Docs, this may affect the styles/layout. It's best to download the files in their original format to retain the correct formatting. In the slideshow and fact file, Dapo's favourite children's book is The Witches by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Thanks also to Dapo for taking the time to provide information for this blog post - much appreciated!

I'd love feedback as to whether you find these resources useful or not, so please leave your helpful comments in the comments box below. Similarly, if there are any other Black authors or illustrators for whom you'd like me to create resources just let me know, and I'll try to make it happen.