1001 Arabian Nights with James Mayhew

James Mayhew is an exceptionally talented and versatile illustrator - that is not in question. His Katie books are deserved classics. But in this performance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, producing a painting in five minutes flat, while standing side on to an easel, proved too great a challenge.

The concept of this event is a good one. Mayhew tells a story from the Arabian Nights, puts on Rimsky Korsakov's sublime symphonic poem 'Scheherazade', and proceeds to illustrate the story on the spot.

Live painting is undeniably theatrical - seeing the process behind the end result, watching the layers being built up and the definition added.

However, Mayhew's paintings were underwhelming. The overhead screen onto which they were projected bleached the colours. Intense ultramarines became wishy washy blues, brilliant vermillions were turned watery pink. Any loose brush strokes looked, when magnified, messy rather than impressionistic. This did not stop the children from admiring them – but then children are easily impressed when it comes to pictures.

You have to be a pretty darn good storyteller to hold your own in the company of the many professional practitioners at the Fringe. Mayhew was good but not good enough. He was submerged by the large space, and would have been better served by a more intimate venue in front of a smaller audience. Were he in Scheherazade's place, I wouldn't bet on his surviving the Sultan's chop.