Malou Bonicos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Malou Bonicos is a London based illustrator and artist. She is the creator of The Beeps, a children's television cartoon series. Some of Malou's influences came from Hanna Barbera, Aubrey Beardsley, W. Heath Robinson, Hilary Knight, and Ancient Greek Mythology.
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[edit] Early life
Born in London and of Greek heritage, Malou is the daughter of first generation Greek immigrant Film Editor Douglas Bonicos [1] whose multi award winning career started at Pinewood Studios, and her brother is Varon Bonicos [2], a film director and documentary filmmaker.
Malou attended Chelsea School of Art and gained a BA Honours degree in graphic design and illustration. Malou was part of a group of resurgent artists to recapture the use of fine art pen illustration, her drawings utilised commercially by advertising, book, magazine and greeting card companies. She was mentored by Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson, President of the Royal Academy.
[edit] Career
After leaving Art School Malou worked with Bob Godfrey as an apprentice animator on Henry's Cat at Bob Godfrey films in Covent Garden. Malou had numerous exhibitions including Mel Calman's [3] Cartoon Gallery, the Chenil Galleries and also held a cartoon workshop at the Camden Arts Centre.
Malou was soon courted by numerous super publishers, amongst them was the Bodley Head who commissioned her to illustrate a series of books by Hunter Davies, including Come On Ossie ( ISBN 0-3703-0895-6), Ossie the Millionaire (ISBN 0-3703-1007-1) and Ossie goes Supersonic (ISBN 0-3703-1111-6).
In the Mid '90s alongside illustrating for The Radio Times, Illustrated London News, Condé Nast Publications and National Magazines, Malou was inspired to create The Beeps which were a culmination of emotions and life experiences that soon developed into a passion responsible for over eighty stories and thousands of original illustrations, it took her until 2005 to bring her creation to life. The Beeps are a family of nine unique characters and their Pet-Friends who live on Beep Island in the middle of the Sapphire Sea.
