John Nicholson was born in Singapore and grew up in New Zealand before moving to Melbourne. After leaving school he studied architecture at the University of Melbourne, a career which he practised until the late 1980s.
When he entered the realm of children’s book illustration, John’s drawings displayed this superb draftmanship and were able to shed fresh light on central themes in Australia’s history.
Gold! traces the true and often surprising story of Australian gold rushes, offering vivid accounts of the people, the places, the methods and the legends of this significant period in Australia’s past.
John’s technique is to do rough pencil sketches on butterpaper. Final drawings are done in ink with colour from a limited palette of subdued natural tones added last.
With a passion for nonfiction, his work focuses on his real-life interests of history, explorers, buildings, bridges and transport.
‘The books that really caught my imagination as a young child were about things that had really happened, about exotic places that really existed: explorers and adventurers, ships and trains, mountains, deserts and icy wastes.’
His books for children include Home Among the Gum Trees; Explorers of Australia; Kimberley Warrior; and Government in Australia.
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