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We are on our fourth and final week of the 2012 Series of Mini-Interviews. This week I close with an illustrator I admire and love: Constanze Von Kitzing.
I have no recollection of how I found Constanze work. All I know is that as soon as I saw her work, I fell in love with it! Madly! Constanze is always surprising me with her compositions, textures and color choices. She paints like I dream of painting when I grow up.
When it came time to choose my 4 illustrators for this year’s Series, I had to ask her. I had a feeling she would say yes. Sure enough, she agreed and now I have the immense pleasure to introduce you to the fascinating world and work of the German children’s author/illustrator Constanze Von Kitzing.
About Constanze Von Kitzing
Constanze has been drawing and painting ever since she was able to hold a pencil. She started off with countless images of pricesses and horses, then already showing great love for details and a subtle humor in her characters and scenes. The evening stories, read to her by her parents, inspired her so much that she decided to become a professional children’s book illustrator.
Today, Constanze works for a wide variety of international publishers, has won several illustration prizes, and is happiest to see children enjoying her books and illustrations.
To learn more about Constanze, you can visit her website: www.constanzevonkitzing.de and follow her Blog.
Illustration from 'Gebete für Kinder' (Bahá'í-Verlag 2009) illustrated by Constanze Von Kitzing
Describe yourself in five words:
Enthusiastic, funny, easily stressed, committed, people-person.
Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words):
As mentioned before, I’ve always been drawing and fascinated by picture book, but from childhood dream to the actual profession it’s still a long way. I attended an art school for children for 10 years, after finishing school, I did a year of voluntary service in South Africa, doing educational dance and drama for a change, but then ending up producing flyers and posters there too. Back, I thought about being an arts teacher or graphic designer, I started with graphic design and discovered that I actually could focus not only on illustration but on children’s book illustration, so I switched schools and painted and painted. I was VERY proud when my diploma and first books (a series of a little lion) got published by “La Joie de Lire”, a French publisher I’ve done projects with ever since. It was also quite challenging to find a niche, as for some markets I was too artistic and for others I wasn’t artistic enough, so I learned to be flexible and to see the whole of Europe and later the entire world as my working field.
Illustration from 'C'est Moi Lei Meilleur' (La Joie de Lire 2009) illustrated by Constanze Von Kitzing
If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is:
A mixture of Stepan Zavrel, Bernadette Watts and Eric Carle’s illustrations (my three childhood heros), that keeps being challenged by very many contemporary amazing illustrators.
Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color): Which is your greatest strength? Which poses your greatest challenge?
Strength: Color and shape. Challenge: Perspective.
Illustration from 'C'est Moi Lei Meilleur' (La Joie de Lire 2009) illustrated by Constanze Von Kitzing
Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?
Sometimes I don’t… As my husband is a musician without a regular time table too, our life tends to be rather chaotic, I try to start work after breakfast, but get distracted by housework, the desire to go for a walk, to make some tea, the internet… usually i start with paper work and emails and in the afternoon I paint. THAT I can do for hours and hours! Now that we have a little daughter, everything is different yet again.
Illustration from 'Gebete für Kinder' (Bahá'í-Verlag 2009) illustrated by Constanze Von Kitzing
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?
- Do what you love doing and try to be as good as you can be (my parents).
- If you see something you like, be not afraid of copying it, as it will come out very differently in your own hand (my professor).
- Love yourself and your own work (me, I have to remind myself regularly!!!)
What’s your favorite marketing tip or strategy?
Maintain personal relationships with editors and clients, quality not quantity – if you manage do both! :-), never give up, believe in the fact that what you have to offer is wanted and needed.
Illustration from 'Gebete für Kinder' (Bahá'í-Verlag 2009) illustrated by Constanze Von Kitzing
What new projects have you got coming down the pike?
A very cute gnome story; David and Goliath, a series about animal patterns for very small kids. Next week I will be attending the Frankfurt Book Fair, maybe some new things work out there…
'Gatito y el Balón' (Kalandraka 2012) illustrated by Constanze Von Kitzing
'Mais Qui Va Là' (Joie de Lire 2012) illustrated by Constanze Von Kitzing
And this ends the Mini-Interview with Constanze. Thank you so very much, Constanze! You are closing my series with the prettiest bow!
But we are not completely done yet. We still have 3 more fantastic interviews for this week and year:
This post is part of the
Mini-Interview Series where 4 children’s illustrators interview other Children’s Illustrators and Author/Illustrators throughout the month of November. Our guests include:
You can learn more about the Series here and the guests to this blog here.
> Stay updated: email | rss | facebook
A few months ago, I received an email from Maria Bogade inviting me to be part of a small group of children’s illustrators. The idea was to join forces and make quarterly mailers. Our first assignment? A fairy tale, 12-month calendar where each one of us would illustrate 3 months of the year.
Giving that: 1) I had never done a mass mailer (although I really, really wanted to); and, 2) I liked the work of all the other members in the group; I immediately said yes. What could be better than help to get the work out there into the world of Children’s Publishing? Nothing, really!
Storybook Brushes: Logo
Collaboration is a wonderful thing and we all have worked together, really hard to get Storybook Brushes to where we are now.
Shortly after my initial “YES!”, emails started flowing back and forth and they haven’t stopped. We had so much to do! We had to pick a name, decide on an identity, get the calendar designed, sort publishers and take care of our website. And that was just to get started!
At times, we banged our heads against walls and bedframes – together and alone. Now, a few months later I can proudly introduce you to our group: Storybook Brushes. And who are we? In alphabetical order, with you the Storybook Brushes illustrators:
Storybook Brushes: Members
Our 12 new, fairy tale illustrations are completed. The design of the calendar is done and our 2013 Storybook Brushes Calendar is being printed right now. Publishers will receive copies as promotional mailers. If you are an Art Director or Editor interested in receiving one, please subscribe here.
If you are neither an Editor nor an Art Director but still would like to get a copy of the Calendar? You can PRE-ORDER a copy of the Storybook Brushes Calendar for only $10 plus cost of shipping from my BigCartel Shop (USA), Katriona’s Shop (UK) or Maria’s Shop (Germany). The 8.5″x5.5″ calendar will arrive in time for this 2012 Holidays with a print from the Illustrator’s store you shop at! All proceeds from the Calendars we sell will cover our printing costs so help a children’s illustrator out! :)
For now, we include the cover and 1 month so you can see what it looks like. We will be posting product pictures as soon as we get them back from the printer so stay tuned.
2013 Storybook Brushes Fully Illustratred, 12-month Calendar - Pre-order Now!
2013 Storybook Brushes Fully Illustratred, 12-month Calendar - Month of May
Pre-order your 2013, 12-month, wall Calendar from:
Juana’s Shop Katriona’s Shop Maria’s Shop
What? What are you saying? What are those piggies? Oh, well… I’ll tell you about them since you asked. The piggies illustration is 1 of the 3 I completed for the calendar.
It was time to get back from my self-prescribed piggy-break and what could have been a better fairy tale for my withdrawal than illustrating “The Three Little Pigs”. But 3 piggies weren’t cutting it. I needed more piggies, more piggies, MORE PIGGIES! And, I ended up with 10 little piggies.
'The Three Little Pigs,' final sketch.
'The Three Little Pigs,' final Illustration used for the Month of May for the '2013 Storybook Brushes Calendar'.
While the Storybook Brushes wait for the calendars to arrive, we are posting one piece at a time on our blogs. So stay alert or follow us on Facebook or Twitter! You don’t want to miss our next fairy tale delivery. I promise I’ll post one more piece in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, support our group by ordering your calendar. And with that I sign-off for now :)
> Stay updated: email | rss | facebook
This is our third week of Mini-Interviews for 2012. This week I have invited to my blog the author-illustrator Greg Pizzoli.
I found Greg’s work on Twitter about 4 years ago. With my love to everything that is old-school printmaking, I fell in love with his work immediately. Greg’s sense of design and color are a punch to the eyes. His characters are fun and minimal without being too simple – a hard balance to accomplish successfully. So when it came time to pick my 4 guests for this year, Greg came to mind right away.
He graciously agreed to the interview and now I am sharing all the info that he shared with me. Please enjoy, the Tuesday Mini-Interview with Greg Pizzoli.
About Greg Pizzoli
Greg Pizzoli is an author, illustrator and screen printer from Philadelphia. His first children’s book will be published by Disney*Hyperion Books in May of 2013. Greg’s work has been featured in Communication Arts, 3×3 Illustration Annuals; and he’s won two Portfolio Honor Awards from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
After college, Greg spent two years as a full-time volunteer in AmeriCORPS from 2005-2006. In 2009, he received his MFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he now teaches.
He recently gave up drinking (as much) coffee.
His screenprinted works have been exhibited in the United States, Canada, Spain and The Netherlands.
To learn more about Greg, you can visit his website: www.gregpizzoli.com. You can also follow his work at his Blog and Tumblr. Greg is also on Facebook and Twitter.
'Food Truck' by Greg Pizzoli
Describe yourself in five words:
I’m just a modern guy.
Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words):
People ask me this question all the time, and I feel weird answering it because I am so early on in my career – my first book comes out in May – so I am very much still figuring things out; how I like to work, what kind of projects I really want to invest in and so forth. Also, I think my experience was somewhat unique, so I feel bad because I have to preface with “Ok, I’ll tell you how it happened for me, which will probably in no way help you, but…” – so anyway, here goes: I studied English Lit in college, with a minor in studio art, and immediately after college, I joined the AmeriCORPS VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program for two years. While in AmeriCORPS, I started to work with kids and I began to silkscreen and draw a lot more in my spare time.
'Treasure Chest' by Greg Pizzoli
After two years of volunteering full-time I went back to school to study art at the graduate level, this time in Printmaking and Book Arts in Philadelphia. Before grad school I was mainly focused on making rock posters, mini comix, and zines, but while in school I become more and more interested in writing, and picture books in particular. As part of my graduate thesis I wrote, illustrated and hand-printed two editions of totally weird (and in retrospect, somewhat dull) children’s books. After getting my MFA, I immediately started teaching silkscreen at The University of the Arts, in both the undergraduate and continuing education programs.
By some miracle, author/illustrator Brian Biggs was enrolled in my first CE class, and we fast became friends over our mutual interests in silkscreen, children’s books, and Indian Pale Ales. Unbeknownst to me, Brian sent my website link to his literary agent at Writers House, Steven Malk. Steven and Brian ended up coaching me through my first meetings with publishers, guiding me as I expanded my portfolio, designed promotional postcards, and created a new website. I was working a full-time dead-end kind of job, gambling that the work I was doing in my studio would eventually pay off. It was a long two years, and Steven, Brian, along with Bob Shea, became great mentors to me. In the summer of 2010, after about a year of emailing, Steven took me on as a client and we continued to work together to get my work to the point where it needed to be. His advice was to slow down, be patient, and to only put my best work out there. I spent a lot of time at the library, learning about picture books: what works, what doesn’t, and figuring out my voice as an author/illustrator.
'Where the Night Train Goes' by Greg Pizzoli (Unpublished)
I did my best to follow their advice while teaching part-time at night and working a full-time job in an office. I did most of my drawing and writing early in the morning or after work. In January of 2011, I attended my first SCBWI conference in NY, and was lucky enough to win a Portfolio Honor Award which got my work in front of a lot of publishing people. A few days later an editor from Disney*Hyperion emailed asking if I had a story to go along with my piece from the conference, and I didn’t, but I got to work on it. At that same time, I was showing other ideas to my buddies Bob Shea and Mac Barnett who helped me develop the next story, which became “The Watermelon Seed”, which is coming out in May of 2013. Another picture book I wrote (and will draw soon) will also be published by Disney*Hyperion in the Summer of 2014, and both are with my wonderful editor, Rotem Moscovich, who found my work at SCBWI.
This past summer, Steven and I started getting requests from publishers for me to illustrate stories written by other authors, which I am working on now. I’m doing a Halloween counting book with FSG, and a book about a brave spider with Candlewick.
'Hippos' by Greg Pizzoli
If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is:
Obviously we’re all influenced by too much to even remember, but here are some things that I’ve been looking at a lot recently, and some which I’ve carried always: The Muppets, Sesame Street, Peanuts, etc. Cuban poster art, with the greatest influencer from that genre being Eduardo Munoz Bachs. I’m also always impressed by images from Seripop, Landland, Zeloot and Michael Deforge. Philadelphia has an amazing concentration of talented illustrators: Tim Gough, Zach Ohora, Brian Biggs, Matt Phelan, and Bob Shea who isn’t from Philly, but visits often. I have a pretty obscene collection of picture books and I probably most often grab those drawn by Maurice Sendak, Jim Flora, Will & Nicolas, Tove Jannson, Carson Ellis, Richard Scarry, Tomi Ungerer, James Marshall, Ed Emberley. I also really love Blex Bolex’s work. Many more.
'Wonka' by Greg Pizzoli
Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color): Which is your greatest strength? Which poses your greatest challenge?
Color seems to be the thing that people most frequently comment on in my work. My work process is grounded in the traditions of printmaking, where every additional color means hours and hours of work, so my palette is usually limited to five colors or less, which means I’m pretty deliberate with my color choices. The watermelon seed was printed in three spot colors, instead of CMYK, and I think it will really stand out because of the limited palette and the inks and paper we chose.
Challenge: Probably volume? I don’t know. I took a life drawing course this spring to exercise those muscles a bit, and I was satisfied that I can still draw from life when I want. It seems I rarely want to. The illustrators and designers I’ve always been attracted to have created very flat worlds, I guess when your biggest influences are Ed Emberly, Richard Scarry, Sendak, Quentin Blake, etc, its unavoidable. But I also think its just what I’m doing now, and who knows where I’ll be in the future. I’m 29, things could change.
Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?
I’m a big user of to-do lists. I also have a program on my computer that blocks facebook/twitter/tumblr/etc for however long you choose, which is good. A typical day looks something like this: wake up, coffee, ten minute walk from apartment to studio, on a good day getting there right around 9am, an hour of emails and general putzing, make a to do list and then doing my best to blow through the list. Some days I teach in the mornings or evenings, so I may spend time prepping for a class. I like to have several projects going on at once, and I can dip in and out of them depending on my deadlines, and mood. I typically work on whatever until about 8 and then go home.
'Tattoos' by Greg Pizzoli
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?
Work hard and be nice to people is a cliche, but for good reason. Also, just make a ton of work. If you keep making stuff, and don’t obsess over failures, you’ll end up getting better. It’s inevitable if you make enough.
What’s your favorite marketing tip or strategy?
Regular postcards definitely helped me – it’s can be expensive but it gives you something new to be able to give people and direct them to your website, which should be clean, and NOT play any music.
'Klip Klop' Zine by Greg Pizzoli
What new projects have you got coming down the pike?
Well, probably the thing I’m most excited about right now is that my first picture book, “The Watermelon Seed”, is being published this upcoming May. I did the writing and the drawings and I’m really pleased with how it came out, and incredibly excited to have other people enjoy it. It comes out May 7th, and the huge-online-retailer-that-should-not-be-named has it available for pre-order now. I have another picture book coming out with Disney*Hyperion in 2014, it’s another one with my fantastic editor Rotem Moscovich.
I have also been fortunate enough to be asked to illustrate books that other people have written and am working on one for Candlewick, and one for Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux. They are both fun books and I’m excited about them. The FSG one will be out Summer 2014, and the Candlewick book will come out Spring 2015. I also just finished a new zine about a con-man who sold the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal, which is based on a true story. It’s called “Tricky Vic” and is a bit of a diversion for me. The art is much more graphic, more like editorial illustration. I’ve wanted to make this zine for 3 years or so and just haven’t ever found the time, but I was able to audit an offset printing class at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and make “Tricky Vic” in the class. I designed the whole thing mainly at night over a few weeks. It feels really loose and graphic, and I’m digging it. It will be available on my etsy shop in December for only ten bucks. Other than that I’m storyboarding the book trailer for “The Watermelon Seed”, and sketching out new book ideas. And I still make screenprints, etc to keep me on my toes.
'The Watermelon Seed' (Disney Hyperion 2013) written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli
'Tricky Vic' written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli
And with that, we conclude Greg’s visit and interview. Thank you, Greg! I will see you next week here when I’ll be interviewing and sharing the amazing work of Constanze Von Kitzing.
But wait, also this week on the Mini-Interviews we have:
This post is part of the
Mini-Interview Series where 4 children’s illustrators interview other Children’s Illustrators and Author/Illustrators throughout the month of November. Our guests include:
You can learn more about the Series here and the guests to this blog here.
> Stay updated: email | rss | facebook
This is week number two of our Series of Mini-Interviews for 2012 and I have invited a fantastic friend and children’s illustrator: Amanda Shepherd.
With a teeny, tiny baby on my lap and a career switch in my head, I surfed the internet looking for anything related to children’s illustration. I found SCBWI and with that the link to the Los Angeles Conference and their Portfolio Winners. I clicked names away for 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002. Then I got to 2001, Amanda Shepherd it read. My heart skipped a beat. I LOVED her work. I had to know where this girl lived. My heart stopped completely: she was in Phoenix! I was in Phoenix! I grabbed my phone determined to call her. I had to talked to her. Then I put the phone back on its base and went back to clicking while I thought: “She’s going to think I’m crazy!”
I never attempted that call again but I patiently waited for that moment when I would meet the Oh-so-talented Amanda. And it happened a few months later. Heck, we both were in Phoenix and there were only a few children’s illustrators in this city!
Amanda is lovely, sweet and SUPER smart, and I admire her and her work. So it is with great, great pleasure that I introduce you to my friend, Amanda the Magnificent. She does magic in her work. Yes, she does… and to your delight, here she is to talk to us about her work and career.
About Amanda Shepherd
Originally from the Seattle area and most recently from Phoenix, Arizona, Amanda lives in Texas with her wildly creative husband, Garbo, and Polly the ‘baby hurricane cat’. It is fascinating to watch the influence of environment on her art first hand. From where she grew up in Seattle to Illinois to her beloved Phoenix… She loves being an artist. The places she have lived are a part of her. Each place is a history of experience that has an influence on her work. When something speaks to her, it comes out by memory on paper. Each artist sees differently. She sees differently and that is an extraordinary thing.
She has illustrated five fabulous little books: “Rules of the Wild” written by Bridget Levin, “Who Loves Me” written by Patricia MacLachlan, “Such A Silly Baby!” writen by Steffanie and Richard Lorig, “Fiona Loves the Night” by Emily and Patricia MacLachlan and upcoming “Mouse and Company” by Susan Pearson.
Amanda thinks of her books as children. Diane Dillion once said to her “… books ah yes, you create them and you have to let them go and live thier lives.” You never really know how well they will do in the market.” Ironically, Rules of the Wild, her first book has outsold all of her other books and it is almost completely sold out. She loves that book. In a side note, she shook Diane Dillion’s hand. Diana is an amazing and lovely person and so is Amanda.
To learn more about Amanda, you can visit her website: www.amandashepherdillustration.com. You can also find her and her work on: Facebook, and her Blog.
Illustration from 'Rules of the Wild' (Chronicle Books 2004) illustrated by Amanda Shepherd
Describe yourself in five words:
Creative, expressive, dedicated, compassionate, loyal. People say to me ” Oh, Amanda? She is so nice… and then I laugh”. I am not sure what that means…. Wait! wait! We should be drawing ourselves in 5 lines… :)
Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words):
I wanted to be an artist since finger painting in Kindergarten. I so remember discovering how yellow and blue make green… wow, that was a fabulous moment indeed! But in third grade Miss Benson asked us all what we wanted to be when we grew up and I knew I wanted to be an artist. Miss Benson, now Mrs. Gregory said, “You know what? You can. You can be anything you want”. Miss Benson was a very smart person! So, that was it. I was going to be an artist. It is alI I have ever wanted to be. My third grade teacher Miss Benson/Gregory will always be my hero.
So in an effort to do so — I have worked around the United States as a newspaper illustrator as well as a designer. Then I spent a several years designing advertising and admiring the hand drawn shoes of Andy Warhol. Now, I am an artist and illustrator who works for the fabulous company HEB in Texas. HEB is amazingly supportive of me as well as my work as an illustrator. I really work with great people. Not only do they put up with me at work, but my friends/co workers came to my small artist opening in our local gallery. Working keeps me completely inspired and provides the schedule I need to be an artist and illustrator at home. Oh and I get to eat too. It’s the best grocery company in Texas! I don’t make a very good starving artist.
Illustration from 'Such a Silly Baby!' (Chronicle Books 2007) by Amanda Shepherd
If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is:
Maira Kalman meets Alexander Calder in Paul Klee’s bar …they laugh and draw happy hilarious things. Oh and they eat pink cupcakes.
Illustration from 'Fiona Loves the Night' (Harper Collins 2007) by Amanda Shepherd
Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color): Which is your greatest strength? Which poses your greatest challenge?
Strength: currently line. In my first books definitely color. Challenge: Perspective. Perspective is the same thing as presentation. Because of my whimsical style – is not always important that it is technically ‘correct’. But everything – just like in “The Great Gatsby” – everything needs to immediately communicate what is important. I try to make sure my illustrations communicate concisely… and quickly. And in books the progression and movement from page to page tells a story. I love constructing page design with movement and motion. True joy.
'The Dog Says' (Carus Publishing 2013) illustrated by Amanda Shepherd - Designer/Collaborator: Kim Carney
Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?
My critical time is working in the morning drawing sketches and writing notes and catching up on email… um… until deadline. Then the critical time is all the time… someone once said… “Amanda you work so much better when you haven’t gotten any sleep.” Ah, yeah. Um, thank you, I think. But then I think about that. Is it true? Do I work better when I am not over editing and over correcting myself?
Illustration from 'Such a Silly Baby!' (Chronicle Books 2007) by Amanda Shepherd
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?
“The more determined you are, the more your work improves. The better your work is, the better your chances are. It is as simple as that” – Amanda’s hero no. 2: Dilys Evans.
Recently I read this amazing story in “Salon Magazine.” Emily Rapp said: “… Stories: the only things we’ve got, the arbiters of of this human process of rocketing between hope and despair, and it’s why every person is vitally important. It’s why it doesn’t matter if you’re a mess, or put together, or even a success according to arbitrary standards. What matters is that you are conscious of the world around you in all its beauty.” Write it down. Capture life as you know it. Believe in yourself and your work. Its all that matters.
What’s your favorite marketing tip or strategy?
I love sending postcards. I think a postcard tells people exactly what you are doing and who you are in 5 seconds.
'Miss Anne' (unpublished) by Amanda Shepherd
'Love of Books' (unpublished) by Amanda Shepherd
What new projects have you got coming down the pike?
I have a few projects that I am working on all at once, which um…. let just say may not be the most effective process.
1. I am working on a book of my own which is outside everything I have ever done… sort of a Maira Kalman stule meet these people I know in real life book. Authors often say they don’t know where a book is taking them and this book is completely fun and really interesting. 2. Also I am working two picture books with my husband. And as always I am working on marketing, marketing, marketing.
'Rules of the Wild' (Chronicle Books 2004) illustrated by Amanda Shepherd
Cover of 'Fiona Loves the Night' (Harper Collins 2007) illustrated by Amanda Shepherd
Cover of 'Such A Silly Baby!' (Chronicle Books 2007) illustrated by Amanda Shepherd
Cover of 'Mouse and Company' (Blue Apple Books 2013) illustrated by Amanda Shepherd
And this concludes Amanda’s visit and interview. Thank you, Amanda! I will see you next week here when I’ll be interviewing the wonderful Greg Pizzoli.
Also this week, we have another 3 fantastic women children’s illustrators:
This post is part of the
Mini-Interview Series where 4 children’s illustrators interview other Children’s Illustrators and Author/Illustrators throughout the month of November. Our guests include:
You can learn more about the Series here and the guests to this blog here.
> Stay updated: email | rss | facebook
Today we are starting the Series of Mini-Interviews for 2012 and we are starting with a BANG! I have a very special guest in my blog, one of my favorite illustrators: the fantastic John Parra.
I met John at the SCBWI Los Angeles Conference in 2010 – the year that he won the Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration for his book “Gracias/Thanks”. I knew his work well and had already added “Gabriela” to my PB collection of Illustrators-Who-I-Admire.
While at the Conference, we both attended a Saturday Multicultural break out session for writers. During the Q&A portion, I asked one question: how to find other Multicultural Children’s Illustrators? I got some great suggestions from panelists and attendees. A little later, the session was over and the day continued its course but later that night… I got to meet John. He remembered the question and introduced himself to offer his help. Oh, how I was star-struck! I looked at his face and his badge one, two, three times while we shook hands. The darker color banner reading “Faculty” should had confirmed my doubts but I had to ask: “Are you John Parra, THE Illustrator of “Gabriela”?” He was. I could hardly believe it. He was generous and helpful. I am glad I asked the wrong question at the wrong panel.
Now a couple of years later, I’m asking him a few questions about his work and career. And, I get to share his answers and work with you. If you know his books and illustrations, enjoy! If you don’t know them yet, get ready for a treat! Now, with you the wonderful, John Parra.
About John Parra
John Parra is an award-winning illustrator, designer, teacher, and fine art painter. He has received multiple awards and honors for his wonderfully illustrated, Latino themed, children’s books including: The Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), The Pura Belpré Honor’s Award from The American Library Association (ALA), The International Latin Award:Best Interior Children’s Book Illustrations from Latino Literary Now, and most recently The Christopher Award from The Christopher’s Inc. organization which annually salutes media (TV programming, feature films, books for adults and children) that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” Parra’s original artwork has also been showcased and displayed in numerous gallery shows and museum exhibitions throughout the United States and South America. He has taught at the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, CA and now regularly speaks at schools and literary conferences across the country advocating art and reading education.
To learn more about John you can visit his website: www.johnparraart.com. You can also find him and his work on: Facebook, Goodreads, and SCBWI.
'El Crucero de Almas' by John Parra
Describe yourself in five words:
Patient, hardworking, creative, focused, organized, and inquisitive. Sorry that’s six words.
Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words):
Prior to working on children’s book illustration I was working doing commercial art projects for magazines, advertising agency campaigns, and music/ media company projects as well as exhibiting my art as a fine artist in galleries and various exhibitions. All of which I continue to do today. Then back in 2004, Theresa Howell, an editor and art director at Northland Publishing/Luna Rising, upon seeing my work, contacted me to ask if I’d be interested in illustrating a children’s book. Much of my work already used themes of family, childhood, and Latino culture, plus my color pallet made a good match for doing a children’s book, so I decided to accept. The first book was called “My Name is Gabriela/ Me llamo Gabriela”, written by Monica Brown that tells the story of Gabiela Mistral, a famous poet from Chile, who was the first Latina woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Reading to Niños from 'Waiting for the Biblioburro' (Trycicle Press 2011) illustrated by John Parra
If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is:
This reminds me of an early review I received describing my artwork from my first children’s books. The reviewer wrote that my style reflected a combination of Marc Chagall meets your child’s best refrigerator art. I actually think that is a pretty fair assessment, although I will like to further add there is a heavy influence of Mexican and American folk art, day of the dead art, Mesoamerican pre-Colombian artifacts, and early twentieth century fashion and style. My style is also specifically influenced by other artists such as: Jose Posada, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, The Clayton Brothers, Thomas Hart Benton, Leo Politi, Virginia lee Burton, Maurice Sendak, Frank Romero, and Grandma Moses.
'Friday Kahlo' by John Parra
Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color): Which is your greatest strength? Which poses your greatest challenge?
Strength: Color. For me it gives such a weight of emotion and memories to an image. Challenge: Lines, I rarely can draw a straight one.
Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?
I am generally busy working on a number of projects at once so the goal is to break down each one to a manageable schedule and create goals to finishing all the work. Early morning is a very creative time for me, so I am doing most of my art then. The afternoon I generally respond to emails and business related matters. Then at night sometimes I go back to the art depending on the creative levels and ideas still floating around.
'Spiritualist' by John Parra
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?
First, always do the best illustration work that you can, because a job well done will get you more work and success. Second, try to avoid art trends. Be original and create in a style that is you and reflects what you like.
'SCBWI Golden Kite 2010 Poster' by John Parra
What’s your favorite marketing tip or strategy?
Say yes to as many art projects that you are offered. Some art project, even when outside your field and medium, can lead to new possibilities and rewarding assignments, and because taking the road less travelled can lead you to magical places.
'PaperTigers 2012 Poster' by John Parra
What new projects have you got coming down the pike?
I just turned in the art for my next children’s book entitled, “Round is a Tortilla”, due out in 2013. I will start its companion book, “Green is the Chile”, this fall with an arrival date of 2014. Both books were written by the wonderful author, Roseanne Thong. This December you can also look for “When Thunder Comes”, a poetry book written in moving verse by Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis. The book profiles seventeen civil rights luminaries from around the world, each represented in portraits, showcasing their struggle and dedication to justice, peace, and tolerance. The artwork for the book was a collaborative effort split between four other artists and myself. All three of these projects will be published by Chronicle Books. Another project I just completed was the Papertigers 10 year anniversary poster. They are a wonderful organization committed to promoting multicultural books to young readers as well as educating the public about clean water and protecting the resources. Next year I have some art working with 3CD and Cengage on a reading program that will be released in the spring. I’m also hoping to write out two children’s book ideas that have been in my mind for some time. This will be a new and wonderful challenge for sure.
'When Thunder Comes' (Chronicle Books 2012)
Cover of 'Round is a Tortilla' (Chronicle Books 2013) illustrated by John Parra
And this concludes John’s interview. Thanks again to John! I will see you next week here when I’ll be interviewing my great friend and illustrator, Amanda Shepherd.
But wait, don’t go just yet. This week of Mini-Interviews is just starting and we have a great line-up. Come back and listen to:
This post is part of the
Mini-Interview Series where 4 children’s illustrators interview other Children’s Illustrators and Author/Illustrators throughout the month of November. Our guests include:
You can learn more about the Series here and the guests to this blog here.
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It’s been an eventful weekend and even more eventful Monday. Sandy has behaved badly and deserves to be sent to the corner facing the wall. We are thinking of all our family and friends in CT, PA and NY. We hope they are all safe and warm.
With Sandy in time-out, I have to go back to our schedule and the initial, planned purpose of this post: the Mini-Interviews will start next Tuesday here!
I will be posting every Tuesday a new interview with a different and very talented illustrator and author/illustrator. My guests include:
Molly, Mikela and Laura will each have different guests at each of their blogs. Want to know who has been invited where? Visit Molly‘s blog tomorrow, Mikela‘s blog Thursday and Laura‘s blog Friday. Yes, we are all posting this week.
I will see you all here next Tuesday with our First Mini-Interview!
Stay safe and warm and have a chocolate-filled Halloween tomorrow!
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We had the November Mini-Interviews last year, remember? This year we are back with more interviews, more guests, and more Q&A’s to fill your month of November.
It’s been a couple of months now that we have been working on our 2012 Series of Mini-Interviews. All behind the scenes and stuff but FINALLY we can start telling you about them. One thing I have to admit, I am excited!
For this 2012, we have 16 fantastic picture book authors/illustrators visiting our blogs. Once again, we will be hosting the Mini-Interviews on our blogs with our regular posting schedule: my blog on Tuesdays, Molly Idle‘s blog on Wednesday, Mikela Prevost‘s blog on Thursdays and Laura Jacobsen‘s blog on Fridays. We will be posting 4 days a week during the 4 weeks of November.
Confused? I don’t blame you so you better keep an eye on our blogs! You don’t want to miss any of them! We’ll have pre-posts between now and November 6th when we’ll host our first interview.
And now so you know who you will be listening to, here’s our November Mini-Interviews Guest schedule:
And with that said, we get back to planning and working on the upcoming interviews.
Talk soon!
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I have officially joined KidLitArtists and have a Welcome Interview on the blog. You can read it here: Welcome Juana Martinez-Neal!
KidLitArtists the home of the SCBWI LA Illustration Portfolio Mentorship Program Winners – winners of 2009, 2010 and 2011. The blog provides helpful information and news for children’s illustrators as well as updates about past and present Mentees. We post weekly and hope you can follow the group blog!
A visit to New York City the Winter of 2012
Oh, New York! I’ve been there a couple of times but this time I fell completely in love with the city.
While there, I attended SCBWI NY Conference. It was good and had a few personal highlights. Listening to Sophie Blackall on Friday was definitely one of them. Her presentation was moving, inspiring, personal and so very humbling. And thanks to my traveling and illustration buddy, Debra Pehrson Haun, I got to shake Sophie’s hand and tell her how much I love her work. Wee!
Another highlight was listening to 12 (out of 13) of the Book Maker’s Dozen on Sunday. A Q&A moderated by Laurent Linn, Art Director of Simon and Schuster. Questions were insightful. Answers were revealing and very often insanely hilarious. The last question to all of them was: “What are the lessons learned? What do you wish you would have known then?” I heard some brilliant quotes worth sharing:
Peter Brown - “I’m grateful to everything that happened. I learned from everything.”
Brian Floca - “Find a mentor, an editor that you like and cultivate that relationship.”
Sean Qualls - “Take the time to embrace the people that embrace your work because they see the potential, the raw talent in it.”
And right after the second “embrace” and before “potential”, I got the third highlight of the Conference: John Rocco embracing Sean Qualls like a child hugs his daddy, with all the strength he has, with all of his body, with the head contortioning so he touches all of daddy’s self. It was so very sweet. Funny, too. But above all, sweet. A moment I will remember from this conference FOR-EVER. I loved it!
Chris Crutcher’s speech was incredible and ended with a standing ovation, impromptu appearance by Henry Winkler was fantastic, Dan Yaccarino’s presentations were impeccable, and, Sean Qualls’ presence was regal. Yes, it was. As much as I wanted to shake Sean’s hand and tell him how much I also love his work, I couldn’t find him after Sunday’s Q&A.
And now a quick list of what resonated the loudest during those 2.5 days of SCBWI NY:
“This community is tiny so PLAY NICE.”
“Be sure your friends are brutal.” John Rocco
“It’s about the long run and not the sprint.” Deb Shapiro
“Grassroots. Cultivate channels locally.” Dan Yaccarino
“You need talent and determination. And you need grit. Grit is what will get you there.” Kathryn Erskine
“The truth that you know is the one that will make you published.” Chris Crutcher
There were also the dinners. There were the lunches. The drinks, the lines, the cabs. The people hugging, yelling, taking charge, trying to learn, getting overloaded, using columns as force-fields. Lots of sub-stories that make the Conference so much of what it really is. I wish I could tell you more about those but I’m too often caught
This is the 2011-2012 recap post. I have divided it into 3 parts so it is easier to write and read because (reader be warned) it is long. Dissolutions and Evolutions go over what I have learned from the 365 days of 2011. Resolutions is a short list of what I hope to achieve during the 366 days of 2012. I hope you enjoy it!
1 Evolutions –
We are always learning and changing. What I got this past year may be too simple of steps for some people or maybe steps ahead for others. Either way, the most important thing is to learn something from the year that just ended. Here’s my list of 2011 lessons:
- Get Help - Next time I find myself trying to decipher the latest tax deductions and css codes, I will stop and get help from a professional. With all that freed up time I can focus on my craft, put the hours and improve the work. Plus, I will end up with websites, postcards, tax returns, press releases and contracts that are done right and completed in record time.
I knew for a while that I needed help with the business side of Illustration. Someone else could be doing the work better than me. I needed an agent. Since late 2011, I am with Abigail Samoun from Red Fox Literary. It has been wonderful and now I can finally focus on what I really enjoy doing: illustrating.
Get Help - My agency, Red Fox Literary.
Work Smarter - I was raised to believe that you must always work hard. Later I learned that it is also important to work efficiently. I am not saying I do the least amount of work. I just take a smarter approach to the technique and the project to make the work easier to get done.
Last Summer, I was offered a picture book project with a tight deadline. I wanted to take it so I had to make it work. Needless to say, I learned that when I really focus I can get a project done considerably faster than I had ever thought. How did I save time? I made photoshop color studies for each spread, limited the amount of time spent per illustration (with the help of a timer), and used flat color backgrounds with flat color designs (leaves) to keep the pages interesting. If you are curious, you can read more about the project here.
Pay close attention to what you are doing and how you are doing it. I assure you, you will think of a faster, more efficient approach to get the work done.
Work Smarter - Find a more efficient way to get the work done.
Expect Nothing And Be Surprised - This may sound like aiming low but let me explain. I accomplish
Lucecita - Iguana Magazine - November/December 2011
I got the assignment to illustrate the story of “Lucecita” in late November. It was a super-rush (aka less than a week between sketches and finals) but as you are all already guessing, I took the project. The artwork was published on the November/December 2011 issue of Iguana Magazine and since my copies arrived in late December, I decided to post later. Holidays are a busy time for all of us!
As I’ve done before, some process pictures and the final illustrations at the end, and this time I’ve added some instagram shots of a couple of the sketches. Also at the end, the link to subscribe and learn more about Iguana Magazine.
Have I told you how much I love instagram? If I haven’t, here it goes: I ♥ that app! So if you are interested in seeing my sketches and wips (works-in-progress), you can join me there. I post almost every day.
I am positively, absolutely done with the pending posts from 2011. Clean slate and back to my soul-searching for the 2011-2012 recap that I’ll be posting soon. Pinky promise. Until then!
Initial Sketch for Looking for Lucecita
Initial Sketch for Homework
Painting the illustrations for Lucecita - Iguana Magazine - November/December 2011
Homework - Work in Progress
Looking for Lucecita - Work in Progress
Meeting Lucecita - Work in Progress
4 Comments on
Lucecita, last added: 1/23/2012
Mary Talks to Baby Jesus - The Little Lutheran/The Litte Christian - December 2011
Christmas has come and gone and I still have this sorta-Christmassy post to go before I can get to my “Welcome 2012″ one. So let’s post it really quick to clear my desk, ok? Great!
I loved this project! From research to final art, it was one of my favorite magazine assignments of 2011. I have to applaud my Art Director. She always brings and encourages a non-traditional vision and that’s why I love working with her. She requested to avoid halos, rays of lights or any more classical depiction of religious art (hence no angels). The main idea was to portray Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus as real people so given the historical and geographical reference, I considered they should look Middle Eastern.
The illustrations were done for the story of “Mary Talks to baby Jesus” published on the December issue of The Little Lutheran/The Little Christian magazine. Some process pictures below and at the end the final art that you can click on for larger views.
Now, let’s see if you can find my favorite animal on these pieces: the goat. Have you seen where it fell asleep? :)
Resolutions, dissolutions and evolutions post will follow in a few days. Until then!
Detail of Mary's face - Work in Process
Detail of Mary and Baby Jesus - Work in Process
The two spreads - Work in Process
Cow and Sheep - Detail
Animals - Detail
As I sit on this Christmas Eve with a sleeping home, I don’t want to pass the opportunity to wish each and everyone one of you the happiest and warmest of Holidays. All the best for these Holiday Season!
Every year SCBWI and Tomie dePaola hold a contest. Each year, Tomie chooses an excerpt from a story to illustrate. I have never participated before but decided to enter this year.
So as I was working on other things, I kept “cooking” my Chicken Licken entry. The choice was easy: I needed children in my portfolio so I painted all the animals as children in costumes. Yes, I’m that simple!
I sketched characters on and off for about 10 days and finalized the sketch at the beginning of the week. I honestly didn’t think I was going to make the deadline but kept painting. I sent the entry with 1 minute to spare and the hope that my computer’s clock showed the same time as the recipient’s.
Why did I enter? To produce work with certain restrictions (in this case the excerpt) but that only satisfied me. You can find out more about the contest here. And here is the full excerpt taken from “Chicken Licken,” by P.C. Asbjörnsen. I focused mainly on one line – “I saw it with my own eyes”.
So they went along and went along until they met Turkey Lurkey
“Good morning, Goosey Loosey, Ducky Daddles, Cocky Locky, Henny Penny, and Chicken Licken,” said Turkey Lurkey, “where are you going?”
“Oh, Turkey Lurkey, the sky is falling and we are going to tell the King!”
“How do you know the sky is falling?” asked Turkey Lurkey.
“Ducky Daddles told me,” said Goosey Loosey.
“Cocky Locky told me,” said Ducky Daddles.
“Henny Penny told me,” said Cocky Locky.
“Chicken Licken told me,” said Henny Penny
“I saw it with my own eyes, I heard it with my own ears, and a piece of it fell on my tail!” said Chicken Licken.
“Then I will go with you,” said Turkey Lurkey, “and we will tell the King!”
Please forgive me for the 3 weeks of silence. More posts are coming in the next couple of weeks. Not sure if I’ve said it before so here it goes: I truly thank you for following my blog!
The Mini-Interviews are over but not the Giveaways and today I have one winner to announce!
After the classic 15 minute pen-search, I got my names written down, got my 33 mini-strips of paper filled out and performed the pulling-of-a-name-out-of-a painting act successfully. We got a winner with Sofia as my witness. But I took pictures just in case.
The winner is Megumi Lemons who happens to live in Phoenix so I won’t be using the box after all. I shall save the said box for a future giveaway. Congrats, Megumi! I can see a Tex-Mex breakfast, lunch or dinner in our near future.
And for all of those who haven’t won yet, we have a Mini-Interviews Final Surprise so stay tuned. News are coming next week.
Congrats again, Megumi!
This is the fourth week of our Mini-Interview Series and that also means it’s FINALLY my week!
I’ve been the first one to post on our blog tour every week. So to take the edge off the akward monologue I thought I would have a pre-post yesterday. Did it help? Not really. I have rewritten this intro so many times, it’s starting to feel like writing a bio. Now the intro is done and over.
Let’s talk Giveaway: One lucky winner will get a 12″x12″ original, signed illustration on canvas – pic below and here. So if you like my work, check out the details on how to enter. Shall we get started? I think so! I hope you enjoy the interview! And Happy Turkey Day for the ones who celebrate it!
About Juana Martinez-Neal
Juana is a children’s illustrator, mami, wife, sun aficionado and amateur singer born in Lima, Peru and living in sunny AZ. You can follow her on
Twitter and
Facebook, see works in progress on
Instagram and visit her website at
www.juanamartinezneal.com
Would you describe yourself in 5 words?
Quiet, naive, determined, feisty and odd.
Now tell us how you got started as a children’s author and illustrator in more than 5 words.
Well… I got started as a children’s illustrator twice, really. The first time, I wasn’t aware that it was happening. The second time, it was MY choice.
The Unaware Time - My dad quit his job as AD at one of the agencies in Lima and started a graphic design and photography studio. One day, he got a new client: a Toy company. They were just starting and needed display boxes for all their toys and with that lots of illustrations. And my dad is an incredible, realistic artist but he is not an illustrator. So he sat me at one of his tables, told me what I needed to draw and walked away. He was a good art director! Thirty minutes later, he came back to check back on me. I remember him being kind of happy, kind of puzzled when he saw my sketches. I think he knew right then I was a children’s illustrator. But I didn’t. I was 16 at that time. I kept helping him through high school and until I was 21 when I decided to go to Art School.
The Aware Time - This time was completely different. After Art School, I moved to Los Angeles. For 10 years, I worked doing graphic and web design. I stopped sketching and painting completely. But after my second boy was born
If you have been following my posts the last few weeks, you know the Mini-Interviews are entering their 4th week tomorrow. If you didn’t know about them, you may want to go back and read Molly’s, Mikela’s and Laura’s posts. They are filled with great information and they are at times extremely funny.
Now, Juana, what’s the purpose of this post? Really! Getting quickly to the point: My Week is FINALLY here! Well, tomorrow but still… it’s here! Woop! Woop! So in my excitement I may double, triple or quadruple post this week. Or I may not. You shall came back and see.
I also know that MY week falls on the American Turkey Holiday week. So I thought I’d let everyone know that if you are in the US, there’s a safe place to escape from crowds, turkey and stuffing. I’ll be here as planned.
My week of Mini-Interviews come with a Giveaway. I debated for weeks: books, prints, original illustrations. It was really hard to decide so Saturday I painted something for this week. And she is right below here thinking, “Really?!”
The illustration is painted on a 12″x12″ canvas and has lots of texture, my signature on the front and info with my stamped logo on the back. Yes, I stamp every single illustration or painting that I do. I’m anal like that. But, scroll down and see images of the original sketch and details of the painting that can be yours. How? Well, tune in tomorrow for Part 1 of the mini-interviews and details on how to enter this Giveaway.
And here is a curious note: for one of those reasons that I never try to explain, just Friday I got a box with some books where she+padding fit perfectly. Perfectly. That’s great news for the lucky winner of Monday, November 28th * !
And now the last picture of the illustration ready to go (minus padding). You just have to come back tomorrow to read the
This is the third week of our Mini-Interview Series and we are starting Laura Jacobsen‘s week.
Do you know Laura? Have you seen her work? Have you seen her books? Have you? Have you?! Her work is bold. Her illustrations are beautiful and her sketches are fantastic. As a person, Laura is also bold, beautiful and fantastic but she’s also generous and honest – two qualities I so admire from her. Laura was the first real-3D-bone-and-flesh children’s illustrator that I ever met. Ever. And I’m really glad it was her. But that’s a long story that I won’t tell you now. This week is all about her: the wonderful Laura Jacobsen.
Do we have a Giveaway this week? Heck, yeah! Laura is giving away a signed, matted original (that’s real pastel on real paper!) from the Animal Mischief book and a signed copy of the book so don’t forget to read below for how to enter. You are up for a real treat so get ready! Without further ado, the most talented Laura Jacobsen!
About Laura Jacobsen
Laura Jacobsen is a children’s illustrator, dog mama and baker of a mean butterscotch oatmeal cookie. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter or on her website at www.laurajacobsen.com
Would you describe yourself in 5 words?
Sassy, soft-hearted, snarky, sentimental and strange.
Now tell us how you got started as a children’s author and illustrator in more than 5 words.
Growing up reading, writing and drawing, one would think I would have been planning this since the beginning, but in reality, it didn’t really dawn on me until my high school art teacher offered me a scholarship to The Columbus College of Art and Design. I was all set to go off to a “regular” college, but my Mom and I went down for a visit anyway. I still can clearly remember saying to her as we left “I HAVE to learn how to do this, I just HAVE to.” And that was that, much to my PhD in Analytical Chemistry father’s trepidation (sorry Dad, and thanks for all the support anyway.) Even then I intially majored in Retail Advertising (WHAT was I thinking) and it wasn’t until I realized that I despised all of my major’s classes that I started looking at Illustration. Telling stories is what I love the most, whether in words or pictures. It seems so obvious now.
What was your favorite book as a child?
Books were such a pervasive part of my childhood, I’m not sure I can come up with just one. They were always around, stacked in piles, sliding out of tho
This is the second week of our Mini-Interview Series and we continue with the amazing Mikela Prevost.
If you haven’t seen Mikela’s work before, reader beware! You will be blown away with her sense of design, her bold strokes and her colors. Have you seen how she handles figures? I know! It’s crazy! And because she’s such a super nice person, she’s giving away an original for this week’s Giveaway. Yes, like you read! An actual ORIGINAL so don’t forget to read below for details on how to enter.
I assume you have your coffee with you by now so read away! You are going to love her and her work by the end of question number 2. Enjoy!
About Mikela Prevost
Mikela Prevost is a children’s book writer and illustrator who happens to be a quite adept toy picker upper to her three children and lunch maker to her graphic designer husband. You can find her on Twitter and her website www.mikelaprevost.com
Would you describe yourself in 5 words
Nostalgic, observant, sarcastic, funny, creative.
Now tell us how you got started as a children’s author and illustrator in more than 5 words.
I always loved books as a child, especially the well illustrated ones. It wasn’t until I saw a cheesy HBO movie called “Running Mates” with Diane Keaton that plays a working children’s book illustrator that it really hit home the concept of actual living people making children’s books and not some half-human half-cyborg cranking out these illustrations from large ominous book manufacturing buildings, which I held to be the more likely source.
What was your favorite book as a child?
“Hippo Lemonade” by Mike Thaler. It’s an “I Can Read” book that is easy to overlook, but the expressions of the animals and dialogue were hysterical to me as a kid (still is). It was the one book I always got in trouble for reading after bedtime.
One lesson you have learned from working in this industry.
Stop being afraid. I think most people use the “I’m lazy (chuckle chuckle)” excuse instead of admitting they’re afraid to do something or make something happen. Making art is the
Today we are starting the Series of Mini-Interviews and this week is Molly‘s week.
Miss Molly will be hopping around blogs answering our questions to make one very bubbly Molly Week. And really, how else could Molly’s week be? But there’s more! Molly is also hosting a Giveaway this week. She’ll be picking a lucky winner (and soon-to-be proud owner of) a copy of “Santa’s Workshop” and a signed Print of an illustration from the book! Giveaway details below. I hope you enjoy the interview with this bright Illustrator!
About Molly Idle
Molly Idle is a children’s book author / illustrator, Mom, Mrs. and (not coincidentally) java junkie. To learn more about Molly you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and her website: www.idleillustration.com
Would you describe yourself in 5 words?
Optimistic, determined, quixotic, caffeinated, imaginative. (not necessarily in that order)
Now tell us how you got started as a children’s author and illustrator in more than 5 words.
I was between films at DreamWorks, and had written a short story titled Emma’s Gift for my Manna (my Grandma). My husband read it and said, “Moll, you should publish this.” I showed it to my Mom and she said, “Honey this is so good it should be published!” Now, I love these two people dearly, but they also love me dearly, and so I wanted some harsher critics to look at it before I submitted it anywhere. So, I sent it to a few of my brutally honest friends… and to my amazement, they liked it too. Then I picked up a copy of the Children’s Writer’s and Illustrators Market and sent it to just about everyone listed… talk about multiple submissions! Totally not what you’re supposed to do. Looking back- I cringe thinking about all of the non-fiction editors who opened my wayward submission to find a whimsical story about a little girl and her grandmother celebrating Christmas… But it worked. I got tons of rejection letters, but I also got one “yes”, and one is all it takes!
What was your favorite book as a child?
I have to choose two…1. “Little Women” (by Louisa May Alcott): My mom read it to me when I was six. 2. “The Sleep Book” (by Dr. Seuss) My Dad used to read it to me every night. I think I loved the experience of having those books read to me as much as I loved the books themselves.
One lesson you have learned from working in this industry.
Work harder. If you think you’re work is good- work to make it better.
A series of weekly Mini-Interviews are coming next month (or more precisely in 7 days). Four children’s illustrators, four blogs, four posts per week, four weeks full of questions, answers and giveaways. We close the series with a Big Giveaway with something from all of us to celebrate your Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Viva Kwanzaa all together.
We are starting Tuesdays on my blog. Molly Idle is in charge of the questions on Wednesdays. Mikela Prevost takes the keyboard on Thursdays. Fridays we are on Laura Jacobsen‘s land. At the end on Mondays, we’ll have Giveaway winners that will have to answer to no one and will still get prices.
Confused? I don’t blame you so come back next Tuesday and follow the Post Trail to know what we have been preparing for you. Just wait and see!
Who are we Interviewing and When?
We will have mini-interviews and giveaways from:
Molly Idle
Children’s book author / illustrator, Mom, Mrs. and (not coincidentally) java junkie. To learn more about Molly you can follow her on
Twitter,
Facebook, and her website:
www.idleillustration.com
Molly’s week: November 1-4.
Giveaway Winner: Monday, November 7.
Mikela Prevost
Children’s book writer and illustrator who happens to be a quite adept toy picker upper to her three children and lunch maker to her graphic designer husband. You can find her on
Twitter and her website
www.mikelaprevost.com
Mikela’s week: November 8-11.
Giveaway Winner: Monday, November 14.
Laura Jacobsen
Children’s illustrator, dog mama and baker of a mean butterscotch oatmeal cookie. You can find her on
Facebook,
Twitter or on her website at
www.laurajacobsen.com
Laura’s week: November 15-18.
G
Last Saturday, the Phoenix Zoo held it’s Second Annual
Rendez Zoo. By supporting the event you help sustain the Zoo’s conservation efforts, contribute to the care of the animals, and assure the Zoo will continue offering educational programs.
Now, what’s more fitting than a Zoo, wild animals and a children’s illustrator work? Nothing. So when I was approached to donate some artwork for the Silent Auction, I immediately said yes.
The challenge was to paint animals that I haven’t painted before – except for the elephant. It’s interesting that 4 out of the 5 animals I picked have lots of gray. I’m starting to fall in love with gray again. So here they are in the order they were painted:
Rhino Wrinkles
Lemur Love
Tiger Teeth
Orangutan Outburst
Elephant Entourage
Which one is my favorite? The orangutan. Second Favorite? The elephant. Something about the emotion on those pieces is completely opposite and attracts me so very much. Both quiet but completely different. And I got to add a bit of cultural flavor on the elephant illustration. Overall feeling with this project, pleased.
You can learn more about Rendez Zoo and the Phoenix Zoo here.
I was born and raised different because my dad is different. I’m glad.
My father was one of the few Peruvians who actually loved the folk dances and traditional dresses that women and men wore throughout Peru. Everywhere but in the “civilized” Lima you would be able to see them with no special trips. Just get out to the plaza and you’d see them. But Lima being the capital and all had to be cautious of “these” dangerous, folk activities in the big city. Stadiums and places would only be rented for those type of festivals on Sundays – when no “decent” events would take place.
And yes, most children would be ashamed to be seen in these Sunday folk festivals but my father loved them. He woke up early, packed his camera bags with extra lenses and even more film and got our orange VW beetle ready for the trip. He also dragged my brother and me. We were no different. We were also embarrassed but we had to help. There you saw us walking behind him carrying cameras, lenses and film, lots of film. In a sea of colorful dresses and masks, we stood out like sore thumbs. Like most children, we complained and whined but when nobody was watching we also tapped our feet loving the mountain music. Mini dirt clouds behind my dad waiting for a camera, lens or film exchange.
Those Sunday folk festivals taught me about the different music, patterns, colors and food that made Peru. Latin America is also an amalgam of different music, patterns, colors and food. Since we are celebrating Columbus Day here in the States, I thought I’d share a song that says like no other what it is to be from Latin America: “Latinoámerica” from Calle 13.
Soy
Soy lo que dejaron
Soy las sobras de lo que te robaron
Un pueblo escondido en la cima
Mi piel es de cuero por eso aguanta cualquier clima
Soy una fábrica de humo
Mano de obra campesina para tu consumo
Frente de frío en el medio del verano
El amor en los tiempos del cólera, mi hermano!
Soy el que nace
y el día que muere
Con los mejores atardeceres
Soy el desarrollo en carne viva
Un discurso político sin saliva
Las caras más bonitas que he conocido
Soy la fotografía de un desaparecido
La sangre dentro de tus venas
Soy un pedazo de tierra que vale la pena
Una canasta con frijoles
Soy Maradona contra Inglaterra Anotándole dos goles
Soy lo que sostiene mi bandera
La espina dorsal del planeta es mi cordillera
Soy lo que me enseño mi padre
El que no quiere a su patria no quiere a su madre
Soy América Latina
un pueblo sin piernas pero que camina
Oye!
Tú no puedes comprar al viento
Tú no puedes comprar al sol
Tú no puedes comprar la lluvia
Tú no puedes comprar al calor
Tú no puedes comprar las nubes
Tú no puedes comprar mi alegría
Tú no puedes comprar mis dolores
Tengo los lagos
Tengo los ríos
Tengo mis dientes
pa’ cuando me sonrío
La nieve que maquilla mis montañas
Tengo el sol que me seca y la lluvia que me baña
Un desierto embriagado con pellote
Un trago de pulque para cantar con los coyotes
Todo lo que necesito!
Tengo a mis pulmones
Respirando azul clarito
La altura que sofoca
Soy las muelas de mi boca mascando coca
El otoño con sus hojas desmayadas
Los versos escritos bajo la noche estrellada
Una viña repleta de uvas
Un cañaveral
bajo el sol en Cuba
Soy el mar Caribe
que vigila las casitas
Haciendo rituales de agua bendita
El viento que peina mi cabello
Soy todos los santos
que cuelgan de mi cuello
El jugo de mi lucha
no
Two weeks ago, I posted about “The Messy One” (Picture Window Books/Capstone Publishers 2012) and included a giveaway for a copy of the book.
I would like to thank everyone who read the post and especially all those who entered the giveaway. And now to the results of my First Giveaway ever:
1. Ni
2. Laura
3. Maria
4. Antoana
5. Guiomar
6. Diandra Mae
7. C. Francisco
8. Sarah
9. Anne
10. Jannie
11. Edit
12. Chellie
13. Shirley
14. Laura Z.
15. Ursula
16. Lil Kim
17. Dana
18. Aimee
19. Alvaro
20. Casey
21. Michela
22. Patty
23. Tarsila
24. April
25. Marilú
26. Mary
27. Dariela
28. Nora
29. Alicia
30. Elvira
31. Aleta
32. Megumi
33. Liesl
34. Gabriella
35. Marcia
36. Becky
37. Diana
38. Laurie
39. Angela
40. Christina
41. Clara
42. Terra
43. Tracy
44. Debbie
45. David
46. Monica
47. Nadine
48. Rosario
49. Rocío
50. Charles
51. Sharon
With the help of random.org:
The winner is: 10 – Jannie
I have to share this piece I finished yesterday so here’s a super quick and short post with some details of the piece.
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This is so lovely…your group, the work you all do and the calendar! And I love your logo…very cute and simply splendid! Wishing you all the best and looking forward to read more and see more from Storybook brushes :)
Thank you so very much, Antoana! Your kind words and good feelings are really appreciated. Glad you like the logo! We’ll be posting more as soon as we have the calendar copies with us :)