Diversity for All Readers

September 26, 2016

I came across this infographic while researching a picture book character I was developing. I was so saddened by the reality of who is and isn't represented. I learn through visuals, so the use of the mirrors held by the characters in proportion to their story representation was a great device. Big thanks to David Huyck for creating such a valuable image and to Sarah Park Dahlen and Molly Beth Griffin for bringing this image to light. My hope is that this image will continue to circulate and eventually sit in the subconscious of writers and illustrators as they ask themselves, "...and what is my character like?"

Oodles of July Doodles

August 11, 2015

one needs a blankie when time traveling_mikela prevost

Recently I've found a great list of daily illustration prompts from Etsy shop owner ellolovely aka Rhianna Wurman on her Instagram feed @ellolovely. Being that I get physically nauseous if I get behind on a deadline, I was fairly successful on sticking with July's prompts. Here's just a few but you can buzz over to my Instagram feed for the rest! A big thanks to my illustration bud Laura Jacobsen for letting me tag along on her Doodle A Day journey.

Story Ideas are Castles

January 8, 2015

Sometimes story ideas seem like these heavily fortified castles with no way of infiltration. The treasure is there, spilling out the sides of the idea castle walls. The idea is rich with sparkly unicorns, magical wizards and raised glazed sprinkle donuts. But the idea's entrance and walls are heavily guarded and only one with TRUE talent might gain access.

This is how I've been feeling about one story idea that's been teasing, badgering me to the point of flat out laying-on-the-ground for me to trip on. Each time I start writing I whisper quietly to the paper, "I'm sorry thin slice of tree that this is how you meet your end". There is just no getting around this story ideas - AND YET - I feel like if we as intelligent beings can discover water on Mars and clone cuddly farm animals then I can find a way around this story idea. So pure stubbornness and early morning coffee bribery is at this stage in the battle my only means of attack.

Mini Interviews - Antoinette Portis

December 5, 2013

My 5 year old daughter was genetically designed to be a Princess. But at times all that genetic engineering goes askew and she has to be a super hero while at the same time maintaining royal propriety. Or she's a mermaid. All this multi-tasking of identities is why my daughter found such a kinship with Princess Super Kitty by Antoinette Portis. Her books are so soothing to look at while at the same time twisting what is in the norm of children's publishing. For that reason all of my kids have found an Antoinette Portis book that resonates with them. For me, I look at her books and think "Now why didn't I think of that??"

This Mini Interview may give you some perspective on why Antoinette Portis is beating us to the punch!

Please describe your career as an author-illustrator in 5 words: 

My favorite job so far.

Which books, that were your favorite when you were little, have had the greatest influence on your work?  

I am not the kind of illustrator I admired most when I was little. I liked complicated illustrations. My grandmother had an amazing collection of books illustrated by Arthur Rackham and he was my idol. I wanted to draw pretty princesses and fairies that looked like his, but that desire didn’t stick.

But I also loved the Provensens. The book Animal Fair has images in it I’ve remembered forever. I think the graphic look of Mary Blair’s work has stayed with me, too.

I went to Japanese language school on Saturdays for a few years in elementary school and I developed a life-long affinity for the traditional Japanese less-is-more aesthetic. The mountain in Not A Box is a reference to a Hokusai woodblock of Mt. Fuji.

Please share an instance in which you had an idea or experience that started out small, but took root and grew to become a book.  

The book I’m illustrating right now started as a little observed moment. I was sitting in a café and a mom walked by holding her small boy’s hand. He broke away from her to come over to see a ladybug sitting on the windowsill in front of me. His mom grabbed his hand and tugged him back on their way. He staggered along next to her in that toddler way, just barely keeping up.

I was struck with the tension between a grownup’s agenda and a child’s. A child’s desire to wander, imagine and explore--and the grownup world’s impingement on this desire, is a continuing theme in my work.

Do you ever hide little images, names or personal details in your illustrations? Please give us a peek

I don’t hide personal details, necessarily, but I do add things for children to discover.

In A Penguin Story, the penguin is bored with her limited world. So, to not make it boring for the reader as well, there are visual clues, jokes and hidden details to keep things interesting.

It’s a game to find the large, little and twin penguins on every page. Not something you would notice on the first reading, but there to discover.

There are other little surprises, too. The reader sees hints that the main character doesn’t—we see the orange plane before she does. Kids love this. There’s also a scene that looks like the rising sun between two mountains, but the page turn reveals it’s not.

Daily routines are important for both writers and illustrators. Could you describe your typical work day, and tell us the one little thing you absolutely cannot begin your day without (besides caffeine)?

I have an unstructured way of working. I kind of roll with the day’s demands. The one thing that’s pretty consistent about my routine is that I often work till 2 or 3 in the morning (or 4 and 5 as a deadline nears). The world is quiet, there are no email or phone calls coming in. It would be more convenient to be a morning person but I seem to be bio-rhythmically set up as a night owl.

My year divides into two sections: the thinking up new ideas part (writing texts and making book dummies) and then the other part when I have a book illustrations due and I kick into full-time illustration mode.

It’s hard to have a well-rounded life when pushing to get a book done. To finish my first few books I was a total hermit—I barely left my studio for months. Now I’m getting better at keeping my whole life going even when I’m on a deadline. I’m less terrified now, and have more confidence in my process.

Your books are so amazingly different - do you ever talk yourself out a of good idea because it skews the mainstream industry?

Since I make a living writing and illustrating books, whether a book is viable in the marketplace is certainly a consideration. I don’t write to the market, but I do decide which of my many ideas to pursue based on some sense (experience and intuition both) of what my editor might be interested in from me.

I have lots of ideas. I’m not overly precious about them. I spent years in advertising. There, your brilliant ideas can be tossed out because the strategy changed—then it’s go back and try to be brilliant again. This was good training. I got used to not-taking-personally an ever shifting set of demands.

I run new ideas by my writing group. Some ideas die there. Or at least go into hibernation.

It takes a lot of commitment to bring a book to fruition so it’s necessary to have at least a glimmer of hope that other people will respond to it. Nevertheless, there are points when I get obsessed with an idea and work on it, knowing it probably won’t go anywhere. Sometimes I just have to get an idea out of my system.

I have folders full of ideas that I hope will make it out there someday. (But if they don’t, there are always new ideas coming down the pike.)

In the end, no one really knows what will sell and what won’t, so you can’t edit yourself too much. I waited a long time to make picture books, and I’m doing it for the love of it.

I work on ideas that fire me up.

Antoinette Portis made her picture-book debut with the best-selling Not A Box, an American Library Association Seuss Geisel Honor book, and one of the New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year. She was a recipient of a 2010 Sendak Fellowship. Antoinette graduated from UCLA with an art degree, then worked in advertising and graphic design. She was a creative director, then a VP, at Disney before she bolted to do what she had always wanted: be alone in a room making picture books. She lives in Los Angeles. Froodle, her newest book, comes out in spring 2014.

Check in often with Antoinette by visiting her website and her Facebook page!

Mini Interviews - Bob Shea

November 28, 2013

One question: Are you eating while you're reading this?

You might want to reconsider. Eating while reading the following interview may result in choking, turkey-lodging of the trachea or accidental spewing of food across friends and family.

You have been warned.

Let the interview commence!!!

Bob Shea is one of those author/illustrators that you can't really read out loud to your kid in the library. I mean you can - you aren't necessarily rendered mute when you hold his books, but you can't really get the same affect reading out loud in a quiet conservative library. You really have to give his books 110% when reading out loud. He writes BIG, not like 72 pt font BIG but FUN BIG. You see, Bob Shea has been able to blend enthusiastic bold images with exuberant story lines and with a sprinkling of adult humor. There is always going to be a moment when you're reading his books to your kids and they won't understand WHAT you're laughing at.

But you know.

Bob knows.

So this combination results in loudness deemed unacceptable by librarians. Best bet, take them home to read or just buy your own!

Please describe your career as an author-illustrator in 5 words:

Procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate, panic.

Which books, that were your favorite when you were little, have had the greatest influence on your work?

STINKY CHEESE MAN by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. I wasn't little at the time, I was sort of a grown-up. I was littler than I am now, probably by about thirty pounds.

Wandering around Waldenbooks (remember those? No?) the cover immediately caught my eye. Then I read the title and actually picked up the book. A pretty big commitment already. I thought to myself, "Are you really going to crack this open and do some bothersome reading here in public, on your own time? You know what's going to happen, it's never going to be as good as the cover. Just put it down and go get a soft pretzel."

I don't like to be told what to do, even by myself, so I opened it in defiance. It's perfect. I was fresh out of design school, so the typography blew me away. The type was as important as the illustration. The illustration was like nothing I had seen before. Back then there weren't a bunch of Jon Klassen's, Peter Brown's and Zach Ohora's running around making thoughtful, modern books. It was slim pickings at the time in the kids book world, this changed everything.

Oh, and it was FUNNY. It was impossible to find a funny book for any age. Have you been to the "humor" section of a bookstore? Painfully unfunny.

Please share an instance in which you had an idea or experience that started out small, but took root and grew to become a book.

On my way to my son's soccer practice I saw some goats in yard. We don't really live in a goat's-in-a-yard kind of town, so it was unusual. also unusual are the goats. Ugly. I wondered if they knew how unfortunate they looked. I gave them my pity and moved on.

At soccer practice I started to notice a pattern of kids deciding who were the best at running, kicking, whatever. He was only six, so I thought it was odd that kids that age already felt the kind of insecurity and petty jealousy that i have woven into the fabric of my daily routine.

I thought about how hard it must be for those horrible goats to hang out with pretty much anything else.

Then i thought about the worst thing that could happen if you are a goat.

A unicorn moves in.

I thought up UNICORN THINKS HE'S PRETTY GREAT before we even got back into the car.

Do you ever hide little images, names or personal details in your illustrations?

Sometimes I hide my social security and PIN numbers in the books. Only a few have them though. So keep buying them until you find them. Good luck everyone!

Here's what I TRY to do. Lately I have been not keeping up on it though.

I wake up at 5am. First thing I do is meditate for 20 minutes. I stare at a candle and listen to new -agey music. It's embarrassing. I hope no one finds out. Basically, it's an exercise to clear my head and control the flow of intrusive thoughts. I'm easily distracted. If I do it for a couple weeks straight it seems to work. Otherwise it's a lot of candle staring.

Staring at a candle and listening to new age music wasn't emasculating enough, so I started making my own chai. This did two things. First, it gave me a ritual in morning that I had to focus on a task and practice patience. Second, it gave my wife a reason to make fun of me during the day.

"Are you having some chai?"

"Yes."

"That's nice."

See what I mean?

Then I work, usually on writing something new until my son goes to school. Then I head into my studio and work on my whatever is in progress. Then I get coffee.

Somedays I ride my bike, or I try and run during the day. Until it gets to cold, then I just eat and complain.

I talk back to NPR as if it's talking to me and has genuine concern for my opinion. It doesn't. They sent me a nice hand crank radio once, but I have to send them money every month.

In the late afternoon it's harder to think of things. So I do non creative things at that time.

I'm not going to lie, sometimes I fall asleep in a chair. All that chai and candle staring takes a toll.

Around six I head home.

I used to be able to work more at night, but lately I am too tired.

Your humor is very evident in your books - Do you write more for adults and hope children will see the humor or what??? Basically how have you found the magic combination of being both humorous for both adults and kids??

Short answer is that I'm simply the vessel through which God works.

Long answer is, "beats me."

Wait, the second one was shorter.

Uh, you know, I am really just trying to keep myself entertained. I wish it were more impressive than that. My sensibility is appreciated by adults and accessible to kids. It's just my personality. I'm glad kids and adults both like it.

Sometimes I go too far and I write a book that only adults would like and I throw it in a drawer. I had one where two adorable teeny tigers are unwitting participants in a crime spree. They are let go because they are so cute.

Sure, this is how life really works, attractive people enjoy advantages people like me can only dream about. That's life. We shield our kids from the important lessons and set them up for a lifetime of disappointment, resentment and regret.

Yeah, I'm just kidding. I did write it, but figured no one would want it.

Make sure to check out Bob's new book -

Buddy and the Bunnies in: Don't Play with Your Food!

It's published by Hyperion and is out in January!

Mini Interviews - Bob Shea

Bob Shea has written and illustrated over a dozen picture books including the popular Dinosaur vs. Bedtime and the cult favorite Big Plans illustrated by Lane Smith. Little Brown, Hyperion, HarperCollins, Random House, Simon and Schuster and Dial have all published his work. They are all still in business. Bob got his start at Comedy Central where he make up stuff and they went along with it. It was great. His characters and animations have appeared on Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids.

Bob spends his days writing, drawing and having “conversations” with NPR.

He’s lucky.

To explore the world of Bob Shea you can check out his website, follow him on Twitter or visit his Facebook page!

Mini Interviews Week 4

November 25, 2013

It's a special week. A week to be thankful, to be merry and to gorge. Yes, this is the week to overindulge on AMAZINGLY TALENTED AUTHORS/ILLUSTRATORS! Actually the same can be said for the last 3 weeks - but none the less! It's a great week and a great line-up!

Zachariah Ohora will be with Juana on Tuesday

Melissa Sweet strolls over to Molly's on Wednesday

Bob Shea chats with me on Thursday

Maurie Manning will be joining Laura on Friday

Grab another helping of that turkey,mashed potatoes and a slice of that pie while carefully balancing that buttery dinner roll on the edge of that dixie plate and gobble up all the great interviews this week!

Mini Interviews - David Ezra Stein

November 14, 2013

There are just some books that resonate with you on so many levels...

Interrupting Chicken

by David Ezra Stein is just one of those books. I have read this book and reread this book to my kids so many times and with each time the volume level gets louder. The fighting also increases on who gets to be "Interrupting Chicken". How could a book about the telling of quiet bedtime fairy tales from a Papa Chicken to his daughter lead to such uncontrolled chaos? I'm partly to blame because I love it so much and have a hard time restraining my enthusiasm.

I'm also beyond enthusiastic presenting to you David's answers for the latest Mini Interview.

Please describe your career as an author-illustrator in 5 words:

Injecting fresh air into books.

Which books, that were your favorite when you were little, have had the greatest influence on your work?

Hmm….I have been influenced by everything interesting I've ever seen. But here are a few: Dr. Seuss books, for love of language and wonky world design. Calvin & Hobbes, for its philosophical perspective, sophisticated silliness, and dynamic drawings. Tintin comics, for bright colors, colorful characters, and international adventure. And so many more books, commercials, movies, TV shows, textiles, paintings, and musicals.

Please share an instance in which you had an idea or experience that started out small, but took root and grew to become a book.One of my latest books, Ol' Mama Squirrel, was a combination of a squirrel scolding me in the park near my house, and the Occupy movement being in the news. Squirrel protecting her babies + outraged activists = picture book? It does if you're me.

Do you ever hide little images, names or personal details in your illustrations?

Please give us a peek...

In my 2012 book, Because Amelia Smiled, I was able to put lots of people I know in as extras. My children's book illustration teacher, Pat Cummings, is seated in the subway scene, at the right hand side, looking at the viewer. My sister and her husband are walking a dog outside in the pizzeria scene, which also features my son's face on the soda machine. My son is also in Ol' Mama Squirrel, which is dedicated to him.

There's not a lot typical about my days. I feel like I'm always trying to manage my creativity better. It's a full-time job to provide outlets for all my inspirations and interests. I'm constantly trying new schedules to harness the day in a more productive way.

I do like to write and storyboard in my local cafe, where I have written and sketched out all of my 11 books. Then I end up in the studio for making my finished art. One thing I almost never skip is Morning Pages, which I got into by reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. It's part of the spiritual practice of being an artist.

Tomie dePaola once told me that Ben Shahn told him that being an artist isn't what you do, it's how you live your life. So I tend to see it that way as well: an ongoing daily practice that is punctuated by published works.

Being an admitted "space cadet" do you find that state of mind helpful or harmful to completing a book? (from one space cadet to another)

I would not be able to listen to my inner voice and honor it if I didn't have the power of daydreaming. It's essential to me. Winnie-the-Pooh called it a "hummy" sort of feeling when he was getting an idea. That's how I experience it as well.

On the flip side, when a deadline comes along I have to be a professional. I have to sit down and work even when I don't feel like it. Sometimes I even have to do a book idea I am not crazy about, and I have to find a way to become crazy about it.

As a young child, David started out drawing on Post-It note pads his mother, an editor, left around the house. An admitted “space cadet,” he showed an early knack for daydreaming and doodling. His parents and grandparents read him lots of books, which fed his imagination and became a touchstone for his love of imagery and storytelling later in life. David went on to become a voracious reader and made up stories of his own. Near the end of his time at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan, encouraged by beloved author and teacher Pat Cummings, he decided to pursue children’s books as a career. After graduation, he was briefly a window display artist, puppeteer and puppet builder, interior and set-design illustrator, and New Yorker cartoonist. In 2006, his first book,Cowboy Ned & Andy, was published by Simon & Schuster. Since then he has published eleven picture books. David lives in Kew Gardens, NY with wife, Miriam, and son, Sam. When he’s not working on new stories and pictures, he enjoys making music, cooking, running, hiking, and talking with kids and grown-ups about books!

If you'd like to see more of David's work make sure to check out his site and Facebook page!

If you can't get enough of this talent, make sure to check out David's latest book Dinosaur Kisses!

Mini Interview with Sean Qualls - Mikela Prevost

Mini Interview: Sean Qualls

November 7, 2013

The first time I came in contact with the work of Sean Qualls was during SCBWI's summer conference in 2011 where Art Director for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Laurent Linn explained the process of directing artists through the many twists and turns of picture book illustration. I learned two things from the presentation:

1. Laurent Linn's job seemed too large and overwhelming for my little mind to comprehend.

2. When Laurent Linn showed us the work of Sean Qualls, I immediately scribbled his name down and circled it repeatedly. His work was so rich in texture and had such graphic shapes, I couldn't resist it.

Not only is Sean gifted in illustration but also as an upcoming author/illustrator! He has been so kind as to share his process in my first "Mini-Interview".

Please describe your career as an author-illustrator in 5 words:

Work, work, play, play, work.

Which books, that were your favorite when you were little, have had the greatest influence on your work? In terms of themes, Golden's illustrated Bible for Children and D'aulaires Book of Greek Mythology. As for art, I like the comic book art of Bill Sienkiwicz.

Please share an instance in which you had an idea or experience that started out small, but took root and grew to become a book.

My first book as author/artist (pub date to be determined.) A while ago I did a color sketch of a jazz singer. I kept it on my art table for a long time. My agent helped me to create a manuscript based on that sketch.

Do you ever hide little images, names or personal details in your illustrations? Please give us a peek...

In the beginning of Dizzy there's a scene where Dizzy is being bullied by two other boys. Since that was a reality for me when I was a kid I used the name of street I grew up on in the art.

Often times I'll use my home as inspiration for interior scenes. For instance, I used my kids room in the opening pages of Lullaby. Sometimes a self-portrait may show up.

After getting my kids off to school, I spend some time (usually in cafes) journaling/self reflecting. I also use that time to figure out what projects to spend my time on that day/week. Green tea is my drink of choice.

Your work seems to have a definite love of texture and color-do you build up abstract layers until you feel you've achieved the right color/texture combination for that particular illustration?

Yes. It can be a very fulfilling process getting the color and texture just right - other times more challenging. Recently, I've been changing my approach at least for some of my work. I'm always trying to find new ways to keep making art fun and interesting. Most of the art I love combines a strong graphic sensibility mixed with abstraction and textural elements.

Mini Interview with Sean Qualls - Mikela Prevost

Sean Qualls is an award winning, Brooklyn-based, children’s book illustrator, artist and author. He has illustrated a number of celebrated books for children, including Giant Steps to Change The World by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis-Lee, Little Cloud and Lady Wind by Toni Morrison and her son Slade and Before John Was a Jazz Giant, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Illustration Honor. Sean also created the art for Dizzy by Jonah Winter and most recently Freedom Song (The Story of Henry “Box” Brown) by Sally Walker. His work has received two Blue Ribbon citations from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books where he was also cited for his “serious craftsmanship” and an “original style.” Qualls has created illustrations for magazines, newspapers, and advertisements. His work has been shown in galleries in New York and across the country. Sean draws inspiration from an array of influences such as movies, television, childhood memories, aging and decaying surfaces, architecture, old buildings, nature, folk art, fairy tales, Americana, black memorabilia, outsider art, cave paintings, collectibles, African art, golden books, vintage advertisement graphics, psychology, mythology, science fiction, music, and literature. He lives in lives in Brooklyn (where you can find him DJing on occasion) with his wife, illustrator/author Selina Alko and their two children Ginger and Isaiah.

Make sure to see even more beautiful illustrations at his site: http://seanqualls.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeanQuallsArtist

Instagram: http://instagram.com/sean_qualls

Mini-Interview with Alexandra Ball

November 29, 2012

I've had the opportunity to be represented by an amazing agency, Illustration Ltd. and one day while updating my page on their site I became curious who the other artists they represented. So my procrastination of updating began...I was sucked into the vortex of illustration portfolios. But one such illustrator's work rang out to me like a clanging gong, Alexandra Ball. Her compositions and her sense of color were just so SPOT ON. And the animals. This girl can illustrate animals. I would rather wrestle a lion physically than wrestle with a drawing of a lion. So I had to start pestering her. Luckily enough, she was so gracious to let me interrogate her and hopefully her mastery of color, composition and carnivorous beasts would rub off on me.

Make sure you check out her site and her work at our agency and while you're at it go like her Facebook page!

A little bit of background on Alexandra...

I spent my early years in a small village in the middle of the countryside of Hampshire (England). I remember it being a very free childhood, where my older brother and I would spend our days climbing trees, having picnics in cornfields and making dens in rhododendron bushes. When it rained and we were unable to go out, I'd get my grandfather¹s old typewriter and thwack away at the keys until I had invented a story. And of course a story always needs an illustration to go with it.

My love of art and stories followed me through adolescence and later led me to Falmouth, Cornwall, where I did a degree in Illustration. However it wasn't until 7 years after my graduation that my career in children's book illustration started, but now I am here I can't imagine doing anything else.

Describe yourself in five words: Fun: enjoyment or playfulness Empathetic: showing empathy or ready comprehension of others' states resourceful: having the ability to find clever ways to overcome difficulties Indomitable: impossible to subdue or defeat (my new favourite word) cheeky: impudent or irreverent, typically in an endearing or amusing way

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)... My journey to picture book illustration wasn’t the smooth journey I thought it would be after completing my Illustration degree at Falmouth college of Arts in 2002. After a couple of sample send-outs with no bites, the necessity to earn money took over and I ended up taking a 9 to 5 job as a children’s bookseller. It was about 7 years and 3 jobs later that I finally got my first break into the illustration world. I had been working as an assistant lending manager for a large building society and when the credit crunch hit our office was closed and we were all made redundant. ‘Hoorah’, I thought, ‘a perfect time for me to do what I’ve always wanted!’. So with the new time on my hands and the severance pay in my pocket I spent the next 6 months getting my portfolio up to scratch. I visited a couple of publishers who gave me a few tips and was finally snapped up by my lovely agency, Illustration Ltd, who I’ve been happily working with ever since.

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is... ...stolen from everyone – ha! No, I love Studio Ghibli films and I suppose the sensitivity of my work, especially involving animals, is similar to some of Hayao Miyazaki’s work. Things like My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke rank high on the list. Another animation dear to my heart is Hedgehog in the Fog by Sergei Kozlov. It is collage-like in appearance, mixing real footage with drawn images. A beautiful work of art! I also love the silent expressions that Tove Jansson created. A lot of her characters don’t have visible mouths, yet you know exactly what they’re thinking. Everyday life is also a great influence on my illustrations. The sometimes subconscious sometimes conscious infiltration of a style no doubt happens on a daily basis.

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color):

Which is your greatest strength?

As an illustration is stationary I always try to give my work life by making my compositions as fluid and interesting as possible. So I suppose shape is my greatest strength. However I think colour comes a close 2nd.

Which poses your greatest challenge? Even though I find it a strength of mine, I think colour is probably the most challenging to me. I can sit for hours playing around with different colours until I’m happy with the result. Thank goodness Photoshop is so versatile!

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how do you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

It can be extremely hard to be disciplined and my routine can vary depending on what work I have to do from day to day, but I love what I do and look forward to what I’m going to be creating next. One highlight illustrators have, is that they can have a film or an audio-book playing in the background whilst they draw. It’s brilliant, work and play all at once! So I generally put one on, close myself in my studio with my dog, Bee, laying at my feet, and get on with the days tasks. In fact I think I might be the World’s best things-to-do-list-writer. I’m not saying that the items always get crossed off when I want them to, but they ARE written down!

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

‘Create something that the client wants and not necessarily what you want’. I still sometimes find that hard to heed, and when you're lucky the two are the same, but as an illustrator I always have to remember that I’m working for the client and at the end of the day they need to get what THEY want.

It is clear you are an animal lover - what is your process for stylizing and yet keeping them so anatomically correct?

Sometimes the stylization of an animal comes naturally to me, and I can draw the animal freehand without even looking at a reference picture. Other times it doesn’t come so easy and I have to study the animal further, generally through Google images. On occasion I find that I can spoil my style by working from photos of animals too much. It seems to crush my previous conceived feeling of that animal, so I end up going back and starting from scratch without any reference, again. My aim is not to make the animal realistic but to personify it and give it an quality of its very own.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?

I’ve just finished working on an interesting project with Compendium Inc. I’m not sure how much I can divulge, it is for children but it’s not a book. Compendium specialise in inspirational ideas so it’s quite fun. That should be out early next year and I’m due to start a similar project with them again very soon.

One more thing to add...I asked Alexandra to share some of her "early" work, and from it is clear she has always been suited for storytelling...

Mini-Interview with David Christiana

November 22, 2012

When I was in college and trying to figure out this whole "what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up?" thing, I had a vague idea of becoming an illustrator. I didn't really know what that meant or how it differed from fine art, I just knew I wanted to tell stories visually. And get paid for it. One day while browsing a bookstore I came across I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting and illustrated by David Christiana. When I saw this lavish, strange, surreal art I knew it. I want to do this. If this is illustration, sign me up. The deal with David Christiana is that he creates the kind of art that you stick your nose up against, to soak in every detail, to try and extract his process and method. I bought this book and later shared it with a friend when I went on to pursue illustration. I repeatedly jabbed my index finger against the pages, demanding my friend tell me how he thought these illustrations were rendered. He was not much help. So now, some years later, I've decided to go to the source. When I asked (pleaded) with Mr. Christiana for an interview I was astonished rendered speechless when he so eloquently agreed. I am so happy to share this with you, just as I am so happy that I've figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

Describe yourself in five words:

Water Dreams of Skipping Stone!

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)...

The picture book was the first art form with which I fell in love. I've always made marks of one kind or another. Making things out of whatever was on hand (pencil and paper, pieces of wood, paint, stones and mortar). There's just something so satisfying about creating one thing out of another. It's like low-grade alchemy. Maybe not so low-grade....

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is...

A dance between instrument and surface, an imagined audience and myself, ongoing doodlebuggery.

bats

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading,

and color):

Which is your greatest strength?

line - everything else is just embellishment.

Which poses your greatest challenge?

line

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

I seemed to be a better manager of time and maintaining a daily routine when I was younger. Or perhaps it's just that there are so many distractions today. I do still have a day job. I teach at University of Arizona and often in Orvieto Italy. What seems important is to chip away at ever bigger challenges and try to surprise myself, whether it's a colossal painting, a condensed little piece, building a wall, stewarding a small piece of earth.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

The problem with most artists isn't that they aim to high and fail, it's that they aim too low and succeed.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?

I have a number of unfinished book projects that inhabit my studio. I also have a body of drawings, paintings about the skin, bone and breath of a part of northeastern Arizona that I hope to complete next year as part of an Artist Residency with the Museum of Northern Arizona. There's also this rock wall that I've become somewhat obsessed by...

What book that you have completed were you most proud of and why?

The book I'm most proud of is the one I have yet to complete. Generally, I don't see any of my books as a completely satisfactory work. I do love illustrations from different books for a myriad of reasons. For example Tarabethia from POPPY'S PUPPET.

A Mini-Interview with Alexandra Boiger

November 15, 2012

While stuck in typical Southern California traffic one day, I was mentally trying to escape my momentarily parked car by listening to NPR. At this time, the book review section began, reviewing the a new picture book While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat written by Amy Reichert. I was no longer sitting in traffic but in the world of little Rose and the hijinks that ensued as her oblivious mother chatted away on the phone. It was such a cute little tale that I went to the library to give it a peek. I can't tell you how blow away I was by this book. Rarely do commentators give book illustrators enough credit and this book was no exception. Alexandra Boiger illustrated this book with such life, silliness and exuberance that I was immediately a fan and have been internet stalking her growing portfolio since. I am immensely thrilled to share her interview with you, knowing that you will also be blown away by her amazing talent.

To learn more about Alexandra you can visit her website: www.alexandraboiger.com and make sure to check out her blog too: http://alexandraboigerillustration.blogspot.com/

Alexandra Boiger was born in Munich, Germany as the youngest of seven (very spirited!) children. Yes, the house was full of life and stories. After a year at Kunstschule Seeger, a school for illustration, in Munich, she studied Graphic Design at the Fachhochschule Augsburg. It was always clear, that the arts would be the future, but a career in Feature Animation was a surprise. As part of her studies she had to work as an intern for a semester in a related field. The Animation studio "Munich Animation" had just started its first production and Alexandra was given the opportunity to work on her first Feature Animation movie and literally fell into the spell of this new world. It became her career and life for the following six years and brought her from Munich to Warner Bros. UK in London, to Dreamworks Animation in Los Angeles, to New York and back to California. Alexandra lives now with her husband, daughter and two cats in Northern California and is illustrating children's books since the last ten years.

Describe yourself in five words:

Ha! I will ask my eleven year old daughter to give me some suggestions:

-Funny ( I love that one!)

-Loves art

- Kind of strict (still my daughter's words) in a sort of strict way (Pre-teen is all I will say here)

...and I will take it from here. Because, I realize my daughter is quite biased. And sticking to five words is tough, too.

Art, food, languages, hiking through the woods, family and time alone ( my soul needs it), oh, and also: cold feet and chocolate.

Five is simply not enough.

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)...

Even before I studied Graphic Design in Germany,I always knew, that I would like to illustrate books. But I didn't know how and I also wanted to discover the world. When I had the chance to work in Feature Animation for the first time, I simply felt, that I had found a place I belonged to without knowing, however exactly what I should do within the field. I was still a student and at the beginning of everything. I appreciated the energy the studio offered, the full immersion into story telling and working with fellow artists, who all share the same interest. I know, you asked me about how I got started in picture book illustration. But these six years in Animation really were so important for me. I learned so much of what I know today in Animation. I also met my husband and fellow artist.

While I was still living in LA, I went to see a Lisbeth Zwerger exhibition. This became a defining moment that finally brought me to illustration. as i was wondering through the exhibition, I felt such a fire burning through my whole body. I knew, that this is what I needed to do. Shortly after I put together a portfolio. I sent it out and was very, very lucky. I received my first book offer from Simon & Schuster to work with the incredible Art Director Ann Bobco and Editor legend Richard Jackson. WHILE MAMA HAD A QUICK LITTLE CHAT written by Amy Reichert started my new career path. I didn't know Amy then, but she is one of my closest friends today. Illustration has brought me many gifts and wonderful friendships over the years.

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is...

Lisbeth Zwerger, Simplicissimus, Hayo Miyazaki, Gustav Klimt, Olaf Gulbranson, so many of my artist friends.

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color):

a. Which is your greatest strength?

I think, line. I still like my sketches more than my final art.

b.Which poses your greatest challenge?

Definitely perspective.

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

This would actually be the real answer to the question before. It is my biggest struggle. When my daughter was smaller, I simply worked full gear, whenever she slept. Now I certainly have more time. Still, being a mom dictates my schedule. After she leaves for school, I usually go on a early morning hike. The rest of the day, I try to settle my mind and work on the project on my drawing desk for as long as I can until I bring Vanessa somewhere, or we get ready for dinner, or our (very) bushy yard needs some serious attention.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

Be passionate and patient.

How was the transition from animation to print?

It was an amazingly rewarding experience. All of a sudden, I was able to explore every aspect of this art. The story, the design, the editing, the layout, characters, color. I take the books I am working on very serious and treat them with respect. I carry a big responsibility, when I try to bring a manuscript to life the best I can.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?

Currently I am working on Tallulah's Nutcracker, written by Marilyn Singer and Doreen, A Fishy Tale, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. I have two personal projects in the pipeline right after this and then another first. A non-fiction picture book with a fascinating story.

O.K. Normally I would conclude the interview here, but how can you not be burning with curiosity after that last sentence?! Mark my words: Alexandra is one to watch!

Mini-Interviews: This Week's LIne-up!

November 12, 2012

This is the second week of our Mini-Interview Series and we are super excited for this week's line-up!

Make sure to stop the blogs of Juana, Molly, Laura and myself to read some great interviews of exceptionally talented people. Who will be there, you ask?

The amazing and talented illustrators:

Starting Tuesday, you're going to have to check out each blog to see who interviews who!

A Mini-Interview with Kent Culotta

November 7, 2012

You know how there are some illustrations that you look at and all you can think is, "Wow, that looks like that was fun to do!" That's what comes to mind when I look at Kent Culotta's work. It just looks fun - quirky, cheerful and full of life. It was no surprise to learn when he so graciously agreed to let me interrogate him that he has his background in animation. When I found that out, it just made sense. Animators are just FUN people. Thankfully Kent has taken to picture books so we get to enjoy his exuberant images in our own time.

About Kent

Kent Culotta was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up nearby in Plymouth. He attended Michigan State University, where he received a B.F.A. in graphic design, and then spent a year at UCLA, where he studied animation and film. He got his first job in animation at Filmation Studios, where he worked on Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, and then went on to work at many studios on many films, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Pagemaster, Prince of Egypt, El Dorado, The Ant Bully and Ice Age 3. Kent recently illustrated his first book, Dan, the Taxi Man, written by Eric Ode and published by Kane Miller.

Describe yourself in five words:

creative, daydreamer, sheepish, persnickety, and silly.

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)...

Well, I think I’ve always been interested in being a picture book illustrator; it just took me a while to get there. I did declare at the age of nine that I was going be an author and illustrator. Then I got “sidetracked” into my related interest: animation. Over the years I would take illustration classes, attend SCBWI events, etc. Finally I decided to take the plunge and started sending out postcards of my work to publishers. I didn’t hear anything right away, but about a year and a half and a few more postcards later I received an e-mail from Kane Miller asking if I would be interested in illustrating a manuscript they had. Of course I was! I did have to go through a bit of an audition process with the main character, Dan, the Taxi Man, but once I got a design that they liked, I was off and running.

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is...

Gosh, I don’t even know where to start. There are a lot of artists that I love and that have been influential with me, probably starting with Walt Disney. (I was a total Disney geek as a kid.) I love early 20th century illustrators, especially J.C. Leyendecker, N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell. (A little six degrees of separation trivia: my great-grandfather was at one time Norman Rockwell’s dentist!) Other painters of that period I really enjoy are Edward Hopper, Grant Wood and Charles Burchfield. Comic strips from the same time period, like Polly and her Pals and Gasoline Alley. More recently I’ve become fascinated by mid century artist/designers like Mary Blair, Jim Flora and Alec Steinweiss. One contemporary artist who totally speaks to me is the cartoonist Seth.

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color):

a. Which is your greatest strength? My greatest strength, that’s a hard one to answer. I guess I would have to say shape, although having worked in animation I have a pretty strong grasp of line too. (Maybe a too strong grasp at times!) On the other hand I’ve really been enjoying working with color lately and feel like I have developed a rather distinctive way with it.

b.Which poses your greatest challenge? My greatest difficulty is, easily, perspective. Working so long in animation, my main focus has been in drawing characters. Having to design and paint settings involving a lot of perspective to put those characters into freaks me out sometimes.

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how do you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

This is a challenge for me since I still do a lot of freelance animation work. Sometimes I have to put my personal artwork to the side and it can be hard getting back to it. I find that having deadlines is the best way for me to keep on track, even if the deadlines are often self-imposed.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

Just keep putting yourself out there, and don’t let fear/self-doubt get in your way.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?

I have a couple of ideas that I’m working on right now. One is a picture book about a famous composer, and the other is based on a verbal game my brother and I used to play.

Was this always your dream job? If you could do anything else, what would it be? (Sorry! Trick two part question!)

Always is such an infinite word! I would say this has often been my dream job. (All right, I’ll admit it, I used to dream about being in animation too. Been there, …) If I could do anything else, I would love to be a composer/lyricist for a Broadway musical. Or a set designer. Or a costume designer. Or…

While I let Kent finish that thought, I urge you to check out Kent's debut book Dan, the Taxi Man. After that, make sure to stop by this website to see even more amazing illustrations, then get breaking news coverage on what Kent is up to on his blog But if you can't get enough Kent you can always reach him on his facebook page.

Mini-Interviews are coming...miss it and regret it!

November 1, 2012

If you are curled up on the couch in a slight fetal position while reading this post on your phone, you are probably asking yourself the same question I've been asking myself today - "Why, oh why did I eat so many 'Fun Size Three Musketeers'!?" Well, I'm here to remind you that today is a new day! The past is gone, the wrappers strewn about the carpet may remain but from this moment forth you has not fall prey to regret! This is also a warning though...you definitely do not want to be racked with guilt if you miss this month's line-up of interviewed talent that could possibly cause this blog to burst through it's html-coded seams! Who shall be joining us? Well, I'm glad I piqued your curiosity... Each Thursday this month you will get a chance to delve in the mind of...

Alexandra Ball

Kent Culotta

Alexandra Boiger

and

David Christiana

But we aren't stopping there! Make sure to check out the blogs of Juana, Molly and Laura who have their own questions for even more amazing talent! But for right now, you are allowed to rock yourself gently on the edge of the couch, sip some ginger ale, wallow in your candy regret but do not miss this tour! Or your regret will be greater than the overabundant sugar content you have previously consumed.

Mini-Interviews 2012

October 18, 2012

I think I'm kind of freaking out.

Do you ever compose a dialogue in your mind with a famous person while washing the dishes? Maybe I'm completely alone in this practice, but I regularly interview people I admire while scrapping away at my panini press. What is amazing (other than a Garlic Chicken Goat Cheese Panini) is that these interviews are coming true. So I'm a bit excited. A LOT a bit.

Since November is National Picture Book Month my fellow illustration buddies Juana Martinez Neal, Molly Idle, Laura Jacobsen and I will be hosting a series of Mini Interviews. We will be relentlessly grilling those we admire, respect and secretly seethe with jealously over their abundance of talent.

Check out who we'll be featuring throughout the month this November...it's pretty incredible...

Constanze Von Kitzing

Wendy Watson So stay posted! You don't want to miss this exposition of talent coming straight at you! And yes, sandwiches will be served.

Illustration Friday - Book

September 28, 2012

An illustration I got to do for the extremely cute and well designed magazine LMNOP. It was a great assignment, the focus being on libraries and books. Since I frequent the library almost as much as a 13 year old frequents You Tube, I've come up with some observations. Namely being the noise level. Libraries are just so cool now-with crafty interactive a-la Melissa and Doug puzzle/castles/installations. There are toys. EVERYWHERE. Puppets, blocks, swirly things that I thought existed only in dentist offices. And the trains. Kids go into mini-seizures when there is new Fergus, Benedict, Rutger (whatever) train on the train table. Sprinkled and tucked amidst the playtime chaos are the books. Books just laying around, asking to be read. "That kid take your puppet? Forget-about-it...Read me instead", "Hey! Hey! Little girl with the tiara! I'm the new Tangled book!" I think that the librarians love the noise (to a certain decibel) because kids are developing an association between libraries and fun. It's probably in some Library Manifesto to put up "quiet" signs, merely just for show.

Illustration Friday - Crooked

September 24, 2012

I got the opportunity to work recently with the magazine that without question had the largest influence on my desire to become an illustrator. Grade school memories would be incomplete if I were not able to recall the days coming home from school, checking the mail and the surge of joy that followed when receiving the latest copy of "Cricket Magazine". This magazine was a tiny folded and stapled trove of illustrations. I would devour it within a few hours, examining every page. Even into 7th grade, I would sneak my favorite copies into art class with me, completely ignoring the required assignment and copy the illustrations from "Cricket". These illustrations would of course later become illuminated manuscripts recounting the events of the day with witty 13 year old aphorisms such as "SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LAME!" and "BBB!!!!!!" (bored beyond belief) and then thus folded in the intricate 7th-grade-girl-origami-note style. I could never master the "heart" fold. This illustration will unfortunately not accompany me to pass off to my friend Lashawn while she waits outside the band room but thanks to the amazing AD Suzanne Beck will be featured in Cricket's other imprint magazine, "Spider" in January.

Where drawings go to die

August 30, 2012

I had a friend tell me once that an artist has a finite number of bad drawings within them and it was only a matter of doing enough drawing to reach that limit. Very poetic and a positive way to look at things, but c'mon. I can't believe that in it's totality. Even Picasso did a couple eyesores, you just never saw them (except for this crazy long documentary where Picasso paints on glass and his eyes are bulging and the music is intense and the filmmakers are practically biting their nails bloody in anticipation for the next great masterpiece only to have him chuck it and do another painting in like a minute and a half).

So I needed to get some sketches done and as I started drawing that voice that we all have in the back of my head started in "And this is how I will ruin this beautiful white page in my sketchbook". But instead of stopping and agreeing with said low self-esteem voice, I embraced it. I celebrated it! "Crappy drawing, I CELEBRATE you!" The awkward, stiff, inflexible drawing came forth from the tip of the felt marker one of kids dropped on the floor and what I did next was a bit of an epiphany (or apostrophe - Hook). I just kept them coming, one on top of the other until I had a sprawling field of dead drawings. It was quiet cathartic in an abstract expressionist way. But really, the whole exercise was process over product. Getting over my fear of yet again not living up to my own standards and making an ugly page *gasp!* in my sketchbook. If a sketchbook is filled cover to cover with unique and original fine tuned drawings, I have a hard time trusting that person. I keep a close eye on my kids around them. In essence - dedicate a couple pages in your sketchbook to be a drawing graveyard. Warm up on those pages and then move on until you've stretched those muscles enough. Big dynamic stretches people! Don't forget to breathe... inhale....and exhale....

Illustration Friday - Shiny

June 13, 2012

This little diddy was largely influenced by the art work of Jim Kay who illustrated the most amazing novel A Monster Call by the Patrick Ness. The story, narration and illustrations are haunting, tragic and beautiful.

So, as this book has burned an impression in my subconscious like a half remembered dream, I give you the humble magpie, hoarding her jewels.

Henry in Love

May 26, 2012

If you could incapsulate all the preadolescent angst of fear, friends and first love into the form of a minimalist illustrative cat and bunny, the distilled product would be in the form of a picture book. Specifically - it would be Henry in Love.

This is another library gem that I found and sub-sequentially purchased. In order for me to actually buy a book I have to LOVE it. You could say I fell in love with Henry in love. Hahaha I know, my wit knows no depths. But aside from my cleverness Peter McCarty has so masterfully taken a day in the life of a (cat) boy (not sparing the morning routine), his encounter with his first love and the sacrifices one makes for love.

The illustrations are delicious. Simple shapes, simple line drawings with spots of color which make a great impact. The writing is spot on, simply stated to express so much unspoken emotion.

So yeah - I loved this book and bought it. I wager to think that Amazon.com could feel my love through its sequence of ones and zeros because when I received it the first bookend sheet had this...

How freaking awesome is that?

Now run along and pick up a copy. Run as if running toward your true love.