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Elizabeth grew up in Western New York State, studied art history at Skidmore College, and went on to earn a master’s degree in architecture from Columbia University. After working as a freelance architect and designer for, among others, The Municipal Art Society in New York, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, and various architectural firms, she got married, had a couple of kids, moved to Seattle, and had another kid. All the while, she kept herself sane by drawing pictures– mostly of other people’s kids– and did some fine art for a wonderful gallery in Seattle.

Upon completion of her maternal duties, she discovered that all of her architect brain cells had died, so she turned to drawing and painting full-time–most recently FOR other people’s kids–and hasn’t looked back since. Her subject matter wanders over to the dark side sometimes, but generally she keeps things light, and always with an eye towards humor and whimsy. She is a fan of, to name but a few, John Tenniel, Beatrix Potter, John R Neill, James Thurber, Edward Gorey, and Lisbeth Zwerger–oh, and things that go bump in the night.

Elizabeth is a member of SCBWI International and SCBWI, Western Washington.

Here is Elizabeth explaining her process:

My illustration process varies, but generally begins with a lot of thinking about the overall “feel” of what I want to achieve. I tend to do a lot of research before I actually put pen or pencil to paper. I look at a lot of pictures, and I take a lot of pictures. When I’m satisfied, I start drawing the “pieces,” usually beginning with the main character(s), and then moving on to the setting and/or other characters. I then “assemble” them. I rarely plan anything out from start to finish. I tend to make decisions as I go along.

For example, for the IIllustrator’s Workshop at the SCBWI Western Washington conference few weeks ago, our “assignment” was to do an illustration of a classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale–with a “twist.” I chose Hansel & Gretel. I looked at a lot of old illustrations of Hansel & Gretel, pictures of woods and trees, and walked around my neighborhood looking at various trees. What popped into my head first was the notion of, “hungry children.” Hungry children aren’t always thin, I thought, and the house doesn’t necessarily need to be made of gingerbread and candy. So, as I usually do, I grabbed whatever paper or sketchbook that was on hand (in this case it was copier paper) and started sketching and came up with the characters. My work tends to be very character-driven, so that’s where I usually start.

I had an overall image of a classic setting, so I started to think about the next “piece”– the house. I wanted it to be tall and narrow, appearing as though Hansel & Gretel couldn’t fit through the door. I also wanted it to be a little ominous–it is, after all, a Grimm tale. I did an image search for tall narrow houses, and based it loosely on one I found.

10 Comments on Illustrator Saturday – Elizabeth Rose Stanton, last added: 5/20/2012