Here's a local interview done by Aaron Harpell:1. Your work with Nimbus' A Forest For Christmas is beautiful. Was that your first children's book illustration?
Thank you so much! I really laboured at it. I loved the story and wanted to
give something to the finished work that would add to it in a meaningful way.
This was my first published work, save some self published work in high school.2. When Nimbus approached you to work on Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate, how did you come up with your characters? Did they develop by working with the author, reading the text, or just thinking about kids and pirates... How do you tackle a project?
The characters popped right out of the wonderful text. There was a certain tone and atmosphere to this story that I really wanted to capture, something fun and wild, like children running on the beach. I wanted to portray a magical place where I felt this story happened and wanted to portray characters that fit into that world. All my work is like that, the text is like a window to another place that I look through. There are things inferred between the lines in any text as well; Memories we all have of going to the beach of being pirates in our minds of the magic of dress up.
As to how I approach any given project, it's always the same. Lots and lots of sketching. If it's a book I'll read through it a few times to get a sense of place and atmosphere then I do scores of postage stamp pictures. I also do a lot of visual research which suggests other things and soon the pictures have acquired a life of their own and I'm running along with them, trying to keep up.
I love to get author input but I don't always find it necessary.If the author or authors want to collaborate more directly with me, I'm fine with that as well.
3. You teach kids how to create art (uh... I think I remember you mentioning this). Do you think that helps you create illustrations that appeal to children? Do you learn anything from watching kids create?
One big lesson I've learned from working with kids is you have to be fairly unselfconcsious to be creative. You can't be too cynical or afraid of messing up.
4. What are you working on now?
I'm working on a project with Scholastic.
5. (if you can somehow work the book fair you mentioned last night into an answer, and want to expand on the Muslim illustrators, which I thought was cool). What did you think of the Toronto Book Fair? Did you see any different illustration styles that appealed to you?
The Toronto book fair was a great experience. I met some amazing people and learned a bit about how the industry works on a bigger scale.I did a signing there, which was an odd and flattering experience. People really love illustrated books. I did my signing at the same time as horror writer Clive Barker did his. He was across the aisle from me, there were a lot of odd moments like that. I also got to meet some writers and artists who I've long admired, like governor general winner Wallace Edwards. That was a real thrill. I'm so grateful to be part of this whole thing.
Thank you so much! I really laboured at it. I loved the story and wanted to
give something to the finished work that would add to it in a meaningful way.
This was my first published work, save some self published work in high school.2. When Nimbus approached you to work on Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate, how did you come up with your characters? Did they develop by working with the author, reading the text, or just thinking about kids and pirates... How do you tackle a project?
The characters popped right out of the wonderful text. There was a certain tone and atmosphere to this story that I really wanted to capture, something fun and wild, like children running on the beach. I wanted to portray a magical place where I felt this story happened and wanted to portray characters that fit into that world. All my work is like that, the text is like a window to another place that I look through. There are things inferred between the lines in any text as well; Memories we all have of going to the beach of being pirates in our minds of the magic of dress up.
As to how I approach any given project, it's always the same. Lots and lots of sketching. If it's a book I'll read through it a few times to get a sense of place and atmosphere then I do scores of postage stamp pictures. I also do a lot of visual research which suggests other things and soon the pictures have acquired a life of their own and I'm running along with them, trying to keep up.
I love to get author input but I don't always find it necessary.If the author or authors want to collaborate more directly with me, I'm fine with that as well.
3. You teach kids how to create art (uh... I think I remember you mentioning this). Do you think that helps you create illustrations that appeal to children? Do you learn anything from watching kids create?
One big lesson I've learned from working with kids is you have to be fairly unselfconcsious to be creative. You can't be too cynical or afraid of messing up.
4. What are you working on now?
I'm working on a project with Scholastic.
5. (if you can somehow work the book fair you mentioned last night into an answer, and want to expand on the Muslim illustrators, which I thought was cool). What did you think of the Toronto Book Fair? Did you see any different illustration styles that appealed to you?
The Toronto book fair was a great experience. I met some amazing people and learned a bit about how the industry works on a bigger scale.I did a signing there, which was an odd and flattering experience. People really love illustrated books. I did my signing at the same time as horror writer Clive Barker did his. He was across the aisle from me, there were a lot of odd moments like that. I also got to meet some writers and artists who I've long admired, like governor general winner Wallace Edwards. That was a real thrill. I'm so grateful to be part of this whole thing.
