I'm writing today to say that I will not be able to do Smart Dummies in 2017 alone. This event takes too much time and I don't want to decide between the event and an illustration job (which always seem to come along about the same time as Smart Dummies). If you are willing to help please let me know.

I will be starting a separate Facebook group for anyone helping me to plan next year's event. I need people willing to ask their friends to join the event, people with ideas for the new event and those willing to help me get the word out about Smart Dummies. The big thing is that need 1-2 people to help me send out emails, field questions and find people to join the event.

 I will not be able to run the event next year if I can't find people to help me out. I do hope that there are a few of you out there who can help donate your time. Thank you all so much for everything! I love everything we've accomplished thus far!

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I almost forgot the winner's badge. If you won Smart Dummies this year here is a badge you can place on your website, blog or wherever you'd like. Thank you so much for being a part of Smart Dummies 2016!

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I almost forgot to announce the winners of the courses! Mira Reisberg and Mark G Mitchell have wonderful courses for picture book creators! Be sure to check out: http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/ and http://howtobeachildrensbookillustrator.com/ to find a course that fits your needs. When I went to school I had to pay $1500 for one illustration course. I'm so happy that courses today are much more accessible. Mira and Mark are wonderful teachers and I've learned so much from both of them over the years!


Photoshop or Hero's Art Journey course (your choice) - Mira Reisberg

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Here are two of the big prize winners! Since I like to drag these things out I will be announcing the final two course prize winners tomorrow.


1.A one-year subscription to Guest Group Critiques Mark G Mitchell

2. A Full Dummy Critique - Traci Van Wagoner


Sussu Leclerc

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I have two more prizes to announce today and then I'm going to start announcing the big prizes for those who completed Smart Dummies!



1. "Get the Wiggles Out" and "Let's Cooperate" books and a signed A4 print. - Tom Heard

Leila Nabih

2. Original Illustration and book - Tim Egan 

Phyllis Mignard

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More winners from the Smart Dummies Challenge!

A review copy of "Toby" - Hazel Mitchell

Shawna Tenney  

Torn tissue illustration - Toni Yuly

Louann Mattes Brown

"Ring Around the Rosie", and an original Buddha painting on paper - Gina Perry

Teresa Robeson

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Here are a few book winners from Smart Dummies! The names of the winners are under the prize.

1. "The Egg Thief" -- Lauren Gallegos

Diane Gronas

2. "If Kids Ruled the World" --- David Huyck

Jefna Cohen

3. "Manners Are Not For Monkeys" by David Huyck

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I will be drawing prizes tomorrow most likely. I have a very sick baby on my hands so I barely have time to write this. If you finished the event you have a bit more time to sign the oath. So sorry for any confusion!

http://daniduckart.blogspot.ca/2016/11/smart-dummies-oath.html

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So sorry I wasn't able to post this yesterday! Here is the winner for the Amazon Gift Card Giveaway. I will be contacting you shortly via email to make sure your email is correct. Stay tuned for more winners! a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I'm going to give everyone the chance to sign the oath this weekend and comment on the post with prizes. There are prizes for those of you who participated but did not win Smart Dummies. Be sure to comment on the posts to win! I'll be back Monday to announce the prizes. 

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While I'm waiting for people to comment and sign the Smart Dummies Oath I should be making lots of posts about the steps you need to make to get your dummy from a dummy into the hands of an agent or editor. This hasn't been a great year so my mental acuity isn't what it once was (In other words I have nothing prepared yet).

Before you start sending out your dummy to agents and editors you should first have 2-3 spreads (4-6 images) completed. This is very important because it shows what your final work is like. You don't want to finish all of the pictures, because agents and editors want you to be flexible and there may be changes to your dummy before the final product.

Last year I did a post about laying out your final images. I feel as though I'd just be rehashing what I already wrote (and not adding anything to it). Here is the post I did last year explaining the final image. If you have questiosn ask below and I'll reply or I can answer them in a post! http://daniduckart.blogspot.ca/2015/10/laying-out-your-final.html

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Here it is! The Smart Dummies oath. If you completed 24-30 pages (or 12-15 spreads) CONGRATULATIONS are in order. You have completed the Smart Dummies challenge! Your images just need to be black and white. The images can all be done in pencil. If you did more than good for you!

Please do not try to send me your Dummies! We are on the honor's system. You MUST SIGN this oath in order to be eligible for most prizes and registered. You MUST comment on the posts of the prizes you want! I posted all the links yesterday. 

The Smart Dummies Oath: 

I do solemnly swear that I have completed the Smart Dummies challenge. I have at least 24 pages (or 12 spreads) completed for my Picture Book Dummy. I understand that lying about this only hurts me, Jimmy (who is living in a well, and Batman.* I will continue working on getting my dummy published.

*He is the night.
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That's it! You have about a week until I start drawing prizes. Thank you all for being a part of this event! Even if you didn't win this event know that you are a winner for just attempting a dummy. This is just one challenge. Stay in the Smart Dummies Facebook group so you can keep learning about dummies all year long!

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So this is the wrap up post for the event. Nothing fancy here -- just a post to let you know what's happening the next few days.

You do not need to turn in your Dummy to me. Tomorrow there will be a Smart Dummies Oath that you will need to comment on if you completed your dummy. This gives you the eligibility to win some big prizes. There are also prizes available to everyone who entered the event this month.

There are a lot of people who worked hard to write their posts. It's very important that you make everyone feel like their post is important. Please comment on the posts so that the guests can feel your love!

BTW: I have not forgotten about the Amazon gift card prize. I will be announcing that in November as well!

Here is the list of prizes. You MUST comment on the prize posts to win that prize! The link to each post is under the prize. You have a few days to comment if you missed out.

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Mary, Vjekoslav Zivkovic, and Denis Alenti work together at Foo Foo kids to create wonderful apps for kids. Their work caught my eye while I was browsing Twitter. The artwork in their apps is absolutely stunning. I've downloaded a lot of kids apps, and these are some of the best I've seen.

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Patricia Pinsk is not only a wonderful illustrator, but she also has fantastic insight into design and the business side of illustration. Patricia has written many fantastic articles for the SCBWI Bulletin (check out the archives or your old issues for a great read). She is one of the few posters that is in the SCBWI Canada West chapter with me! This is Patricia's second year of being a part of Smart Dummies and once again she has priceless information to share with you.

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Illustrators and contracts

By Patricia Pinsk

The business side of illustration is something you need to embrace if you are to make money doing what you love: creating art. A contract helps keep things simple. It’s good to have one - regardless of whether you know the client or not.

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When Selina Alko was young she lived in Vancouver, BC and now she lives in New York. When I was young I lived in Ohio, and now I live near Vancouver. Ironic? No. It is a great coincidence.

Selina's work is steeped in diversity. She works with her husband Sean Qualls in a lot of her projects (including the book below). In her post Selina uses her artwork instead of words to tell her story.

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Summer was an especially busy one with my husband Sean Qualls and I collaborating on the art for another book together. Here are some sneak peaks... But, shhhhh, it's top secret!!! I think you can get the sense though, that it's another project celebrating diversity and promoting human understanding.

I'm very excited that this fall the movie LOVING is coming out based on the same story of Richard and Mildred Loving's struggle to help legalize interracial marriage that we tell in our picture book, The Case For Loving.


Please visit my website to learn more about me and my work with Sean and to see a schedule of upcoming events: selinaalko.com.



Happy Fall!

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Follow Selina:


Website: selinaalko.com

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selinaalko/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SelinaAlko

Sean Qualls: http://seanqualls.com/

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Mike Herrod has been posting a lot of his illustration process on Twitter lately. It's this artwork that made me want to give him a shout. I didn't know what to expect when I asked Mike to write a post for Smart Dummies. It should be noted that I'm a bit thick in the head. If I would have thought about it, I wouldn't have been so surprised when I got back a process post (especially since we agreed to a process post via email). There is a lot of great information here, so I hope you won't be too surprised when you read it. Spoiler alert: It's a process post!

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Taking it Home – Preparing Your Sketches to go to Finals

You finished your dummy! Congratulations! Now what?

As daunting as creating a full picture book dummy can be, making final illustrations poses a whole new set of challenges. But once you get the process down, this can be the most fun part of making book. After all that work, you finally get to see your art in full-color, just like a real picture book. (I consider this part the “dessert”).

The process below is by no means the way you MUST do things. It’s just what’s worked for me. But hopefully this post will give some tips and ideas that will help you out, no matter how you work.

Sounds good? Let’s go! Very Rough Rough’s

Consistency is key!

If you’ve been working on your dummy for some time, there are things you might stop noticing. Maybe your characters look the same person from picture to picture. Or maybe the relative sizes of each character have changed. These things are easy to overlook. Your editor might spot some of these, but it’s really up to you to make sure everything is right. You don’t want to get notes after you’re done painting and waste hours of work.

I make a couple of special drawings to help me double-check my art. One is called the character “turnaround”. The other I call the character “lineup”.


Character turnarounds are an idea borrowed from animation. Basically, you spin your character around and draw them from all angles. I usually do this before making the dummy, and it does two things: First, it makes sure that your character looks like the same person (or animal), no matter how you view them. Second, it makes your pictures more exciting. (You don’t want to draw every character looking right at the reader, or in a straight profile. That’s boring!)



To keep the relative sizes of my characters the same, I like to use a character “lineup”. Draw all your characters right next to each other, and make sure their heights are correct. I like to use the “head” of the main character to measure everyone else. The farmer is four “heads” high, the donkey is two, and the chickens are one. Use this sheet to test all your pictures and your sizes should be all set.

To Resize or not to resize, that is the question…

Let’s face it, we’re not making picture books because we love math. You don’t need to do functions to draw fuzzy bunnies riding bicycles. But now it’s unavoidable – numbers are rearing their ugly heads.

Your dummy can be any size, really. Some people make small dummies. Some are the exact dimensions of the book.

Final images, however, MUST be proportionate to the final book size, and CANNOT be smaller. They can be bigger, however. Much bigger. So if your book will be 10” x 10”, your final art can be 15” x 15”, or 20” x 20”, etc. etc.

The size you choose for your final art depends on how you work. Maybe the final book size is perfect for your art. Or maybe you artwork is busier or has a lot of characters, and you need a bigger canvas to paint the details well.

If you need to resize your images, you have a couple options. You can scan the sketch, resize in Photoshop, and print out the page. Or, you can just redraw the images at the larger dimensions. Either way works fine.

Holy moly, we forgot the words!

Unless this is a wordless book (which is way, way easier), you need to make sure you can fit the words. Your dummy probably included these, but now you need to make sure the words fit in the finals.

I like to print out the words (resized if necessary), cut them out, and paste them on the final sketch. Make sure the font and font-size are correct (the art director can send those if you’re working with a publisher).





Now you can do your last, final check (Eek!) and start to paint.

Almost there!

How you create your final pieces will of course depend upon your medium and your style or art. If you’re working digitally, just load your drawing into your digital painting or vector program of choice, and get going! If you work traditionally, like me, there are a few more steps.


OK, say your drawing is ready to go – finished, checked and approved. But it’s on drawing paper. How to get it on your canvas or on a paper suitable for painting? Well, you have a few choices. You can redraw the entire picture, but that’s hard and could introduce errors. Or you could use transfer paper, which is fine, but can get expensive. For me, the light box is the best and easiest technique, by far. Light boxes are pretty cheap, and you just need a small one. Tape your drawing to the bottom of your art paper, put in on the light box and trace away. If you use ink, like me, you can draw with the ink right on the light box.

Beautiful! Now you’re ready to paint. Personally, I use pen and ink with watercolor. For more information on that technique, visit my blog here.


That’s it! If you’re preparing a dummy for submitting to publishers, remember you’ll need to include two prints of final art from the book (not originals). Or if doing a whole book, just keep going and going until those 32 pages are all done.

I hope this was helpful. Good luck with your art!

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Follow Mike:

Website : http://www.mikeherrod.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikejherrod

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The envelope from Tim Egan

PRIZES

One lucky winner will win a copy of "The Trial of Cardigan Jones" by Tim Egan and an original Piece of artwork that never made it into the book! If you are the winner of this artwork you have to promise to take care of it!

Since this is a really big prize it will have to go to someone who has completed the Smart Dummies Challenge!

You must comment on this post to win.

It would be nice if you share this post with your friends!

Sorry, I'm keeping the letter and envelope. ^_^

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I fell in love with Diana Toledano's blog at first site. She has absolutely wonderful advice for both illustrators and writers. The information isn't just available for English readers. Diana writes her posts in both English and Spanish!

The artwork that Diana creates is absolutely wonderful. It's like something out of a dream. Even when her work is based in the real world it still has magic. Much like the way a child sees the world!

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Hello fellow picture book lovers! My name is Diana Toledano, and I'm glad to be here with you (in spirit) sharing some basic (but usually overlooked) tips on how to create a dummy book. All the images of the article are taken from the making of my last book: a picture book called “Une Place Pour Edouard” (A Place for Edouard).

Let’s fast forward: you’ve had a great idea for a picture book, you've written the story, you’ve edited the manuscript, you’ve developed your characters, and you’ve drawn a storyboard. Now what? It’s time to create your first dummy! (and I say “first" because you probably should do a couple more before finishing the book).

Since making books is such a long and lonely process, you might need some help making it through. So I’ve gathered up some friends you can count on while making the best dummy on earth:


- Stick figures are your friend.


I'm sure you can draw a proper kid/bear/koala. After all, you're a fantastic illustrator! But while you’re making a dummy book, try to forget you have drawing skills at all.
I know, you’ve seen X illustrator’s dummy and it was beautiful. You want yours to look just like it. If you are one of those super talented human beings who draw as easily and fast as they breathe (like most animators), your dummies might indeed look great… Mine don’t (I’m not *that* cool).

Remember: by making a dummy you are trying to figure out the composition of the illustrations, the rhythm of the book, and where the text will go; you are NOT trying to create a work of art that art historians will compare to the Sistine Chapel. Don't make it pretty, it doesn't need to be.


- Photocopies are your friend.

You've drawn a tiny storyboard. You love it, it's working. You decide to take the next step: making a real dummy. So you take a pencil and... Stop right there! Don't redraw it. Instead, make a copy and blow it up. I'll give you three reasons:
One lucky winner will win "Manners Are Not For Monkeys" by David Huyck! (This book is up for a 2017 Rainforest of Reading Award.)

In order to win this book you must comment on this post.


It would also be lovely if you shared this post with your friends!

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I love a good fairy tale. There are a lot of artists that do create art for fairy tales, but few do it so well as Rebecca Jordan-Glum. Rebecca creates vividly magical scenes in her illustrations. When she's not doing fantasy, Rebecca still creates magic in her wonderfully expressive illustrations.

Dani: What would the child you think about the work you are doing today?

Rebecca: I think the child me would be quite surprised! I grew up in a house full of bookworms and have always been an avid reader but it never really crossed my mind to want to actually make books. I've always felt that books were a bit magical and I enjoyed being the reader so much that it has been a bit of a switch to have to learn the nuts and bolts of constructing a book myself. I enjoy it tremendously, but it IS work. I think as I child I thought that books just appeared, fully formed and perfect. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There are a LOT of people involved in creating a book and the amount of editing that goes on is enormous. I spend a lot of time doing revisions and rewrites and there is nothing magical about that.

Dani: What are your favorite fairy tales and which one would you most want to illustrate?

Rebecca: Perhaps Hansel and Gretel, which was one of my favorite fairy tales as a child. The contrast of the little children lost in a dark wood and the allure of the candy house is quite striking. It's very Willy Wonka-ish now that I think about it...
I'd enjoy illustrating any of the Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen tales, really.

Dani: How did you prepare for the illustrations you did for "A Fairy Tale"?

Rebecca: A Fairy Tale is a Fairy Tale about... Fairies. My initial preparation involved me sketching out a lot of different fairies and doing some color studies of bedrooms. I wasn't sure what I wanted the book to look like but after I did my initial studies of character and scene, I discovered two things that I knew I DIDN'T want. I try and stay away from stereotypes, so I didn't want the book to be done in blues (as I discovered almost every nighttime bedroom picture book is done in) and I didn't want my fairies to be ultra-thin pale little waifs. After I knew what I didn't want the book to include, I set about coming up with characters that reflected the beautiful and ethnically diverse children that I see around me every day, and designing a non-stereotyped room that celebrated the brilliant minds of girls. I don't really approve of all the princess-worship that our culture participates in. I think girls are bold, powerful, and curious— so I included a fairy reading a book about Sacajawea, a bookshelf that includes books on physics, and I tacked up a homemade kite and a poster on the aerodynamics of flight.

Dani: What is it that inspires you?

Rebecca: Great work from other people. Interesting ideas. My family.
I am driven to connect with people through my work. As an artist, art truly is my most effective form of communication. I find that I always feel a bit misunderstood until I draw or paint a picture of what I am thinking. People can take one look and instantly understand something that I was struggling to get across through other means.

Dani: Is there anything more you'd like to share with those creating their dummies?

Rebecca: Prepare to edit, edit and EDIT! Creating a dummy is just the beginning of the journey. Get your ideas down and then be open to changes. You'll be asked to revise it by agents and/or editors and then even after it is sold, it will need to be revised again and again at the publishing house.

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Follow Rebecca:

Website: www.JordanArtandDesign.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JordanArtDesign

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

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There are some artists that create characters so distinct and so wonderful that you can't imagine that you've never seen that character before. That's what I feel like when I see Shirley Ng-Benitez's illustrations. I know that her characters aren't characters I've seen before, but I can't imagine the world without Shirley's wonderful characters.

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Dani: You have a distinct style in your artwork. How did you arrive at this style?
Illustration site: shirleyngbenitez.com
Graphic Design site: gabbyandco.com


Twitter: @shirleysillos
Instagram: @shirleysillos
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Shirley-Ng-Benitez-Illustration-146452492038409/?fref=ts

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Sometimes it's not just artwork that grabs me about an artist. Sure, I'll see pretty artwork and do more research based on that, but this isn't the whole of what makes me fall for an artist. With Lauren it was her story about how she gained her agent that made me want her to come to Smart Dummies (link to story below). Her story is important because it shows how important it is to have hope and stay the course as a picture book creator. If you work hard that agent could just be right around the corner!

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Dani: What is the hardest part about your job as an illustrator?

Lauren: For me, the hardest thing is not knowing when, and from where, my next job will come. In fact, this is practically impossible, which is difficult for me as someone who likes to have things planned out and organized. Unfortunately, this is the curse of the freelance artist. The best you can do is consistently put your work out there (whether on social media, through postcard mailings, attending conferences, etc.) and hope that it catches someone’s attention enough to hire you. This situation has occasionally caused some times of stress, but I have been fortunate enough so far to stay pretty busy.

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Amanda Erb excels at creating wonderful children in her illustrations. Her characters are expressive and act like real children (even if they are in fantasy situations). Amanda's use of color is beautiful. It was fun finding out all the things she learned in the illustration industry.

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Dani: What do you hate most about illustration (or the illustration industry)?

Amanda: There are aspects of the illustration industry and illustration in general that I dislike, but I don't think any of my emotions reach as strong as 'hate'. It is extremely frustrating to get emails from potential clients that just want to be a 'published author' and think they should be able to hire an Illustrator for free or extremely cheap. I dislike getting those types of emails the most.

One of my biggest illustration-related frustrations is dealing with color and color schemes. I have learned so much since my college years about getting the most out of color for print, yet I still feel like I wrestle with my color choices daily. Working with green seems to give me the most trouble.


Dani: What was the most important part of your education?

Amanda: Having professors and classmates that pushed me to do better. I seriously grew so much from having professors in college that were upfront about the parts of my work that needed improvement.


Dani: How did you get started in book illustration?

Amanda: I got started in book illustration by sending out mailers and links to my portfolio to different companies. Eventually, I got some replies and offers to work on various projects.


Dani: Do you have any special time saving techniques?

Amanda: I use Actions in Photoshop to save time when I know there's something I have to change on multiple pages. I also use the hotkeys on my Cintiq – just knowing hotkeys in general when working digitally is a great time saver.

To manage my time I use a Pomodoro timer app. “Work smarter, not harder” is still something I struggle with, but it's a good phrase I like to keep in the back of my mind when I work.


Dani: What do you do if you have a tight deadline?

Amanda: Take deep breaths and try not to freak out, haha. I make a list and plan out what I need to get done on each day and work to complete my daily goals or get close to completion every day before the deadline.


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If you have not read Carter Higgin's blog Design of the Picture Book then go and read it (AFTER you read this post). In her blog Carter talks about all the wonderful visual aspects of the picture book. Carter lovingly dissects what makes each book great. If you study her blog you will find out what to do to make your picture books fantastic.

Carter is here to bring a taste of the genius she is to my blog. If it's not obvious, I am just in awe with everything Carter writes. So much so that I can't even make up a story where Carter saves the world through her blog. I can't, because any story I made up would be completely non fiction. Carter Higgins just gurus picture books.

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You’re obviously here, you Smart Dummy, because you love how unique the picture book’s form is. And one of the best things you can do for your own picture book making is understand the nitty gritty of how things work. The more sense you can make of the form, the more you can squeeze the very best storytelling into it.

While you are making your dummies this month, keep this design feature in mind—because it’s a part of every single book, no matter the genre or medium or size of the book. It’s the gutter, the place in the center of a book where the edges are bound. It’s something that sets the picture book apart from storytelling on the screen, and savvy creators will use this to their advantage.

There’s the gutter as a plot point:

http://us.macmillan.com/thisbookjustatemydog/richardbyrne

Here, the book literally swallows up a character. His little leash dangles behind. Can you shake him out of the gutter? How did he get down there? And how will he get out?



http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318039/shy-by-deborah-freedman/9780451474964/

Now you’ve seen a book hide its main character, but what if that main character doesn’t want to come out? That’s at play here in Deborah Freedman’s stunning new book Shy. Shy loves the sweetly singing birds that flit about the pages, except he’s too bashful to come out and sing. You’ll turn a lot of pages before this gentle main character emerges from the gutter, but you’ll be glad you waited for him.

The gutter as a place to pause:



http://www.geckopress.co.nz/ProductDetail.aspx?CategoryId=31&ProductId=506

A general commands a guard to not anyone cross the line in this book. The line here is the gutter, and that missive leaves a blank right side of the page and an increasingly cluttered left hand side. The gutter is the physical spot that serves as a set piece to the story, and thanks to that, the book becomes a thoughtful look at injustice.



http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/shadow.html

Suzy Lee’s picture books are perfectly crafted around the gutter. I adore Shadow for the way a girl’s playful antics line up on one side of the gutter, and their almost-matching shadow splotches are on the other. Be sure to turn this one ninety degrees so the the gutter runs horizontal. Simple and mesmerizing, as is this post on her process.

And the gutter that paces the action:



http://matthewcordell.blogspot.com/2012/07/hello-hello-let-it-begin.html

This is a book about the divide between our digital lives and the wide open outdoors. As a girl approaches each screen-faced family member, they are separated by the gutter. And as she ventures out to follow a leaf, she crosses over the gutter, embracing the wildness of the world. See more from Matthew Cordell on this here.




http://www.chroniclebooks.com/flora-and-the-flamingo.html

This is a majestic little book with lift-the-flaps and a Caldecott honor, and it’s a beautiful example of subtle gutter use. Flora and her bird friend dance on either side of the page, on either side of their stage. Once their nerves and awkward smiles fizzle, they jaunt to the same side of the spread together and that’s where their dance (and the music!) soars.

No place but the picture book can do this. Do you have other favorite gutter moments in picture books? Let me know in the comments!

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Carter Higgins is a librarian at an independent school in Los Angeles. She is the author of A Rambler Steals Home (HMH, February 28, 2017) and two forthcoming picture books from Chronicle Books, This is Not a Valentine (Fall 2017) and Everything You Need For a Treehouse (2018). She writes about picture books and graphic design at her blog, Design of the Picture Book, and is a team member of All the Wonders, a home for readers to experience the stories they love in wondrous ways. Connect with her on Twitter and Goodreads.

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I love the adorable animals in Tony Yuly's books. As cute as they are I love her torn tissue images even more! It is wonderful to see how Toni's style has changed. It's even more amazing to see it happen over a period of just a few years! Toni talks about the changes she's gone through as an illustrator!

Be sure to check out the Prize after the post!

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Dani: I know that you have just started in torn tissue paper. Could you tell us a bit more about that and the previous art styles you tried?

Toni: The torn tissue began while I was playing around one day...I really wanted to re-connect with that totally free, non-goal oriented creative activity I had had in abundance before I became an "official" author with book contracts. I have always been attracted to collage and had some tissue paper laying around so I started tearing it up... It was fun! I love to randomly tear paper and see what shapes jump out at me. After I see a shape I like I add some details with pen and ink. I have always loved working fast, also making many "bad" things or mistakes doesn't bother me. I like the quickness of ink and watercolor...I kind of like not planning things out...I am process oriented, which to me means, I like to work on something over and over again until I get it right or it turns into something else that I like. The process of doing something over and over quickly but maybe getting to the end goal slowly works for me most of the time. I have tried oil painting but it drives me crazy. I love working with pieces of cardboard and making wall sculptures with a glue gun.


Dani: How did being a librarian influence your career now as a writer and illustrator?

Toni: It helped me to stay alive! It also gave me close access to tons of books! I would get to see new picture books before they were in the stores and the Children's Librarians in particular were my sounding boards. I pestered those folks constantly and they never tired of being happy to help me. I spent many, many years bouncing my ideas off of so many helpful Children's Librarians. I was not a Children's Librarian but worked in General Reference. I also think helping people and being in a big public library was so different from being alone creating stuff that it was a really great balance, and kept me sane.

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Grace Sandford's illustration work is like a visual candyland. I'm not just saying that because she has some beautiful pictures of a candy world (though that may have influenced my word choice). All of her work is pretty enough to eat. If I did eat her work I would probably eat the pictures of gingerbread characters first. Unfortunately, Grace isn't here to talk about us eating her work. Excuse me, I'm going to go get some candy while you read this post.

Grace Sandford has so graciously offered a discount in her Etsy shop now through November 1st. The code is: SMARTDUMMIES16 

Grace's Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GraceSandford
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The Author/Illustrator Collaboration

It’s been nearly a year since publication and my first ever picture book was a collaboration with Children’s and YA Author Kate Louise/Ormand called Tough Cookie. Tough Cookie is about a gingerbread man who was accidentally baked without ginger and causes lots of trouble in the bakery because of this.

Working with Kate is still one of my favourite jobs to date and I wanted to talk about the differences between illustrating other people’s work than your own.

Personally, I prefer illustrating other people’s work to my own stories. It feels like a challenge interpreting an author’s work with your own unique style. You can choose certain themes or imagery to pick up on that they might not have even considered themselves and you can really play with the relationship between pictures and words. When two people collaborate on a story it seems to evolve it to another level. For example, I deliberately made sure to hide most of the baker including his face to emphasise that the story is about the gingerbread man so the reader is to see the story through his smaller perspective. This was something I learned from TV shows when growing up such as ‘Cow and Chicken’ and ‘Mrs Bellum’ from the ‘Powerpuff Girls’ in which children were often at adult’s leg or waist height and therefore at a lower plane of sight.

When working on Tough Cookie, I showed my roughs to not only our editor but to Kate as well so she had an idea as to how her story was looking. I personally would be going crazy if I couldn’t see those things so I wanted to show her! Not only that, it developed a discussion between us about small details we could add or change or things that we wanted to see more of.

Another positive aspect of working as a collaboration, especially with Kate is how fun it is to promote the book together. Kate is very good at promoting her own work on Social Media anyways and so it worked really well between us, giving several interviews and creating work sheets that can be taken from both of our websites for children to use. Beforehand I thought it was publishers that were largely in charge of promoting books but the longer i’ve spent working as an illustrator i’ve learnt how many hats you have to wear! The more you do to promote your work, the more chances people will see it and therefore might read it/buy it.




The best part of working with another author is that you have someone else to enjoy the moments with. You can both smile when you see that children are reading your book and reading the reviews together. Sometimes working as an illustrator can feel quite lonely, so its certainly more fun working with other people!


Tough Cookie is published by Sky Pony Press and is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tough-Cookie-Kate-Louise/dp/1634501977/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1473062903&sr=8-22&keywords=tough+cookie

Grace Sandford is a freelance children’s illustrator and author from England. She graduated with a degree in illustration from the University of Lincoln in 2013 and has worked for publishers globally ever since. Grace has worked on colouring books, picture books, chapter books and children’s magazines for various publishers. Her first author/illustrator book ‘The Egg’ was published earlier this year in the UK.

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