The illustrator for the book, Canowindra artist Heather Vallance said, in an interview with the publisher, she wanted to capture the darkness and light of the journey of friendship.

“Using charcoal and pencil I’m attempting to capture the dark ambiguity of the story and to show the darkness and brightness of the journey of friendship,” she said.

“My technique is that I use both the charcoal and the pencil, I create layers of past drawings .This provides a sense of energy and also quite a lot of movement in the characters as well.”

The story of “The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear” is about the falling out between two friends, how the fallout occurs and what happens next.

The story explores the rocky road of friendship for young people. With no holds barred the story focuses on the moment between the cruel end of a friendship and its gentler new beginning.

Heather illustrates the story with darkly brooding charcoal illustration.

Originally trained in botanical illustrations Heather has also taught art in remote communities, in regional schools and galleries and is currently teaching drawing, painting and printmaking at tertiary level.

“I’ve been practicing and teaching fine arts for the last 20 years and this is my first adventure into narrative illustration,” she said.

The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear is available for purchase from August 1 for $29.99.