During Art School, I had an internship at a small children's book
publisher. That internship introduced me to some of the different
aspects of creating and marketing children's books. Then when I was a
senior in college, all senior Illustration majors were given an
assignment to create an illustration for a leveled reader book to be
published by Seedling Publications. Seedling choose my illustration
as the winner and offered me my first children's book illustration
contract! I worked in Seedling's graphics department laying out
children's books for a couple years after graduating college.
Do you do research for your projects or illustrations?
How much research is needed for one of your illustrations?
Most of my illustrations require at least some research. If I'm
illustrating animals, I want to make sure that I understand the
animal's anatomy to some extent even if I'm stylizing my drawing
quite a bit. Sometimes I head to the zoo or somewhere else for a
photo shoot. If I don't have access to that animal, I search through
photos or video online, but because of copyright law, I don't copy
photos that I don't personally take myself. I look at photos and
video to get an understanding of an animal's anatomy, pose, and
coloring, but then I create my own animal. For people, sometimes I
pose my husband, my nephews, or myself. Recently an Art Director told
me that one of my illustrations looked too "posed and stiff," like I
was copying one of my photos. He was right, I had! I'm finding that
if I do careful research to understand a pose, but then don't rely
too much at that research while actually drawing the pose, the
character turns out much livelier and full of energy and emotion.
Good lesson learned!
Have you been published anywhere?
Yes, I've illustrated 24 books, wrote one book, and I'm currently
illustrating a series of six books for Seedling Publications. I'm
about to begin illustrating a picture book for a trade publisher
(more about that soon!). I'm a full-time freelance illustrator, so my
illustrations have been published in educational materials, student
assessment tests, greeting cards, and magazines.
Did you go to Art School?
Yes, I received a scholarship to Columbus College of Art and Design
( www.ccad.edu ) and graduated magna cum laude in 2000 with a BFA in
Illustration.
What motivates you?
Two main things: 1) The knowledge that the Lord God has given me my
artistic talent and it brings Him glory when I use it, and 2) I enjoy
it! I love seeing the end product especially when I fight through a
particularly hard illustration and it turns out well. Of course, when
the process goes smoothly, that's wonderful all the way through and a
huge blessing!
How do you stay inspired?
My favorite way to get inspired is to look at picture books and
illustrations that I love. Also, trips to the zoo to watch animals
and times that I hang out with little kids help a lot.
Tell us about your workspace. Do you have a studio?
I have an office/studio painted cobalt blue and yellow with fun
artwork on the walls. It's energizing and fun. I'm mostly
illustrating digitally nowadays, so I have a nice mac setup with a
wacom tablet and pen. I have a bunch of paints that don't see the
light of day too often now, but my drawing table is always ready for
when I do want to use it. I have a beautiful bookcase full of picture
books, and there's always huge piles of library picture books lying
around my office too.
How do you work?
I usually start with lil' page layout sketches in my sketchbook. I
get a feel of what I want in each illustration, where the text will
go, and what the flow of the illustration will be. Then I sketch
larger either in my sketchbook or on the computer with my wacom
tablet and pen. I move around and resize parts of the sketch in
Photoshop CS3 until the composition, perspective, and characters are
just right. I email the sketches to the Art Director and once I get
approval, I paint the finals in Photoshop CS3 using a variety of
brushes. I keep each character in my illustration on a separate
layer, so I can move, resize, or re-paint them easier. Even though my
work is done on my computer, I try to make it look like it was
painted using oils, pastels, or watercolor, so I'm constantly
experimenting and learning more.
Do you make school visits? What do you feel is the benefit?
I've done a couple school visits and had a lot of fun! I love sharing
my passion for art and stories with kids.
What are you working on now?
I'm working on an illustration for Highlights magazine for the
December 2008 issue, and I'm also working on the last book in a
series of six leveled readers for Seedling Publications that will be
published by fall. I'm getting ready to start illustrating my first
trade book, and I'm super excited to start that!
What is something about you that kids might like to know?
I have a funny gorilla story that happened when I was doing research
for a children's book, but since it's a long story, you'll have to
ask me about it over a big bowl of ice cream someday.
What advice would you give to those hoping to write and illustrate children's books?
Join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, find a
critique group, go to children's book conferences and get critiques
of your work by editors and art directors at those conferences (ask
them to be brutal and don't take it personally), read and study new
picture books that are out in bookstores, join online discussion
groups like Verla Kay's Blue Boards ( http://www.verlakay.com/
boards ), buy the newest Children's Writers and Illustrators Market
for info on where to submit, and of course, write and draw as often
as you can.
