By
Elisabeth Nortonfor
SCBWI Bologna 2016and
Cynthia Leitich Smith's
CynsationsElizabeth O. Dulemba is an award-winning children's author-illustrator with more than two dozen titles to her credit, including her debut historical fiction, A Bird on Water Street (Little Pickle, 2014), which has been awarded thirteen prestigious literary honors, including Georgia Author of the Year and a Green Earth Book Award Honor.
Elizabeth splits her time between Roanoke, Virginia, where she teaches Picture Book Design as visiting associate professor at Hollins University in the MFA in Children's Book Writing and Illustrating program, and Scotland, where she is currently pursuing an MFA in Illustration at the University of Edinburgh.
Elizabeth maintains and active blog where she hosts author/illustrator guest posts each week and gives away free coloring pages. Her weekly newsletter has more than 3,600 subscribers. Elizabeth, welcome to Cynsations! Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me today.Thanks so much for having me!
Can you tell us a bit more about your background? How long have you been an illustrator? What led you to pursuing a career in children’s books, and specifically in illustration? Hoo boy. I’ve wanted to illustrate picture books since I was a little kid. I used to stare at
Garth Williams’ illustrations in
The Golden Book of Elves and Fairies (1951) and wish I could create that same magic with my art.
As a kid, I always had a drawing pad and pencil with me. Of course, back then, I didn’t know real people actually made books. And even though the adults in my life knew I was an artist and supported me with lessons my entire life, they steered me towards a more stable lifestyle.
I became a graphic designer for many years. I was always in-house illustrator, though, and I never stopped dreaming about creating books.
When I married my husband, I got the chance. We moved to be together, and I went freelance while I pursued my dream to illustrate books. Three years in, I got my first contract to illustrate
The Prince’s Diary (Lee & Low, 2005).
You have illustrated both your own stories, and those of others. Is there a creative difference for you as an illustrator when you are illustrating your own work, versus illustrating someone else’s work?It took me seven years to get my first contract as both author and illustrator,
Soap, Soap, Soap (Raven Tree, 2009). Until that time, I had a lot of fun coming up with images for other people’s writing - I still do. But yeah, it’s a blast to come up with my own text and images.
Heck, I imagine it will be fun to have another illustrator use my words at some point. It’s all about telling stories and creating! I love all of it!
What mediums do you work in? I’m currently pursuing an MFA in Illustration at the University of Edinburgh College of Art. It’s an introspective and experimental time for me. I feel like I’m in the thick of a creative chrysalis at the moment.
So while I was digital for my first 15 years, I’ve been working with more traditional media of late, getting messy with paint up to my elbows.
We’ll see what style steps forward as my fave. I don’t know yet!
Does this vary depending on the type of project?Yes! I tend to follow the vision of the story rather than stick to one particular personal style (so far). Although, I’ve been told that when you look at my works on the whole, they all look like mine. Ha!
Do you have a favorite medium or illustration tool? |
| Elizabeth's studio |
Not at the moment! I’ve been leaning towards dip pen and ink with watercolors. But I just discovered dyes, and I don’t want to throw out the computer altogether, so we’ll see!
Can you tell us about your typical creative process? I’m right in the thick of a new project, so I can share exactly!
Right now, I’m in the research stage. I’m looking at images, costumes, architecture, landscapes, color palettes, trying to soak in the looks of the story I’ll be working on - get it set in my head. I broke out the text into the key moments I think I’ll need to illustrate. And I’ve done some very rough thumbnails to get an idea of how the story will visually break out.
Next, I’ll start doing sketches - tons and tons and tons of sketches! Slowly, I’ll start working out my compositions and get bigger and tighter with those. Then I’ll start playing with whatever media I choose. I love the rendering stage the best, so I can’t wait to get to that!
Does it vary depending on what kind of project you are working on?Y’know, not really. I was sitting here doing online research, and for a minute I thought, “I’m not drawing, why am I wasting time?” And then I realized that I always do it this way and I’m not wasting time at all!
What is a typical creative session like for you?There’s no such thing as a typical creative session! It’s always different.
Even though my processes remain similar, I might be researching, sketching, painting, digitally rendering - all while listening to music, an audiobook, or requiring absolute quiet so that I can concentrate. It all depends on what stage I’m in.
Do you have a dedicated place that you like to create? Has that changed for you over the years?Right now, my dedicated space is my desk at the university. It’s a
big change from my dedicated studio/office bedroom in the states! But I love the energy of being surrounded by creative students.
I also love that I have to walk through beautiful Edinburgh every day to get here (1.6 miles from my flat). My view is of 17th and 18th century buildings, and lunch often involves meandering into one of the loveliest and oldest areas of the city (Grassmarket). Yeah - it rocks.
You are also the author of a middle grade novel, A Bird on Water Street (Little Pickle, 2014). What was that creative process like for you, in contrast to the very visual medium of picture books?Completely different. I didn’t realize I was writing a novel when I started it, but dozens of interviews, rewrites, and ten years on, I’m a novelist!
A Bird on Water Street has gotten fantastic reviews and even won 13 literary awards and honors! I’m so proud of the novel, it’s done some wonderfully positive things for the community in which it took place, and for me personally. It has its own web page at
http://ABirdOnWaterStreet.com.
As far as the creative process when writing - it has to be dead quiet outside my head because it is
so loud inside my head! Now that the writing muse has been set loose, there’s no stopping her.
Sadly, she doesn’t get along very well with my illustration muse. They are constantly battling for my time.
Do you have plans for more middle grade works?I do! I have about three or four other novels that are at various stages. It’s hard to concentrate on novels right now, though. School is keeping me unbelievably busy, and I don’t get unified chunks of mental space where I can focus on one project.
Instead, I’m working on dozens of projects all the time right now (including personal projects - mostly picture books - and school projects). But spring break is coming, then two months of summer before I head to Hollins University where I teach in the MFA in Children’s Book Writing and Illustrating program, then over a month free before school starts back.
I’m planning to do some concentrated creating in those windows!
I loved your recent TED talk. Like you, my husband and I sold our house and most of our possessions to make a move from the U.S. to Europe. For those who haven’t seen your TED talk yet, can you tell us what led you to make that move?Thanks! I’ve received the nicest emails from folks who feel the same way or have experienced something similar. It’s been a tangent from my children’s books and school studies, but equally as gratifying. I think a lot of folks are experience-based people trapped in stuff-based lifestyles and could do what I did… I sold almost everything I own to move overseas and go back to school.
Truly, the best way to understand my journey is to actually watch my TED talk.
While it’s not specifically about children’s books, it describes the motivation behind how I live my life, which is all about children’s books!
So you’re currently studying children’s illustration in the masters of fine arts program at Edinburgh University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Can you tell us more about your plans once you complete that program? I’m going to pursue a PhD in Picture Books! Several reasons have come together in my life to make an advanced degree make sense for me. And who knows, I might actually become an expert!
Through it all, I’ll continue to teach at Hollins University in the summers (it’s a summer MFA program).
After that, I really don’t know. That’s one of the nice things about being mobile. I don’t feel trapped by anything anymore. The future is exciting and shiny!
What is the one piece of advice you would give an aspiring illustrator or author? Follow your heart, not the trends. The only thing you can control is yourself. Heck, you can’t even always control your own creativity.
Be willing to jump down rabbit holes and see where creativity leads you. More often than not, your instincts will take you someplace good - especially if you get your pesky brain out of the way.
Thank you so much for spending time with us today! It’s been an absolute pleasure to talk to you. Thank you! I’m honored!
Cynsational NotesElisabeth Norton grew up in Alaska, lived for many years and Texas, and after a brief sojourn in England, now lives with her family between the Alps and the Jura in Switzerland.
She writes for middle grade readers and serves as the regional advisor for the
Swiss chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
When not writing, she can be found walking the dogs, playing board games, and spending time with family and friends. Find her on Twitter
@fictionforge.
The Bologna 2016 Interview series is coordinated by
Angela Cerrito, SCBWI’s Assistant International Advisor and a
Cynsational Reporter in Europe and beyond.
by Elizabeth O. Dulemba
Sometimes I’ll get an idea for a picture book that I know is a winner! I scramble to write the key lines, the story’s premise, its arc…and then, something goes wrong. There’s a piece that’s missing, or elements that aren’t quite gelling. Maybe the ending isn’t satisfying enough. But, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. So I save it.
I have a “Pre-pubbed Books” file in which I keep folders brimming with ideas. In these folders I’ll put sketches, various story versions, images of books I think might be similar, or reference photos that fit the story. You name it.
Of course, not all ideas come in whole. Some arrive as only a title or simple phrase. For those I have an “Other ideas” file. Inside are the years: 2004—2014. In those folders, I just save Word documents. Sometimes it can be one phrase or a character idea, but it was something that made my brain light up, so I keep it too.
And then there’s my dummies wall. Sometimes a story is so strong, I’m dying to illustrate it. Maybe I just do character sketches, or a few spreads. Sometimes I sketch out the entire dummy and even take a few pieces to final. This can lead to a lot of paperwork with no place to put it. This is when bulldog clips become my friends. I collect everything together, clip it, and hang it on the wall on a pushpin.
I’ll often sit back to look at these works-in-progress hanging on my wall and wonder if I have a new seed or tweak that might help them along.
Some of these folders, documents and dummies have been around for a while, but that doesn’t mean they’re dead. Sometimes it takes combining ideas, or swiping a phrase from one story to make another story stronger. So, I keep them organized so that I can mine them whenever I want to.
I also firmly believe some of them are ready to be published, but for whatever reason, the publishing world isn’t ready for them yet. Because of trends, word counts, a hit book that is too similar… whatever the reason, I’ll let them wait until trends circle back around and they become relevant again.
The irony is, with all these attempts at creating stories I’ve trained my storytelling muscles. I tell kids that writing is like lifting weights. The more bicep curls you do, the stronger you get. The more you write, the more those writerly muscles seem to know what to do. I’ve written so many picture book manuscripts that now, when I write, it seems stories come out of me in just the right word count and just the right number of page breaks. I’ve trained my brain to the structure of picture books.
But that still doesn’t mean they all work, hence, my folders and files and dummy wall. Sometimes a story will sit for a day, sometimes for years before I figure out the key that unlocks whatever was wrong and makes the story work. But I’ve learned to be patient with myself. Some stories, even the simplest (seeming) ones, need more time.
So, if you know deep down inside that your story isn’t there yet (don’t ignore that little voice), put the manuscript aside. Put it somewhere where you won’t forget about it, and let your brain work on it—while you sleep, or garden, or take a shower, or just get on with life. It doesn’t have to be perfect straight out of the box, few stories are.
I call it putting the clay on the wheel. You’ve got the idea down, you know its missing or lacking something. So knead it in the back of your mind, for however long it takes, until you get your story just right. You’ll know when.
And then, then you send it off to a publisher or to your agent. And maybe that manuscript that you struggled over, that you let simmer, will finally be so perfect, so right, they will buy it and publish it and you will get to share it with the world!
Elizabeth O. Dulemba is an award-winning children’s book author/illustrator with two-dozen titles to her credit. She is a Board Member for the Georgia Center for the Book, and Visiting Associate Professor at Hollins University in the MFA in Children’s Book Writing and Illustrating program. Her latest picture books are a series of books for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and LULA’S BREW. Elizabeth gives away free coloring pages and hosts interviews, guest posts, and giveaways on her website each week. Sign up for her weekly newsletter and learn more at Dulemba.com.
Picture Book Month is an international initiative to designate November as Picture Book Month, encouraging everyone to celebrate literacy with picture books. Founder, Dianne de Las Casas (author & storyteller) and Co-Founders, Katie Davis (author/illustrator), Elizabeth O. Dulemba (author/illustrator), Tara Lazar (author), and Wendy Martin (author/illustrator), are putting together their worldwide connections to make this happen.
In October 2010 The New York Times published an article, “Picture Books No Longer A Staple for Children.” The controversial article incited a barrage of responses from the children’s book industry, many in defense of the venerable picture book. In addition, the digital age has ushered in an unprecedented amount of ebooks and, with devices like the iPad, the color Nook, and the Kindle Fire, picture books are being converted to the digital format. In this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And the world needs picture books. There’s nothing like the physical page turn of a beautifully crafted picture book.
Each day during November picture book authors have contributed a short essay on Why Picture Books Are So Important. The Picture Book Month website also features links to picture book resources, authors, illustrators, and kidlit book bloggers. So stop by and check out the essays, and all the rest of the material (including calendars and celebration ideas and much more) for Picture Book Month at www(dot)picturebookmonth(dot)com. Join the celebration and party with a picture book!
Today I’ve a bumper set of free activity sheets for you from children’s book authors and illustrators. Whether creating pop-up cards, designing posters for your home book corner or imagining what colour skin dinosaurs had is your thing, today there’s something for everyone.
Robert Sabuda is a preeminent children’s pop-up book creator, a paper engineer extraodrinaire. He has created pop up versions of many children’s classics, including Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Beauty and the Beast and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Robert Sabuda’s webpage has a dedicated subsection packed with pop-up designs you can print and create yourself, including animals, celebrations and a whole series of Star Wars designs! For each pop-up design there’s a template to download and print, followed by detailed photo tutorials taking you through the process step by step.
Screenshot from Robert Sabuda's website (click to be taken there)
Robert Sabuda has collaborated on a dinosaur pop up book, but there are no free dino templates on his website. If dinos are your thing, then head over to Paul Stickland’s website. Paul Stickland has written a series of fantastic dinosaur books for the youngest of listeners, Ten Terrible Dinosaurs being one of our personal favourites. He’s also interested in paper engineering.
There are many dino colouring-in sheets to download on Paul Stickland’s site (right clicking to view image brings up full size image which can then be printed).
Elizabeth O. Dulemba has illustrated over 10 books, and one of the nicest things about her website is that every Tuesday she publishes free colouring pages for anyone and everyone to enjoy. She’s created a veritable treasure trove of colouring-in sheets, arranged by topic to include school and
Friday evening marked the opening of the 2011 SCBWI Southern Breeze Gallery Show at Little Shop of Stories, during the Decatur (GA) Arts Festival's opening night ArtWalk celebration. Six of our published members showed work representing 13 currently available picture books. The represented artists were: Laura Freeman, Mark Braught, Laura Knorr, Michael Austin, Shadra Strickland, and Yours Truly. The number made for a lovely presentation in the store:
Click to see a larger image.
Hanging out for much of opening night were:
Laura Freeman, Michael Austin, Mark Braught, Yours Truly, and former Southern Breeze Regional Advisor Donna Bowman.
Rather than demonstration drawings, we ended up each adding a line to a drawing in progress, which ended up creating some crazy images and was lots of fun. Bada Bing once again came through on the catering. And, of course, our friends at Little Shop of Stories were incredibly accommodating and supportive - thanks guys!
The show will be up through Memorial Day weekend and the week following, so stop by!
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I’m learning the difference between “letting an idea simmer” and “stewing over it.” Thanks for the reminder!
Wonderful thoughts and inspiring ideas… thank you!
So many wonderful tips in your article, from clips and files to letting ideas sit, but my favorite part was about having trained your brain to write stories. I have been wondering about that and I have been thinking that is what happens. Thank you!
Thank you! I was concerned with all the ideas hanging around me… I am investing in bulldog clips! There is something about having things visible.
SO important to let things simmer and germinate! Thanks for the inspiration and permission. ;-)
Great post. Elizabeth! I, like you, have many writing folders on my computer and one of them is entitled ‘Odds & Ends’ and is where I keep everything that has been cut from my other manuscripts… you never know when something will fit perfectly into another story.
I usually have 8-10 manuscripts simmering away on the backburner while I revise 2-3 others and/or write something new.
I enjoyed this post, Elizabeth! I’m sure some of my recent PiBoIdMo ideas will turn into “clay on the wheel” that will need lots of shaping. Great image!
Thank you for the good ideas. We can always use a good suggestion.
Thanks Elizabeth. I love your dummy wall and want to create my own wall. It’s good to keep them in sight… and when the time is right. Well. There you are.
Love when ideas for stories or their revisions simmer has onto my day job or other tasks at hand. Now that’s fun multi-tasking :D