Mini-Interview with Alexandra Ball

I’ve had the opportunity to be represented by an amazing agency, Illustration Ltd. and one day while updating my page on their site I became curious who the other artists they represented.  So my procrastination of updating began…I was sucked into the vortex of illustration portfolios.  But one such illustrator’s work rang out to me like a clanging gong, Alexandra Ball.  Her compositions and her sense of color were just so SPOT ON.  And the animals.  This girl can illustrate animals.  I would rather wrestle a lion physically than wrestle with a drawing of a lion.  So I had to start pestering her.  Luckily enough, she was so gracious to let me interrogate her and hopefully her mastery of color, composition and carnivorous beasts would rub off on me.

Make sure you check out her site and her work at our agency and while you’re at it go like her Facebook page!

A little bit of background on Alexandra…

I spent my early years in a small village in the middle of the countryside of Hampshire (England). I remember it being a very free childhood, where my older brother and I would spend our days climbing trees, having picnics in cornfields and making dens in rhododendron bushes. When it rained and we were unable to go out, I’d get my grandfather¹s old typewriter and thwack away at the keys until I had invented a story. And of course a story always needs an illustration to go with it.

My love of art and stories followed me through adolescence and later led me to Falmouth, Cornwall, where I did a degree in Illustration. However it wasn’t until 7 years after my graduation that my career in children’s book illustration started, but now I am here I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Describe yourself in five words:
Fun: enjoyment or playfulness
Empathetic: showing empathy or ready comprehension of others’ states
resourceful: having the ability to find clever ways to overcome difficulties
Indomitable: impossible to subdue or defeat (my new favourite word)
cheeky: impudent or irreverent, typically in an endearing or amusing way

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)…
My journey to picture book illustration wasn’t the smooth journey I thought it would be after completing my Illustration degree at Falmouth college of Arts in 2002. After a couple of sample send-outs with no bites, the necessity to earn money took over and I ended up taking a 9 to 5 job as a children’s bookseller. It was about 7 years and 3 jobs later that I finally got my first break into the illustration world. I had been working as an assistant lending manager for a large building society and when the credit crunch hit our office was closed and we were all made redundant. ‘Hoorah’, I thought, ‘a perfect time for me to do what I’ve always wanted!’. So with the new time on my hands and the severance pay in my pocket I spent the next 6 months getting my portfolio up to scratch. I visited a couple of publishers who gave me a few tips and was finally snapped up by my lovely agency, Illustration Ltd, who I’ve been happily working with ever since.

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is…
…stolen from everyone – ha! No, I love Studio Ghibli films and I suppose the sensitivity of my work, especially involving animals, is similar to some of Hayao Miyazaki’s work. Things like My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke rank high on the list. Another animation dear to my heart is Hedgehog in the Fog by Sergei Kozlov. It is collage-like in appearance, mixing real footage with drawn images. A beautiful work of art! I also love the silent expressions that Tove Jansson created. A lot of her characters don’t have visible mouths, yet you know exactly what they’re thinking. Everyday life is also a great influence on my illustrations. The sometimes subconscious sometimes conscious infiltration of a style no doubt happens on a daily basis.

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color):

Which is your greatest strength?

As an illustration is stationary I always try to give my work life by making my compositions as fluid and interesting as possible. So I suppose shape is my greatest strength. However I think colour comes a close 2nd.

Which poses your greatest challenge?
Even though I find it a strength of mine, I think colour is probably the most challenging to me. I can sit for hours playing around with different colours until I’m happy with the result. Thank goodness Photoshop is so versatile!

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how do you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

It can be extremely hard to be disciplined and my routine can vary depending on what work I have to do from day to day, but I love what I do and look forward to what I’m going to be creating next. One highlight illustrators have, is that they can have a film or an audio-book playing in the background whilst they draw. It’s brilliant, work and play all at once! So I generally put one on, close myself in my studio with my dog, Bee, laying at my feet, and get on with the days tasks. In fact I think I might be the World’s best things-to-do-list-writer. I’m not saying that the items always get crossed off when I want them to, but they ARE written down!

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

‘Create something that the client wants and not necessarily what you want’. I still sometimes find that hard to heed, and when you’re lucky the two are the same, but as an illustrator I always have to remember that I’m working for the client and at the end of the day they need to get what THEY want.

It is clear you are an animal lover – what is your process for stylizing and yet keeping them so anatomically correct?

Sometimes the stylization of an animal comes naturally to me, and I can draw the animal freehand without even looking at a reference picture. Other times it doesn’t come so easy and I have to study the animal further, generally through Google images. On occasion I find that I can spoil my style by working from photos of animals too much. It seems to crush my previous conceived feeling of that animal, so I end up going back and starting from scratch without any reference, again. My aim is not to make the animal realistic but to personify it and give it an quality of its very own.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?  

I’ve just finished working on an interesting project with Compendium Inc. I’m not sure how much I can divulge, it is for children but it’s not a book. Compendium specialise in inspirational ideas so it’s quite fun. That should be out early next year and I’m due to start a similar project with them again very soon. 

One more thing to add…I asked Alexandra to share some of her “early” work, and from it is clear she has always been suited for storytelling…

Mini-Interview with David Christiana

When I was in college and trying to figure out this whole “what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up?” thing, I had a vague idea of becoming an illustrator. I didn’t really know what that meant or how it differed from fine art, I just knew I wanted to tell stories visually. And get paid for it. One day while browsing a bookstore I came across I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting and illustrated by David Christiana. When I saw this lavish, strange, surreal art I knew it. I want to do this. If this is illustration, sign me up. The deal with David Christiana is that he creates the kind of art that you stick your nose up against, to soak in every detail, to try and extract his process and method. I bought this book and later shared it with a friend when I went on to pursue illustration. I repeatedly jabbed my index finger against the pages, demanding my friend tell me how he thought these illustrations were rendered. He was not much help. So now, some years later, I’ve decided to go to the source. When I asked (pleaded) with Mr. Christiana for an interview I was astonished rendered speechless when he so eloquently agreed. I am so happy to share this with you, just as I am so happy that I’ve figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

Describe yourself in five words:

Water Dreams of Skipping Stone!

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)…

The picture book was the first art form with which I fell in love. I’ve always made marks of one kind or another. Making things out of whatever was on hand (pencil and paper, pieces of wood, paint, stones and mortar). There’s just something so satisfying about creating one thing out of another. It’s like low-grade alchemy. Maybe not so low-grade….

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is…

A dance between instrument and surface, an imagined audience and myself, ongoing doodlebuggery.

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading,

and color):

Which is your greatest strength?

line – everything else is just embellishment.

Which poses your greatest challenge?

line

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

I seemed to be a better manager of time and maintaining a daily routine when I was younger. Or perhaps it’s just that there are so many distractions today. I do still have a day job. I teach at University of Arizona and often in Orvieto Italy. What seems important is to chip away at ever bigger challenges and try to surprise myself, whether it’s a colossal painting, a condensed little piece, building a wall, stewarding a small piece of earth.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

The problem with most artists isn’t that they aim to high and fail, it’s that they aim too low and succeed.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?

I have a number of unfinished book projects that inhabit my studio. I also have a body of drawings, paintings about the skin, bone and breath of a part of northeastern Arizona that I hope to complete next year as part of an Artist Residency with the Museum of Northern Arizona. There’s also this rock wall that I’ve become somewhat obsessed by…

What book that you have completed were you most proud of and why?

The book I’m most proud of is the one I have yet to complete. Generally, I don’t see any of my books as a completely satisfactory work. I do love illustrations from different books for a myriad of reasons. For example Tarabethia from POPPY’S PUPPET.

A Mini-Interview with Alexandra Boiger

While stuck in typical Southern California traffic one day, I was mentally trying to escape my momentarily parked car by listening to NPR.  At this time, the book review section began, reviewing the a new picture book While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat written by Amy Reichert.  I was no longer sitting in traffic but in the world of little Rose and the hijinks that ensued as her oblivious mother chatted away on the phone.  It was such a cute little tale that I went to the library to give it a peek.  I can’t tell you how blow away I was by this book.  Rarely do commentators give book illustrators enough credit and this book was no exception.   Alexandra Boiger illustrated this book with such life, silliness and exuberance that I was immediately a fan and have been internet stalking her growing portfolio since.  I am immensely thrilled to share her interview with you, knowing that you will also be blown away by her amazing talent.

To learn more about Alexandra you can visit her website: www.alexandraboiger.com and make sure to check out her blog too: http://alexandraboigerillustration.blogspot.com/

Alexandra Boiger was born in Munich, Germany as the youngest of seven (very spirited!) children. Yes, the house was full of life and stories. After a year at Kunstschule Seeger, a school for illustration, in Munich, she studied Graphic Design at the Fachhochschule Augsburg. It was always clear, that the arts would be the future, but a career in Feature Animation was a surprise. As part of her studies she had to work as an intern for a semester in a related field. The Animation studio “Munich Animation” had just started its first production and Alexandra was given the opportunity to work on her first Feature Animation movie and literally fell into the spell of this new world. It became her career and life for the following six years and brought her from Munich to Warner Bros. UK in London, to Dreamworks Animation in Los Angeles, to New York and back to California. Alexandra lives now with her husband, daughter and two cats in Northern California and is illustrating children’s books since the last ten years.

Describe yourself in five words:

Ha! I will ask my eleven year old daughter to give me some suggestions:

-Funny ( I love that one!)

-Loves art

- Kind of strict (still my daughter’s words) in a sort of strict way (Pre-teen is all I will say here)

…and I will take it from here. Because, I realize my daughter is quite biased. And sticking to five words is tough, too.

Art, food, languages, hiking through the woods, family and time alone ( my soul needs it), oh, and also: cold feet and chocolate.

Five is simply not enough.

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)…

Even before I studied Graphic Design in Germany,I always knew, that I would like to illustrate books. But I didn’t know how and I also wanted to discover the world. When I had the chance to work in Feature Animation for the first time, I simply felt, that I had found a place I belonged to without knowing, however exactly what I should do within the field. I was still a student and at the beginning of everything. I appreciated the energy the studio offered, the full immersion into story telling and working with fellow artists, who all share the same interest. I know, you asked me about how I got started in picture book illustration. But these six years in Animation really were so important for me. I learned so much of what I know today in Animation. I also met my husband and fellow artist.

While I was still living in LA, I went to see a Lisbeth Zwerger exhibition. This became a defining  moment that finally brought me to illustration. as i was wondering through the exhibition, I felt such a fire burning through my whole body. I knew, that this is what I needed to do. Shortly after I put together a portfolio. I sent it out and was very, very lucky. I received my first book offer from Simon & Schuster to work with the incredible Art Director Ann Bobco and Editor legend Richard Jackson. WHILE MAMA HAD A QUICK LITTLE CHAT written by Amy Reichert started my new career path. I didn’t know Amy then, but she is one of my closest friends today. Illustration has brought me many gifts and wonderful friendships over the years.

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is…

Lisbeth Zwerger, Simplicissimus, Hayo Miyazaki, Gustav Klimt, Olaf Gulbranson, so many of my artist friends.

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color):

a. Which is your greatest strength?

I think, line. I still like my sketches more than my final art.

b.Which poses your greatest challenge?

Definitely perspective.

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how to you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

This would actually be the real answer to the question before. It is my biggest struggle. When my daughter was smaller, I simply worked full gear, whenever she slept. Now I certainly have more time. Still, being a mom dictates my schedule. After she leaves for school, I usually go on a early morning hike. The rest of the day, I try to settle my mind and work on the project on my drawing desk for as long as I can until I bring Vanessa somewhere, or we get ready for dinner, or our (very) bushy yard needs some serious attention.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

Be passionate and patient.

How was the transition from animation to print?

It was an amazingly rewarding experience. All of a sudden, I was able to explore every aspect of this art. The story, the design, the editing, the layout, characters, color. I take the books I am working on very serious and treat them with respect. I carry a big responsibility, when I try to bring a manuscript to life the best I can.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?  

Currently I am working on Tallulah’s Nutcracker, written by Marilyn Singer and Doreen, A Fishy Tale, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. I have two personal projects in the pipeline right after this and then another first. A non-fiction picture book with a fascinating story.

O.K.  Normally I would conclude the interview here, but how can you not be burning with curiosity after that last sentence?!  Mark my words: Alexandra is one to watch!

 

Mini-Interviews: This Week’s LIne-up!

This is the second week of our Mini-Interview Series and we are super excited for this week’s line-up!

Make sure to stop the blogs of Juana, Molly, Laura and myself to read some great interviews of exceptionally talented people.  Who will be there, you ask?

The amazing and talented illustrators:

Amanda Shepherd

Lynne Avril

Alexandra Boiger

Mary Sullivan

Starting Tuesday, you’re going to have to check out each blog to see who interviews who!

A Mini-Interview with Kent Culotta

You know how there are some illustrations that you look at and all you can think is, “Wow, that looks like that was fun to do!”  That’s what comes to mind when I look at Kent Culotta’s work.  It just looks fun – quirky, cheerful and full of life.  It was no surprise to learn when he so graciously agreed to let me interrogate him that he has his background in animation.  When I found that out, it just made sense.  Animators are just FUN people.   Thankfully Kent has taken to picture books so we get to enjoy his exuberant images in our own time.

About Kent

Kent Culotta was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up nearby in Plymouth.  He attended Michigan State University, where he received a B.F.A. in graphic design, and then spent a year at UCLA, where he studied animation and film.  He got his first job in animation at Filmation Studios, where he worked on Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, and then went on to work at many studios on many films, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Pagemaster, Prince of Egypt, El Dorado, The Ant Bully and Ice Age 3.  Kent recently illustrated his first book, Dan, the Taxi Man, written by Eric Ode and published by Kane Miller.

Describe yourself in five words:

creative, daydreamer, sheepish, persnickety, and silly.

Now, please tell us how you got started in picture book illustration (in more than five words)…

Well, I think I’ve always been interested in being a picture book illustrator; it just took me a while to get there.  I did declare at the age of nine that I was going be an author and illustrator.  Then I got “sidetracked” into my related interest: animation.  Over the years I would take illustration classes, attend SCBWI events, etc.  Finally I decided to take the plunge and started sending out postcards of my work to publishers.  I didn’t hear anything right away, but about a year and a half and a few more postcards later I received an e-mail from Kane Miller asking if I would be interested in illustrating a manuscript they had.  Of course I was!  I did have to go through a bit of an audition process with the main character, Dan, the Taxi Man, but once I got a design that they liked, I was off and running.

If you had to describe your work in terms of your artistic influences, you would say it is…

Gosh, I don’t even know where to start.  There are a lot of artists that I love and that have been influential with me, probably starting with Walt Disney.  (I was a total Disney geek as a kid.)  I love early 20^th century illustrators, especially J.C. Leyendecker, N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell.  (A little six degrees of separation trivia:  my great-grandfather was at one time Norman Rockwell’s dentist!)  Other painters of that period I really enjoy are Edward Hopper, Grant Wood and Charles Burchfield.  Comic strips from the same time period, like Polly and her Pals and Gasoline Alley.  More recently I’ve become fascinated by mid century artist/designers like Mary Blair, Jim Flora and Alec Steinweiss.  One contemporary artist who totally speaks to me is the cartoonist Seth.

Of the six fundamentals of 2D design (line, shape, volume, perspective, shading, and color):

a. Which is your greatest strength?  My greatest strength, that’s a hard one to answer.  I guess I would have to say shape, although having worked in animation I have a pretty strong grasp of line too.  (Maybe a too strong grasp at times!)   On the other hand I’ve really been enjoying working with color lately and feel like I have developed a rather distinctive way with it.

b.Which poses your greatest challenge? My greatest difficulty is, easily,  perspective.  Working so long in animation, my main focus has been in drawing characters.  Having to design and paint settings involving a lot of perspective to put those characters into freaks me out sometimes.

Given that illustration is different than many day to day jobs, how do you manage your time and maintain a daily routine?

This is a challenge for me since I still do a lot of freelance animation work.  Sometimes I have to put my personal artwork to the side and it can be hard getting back to it.  I find that having deadlines is the best way for me to keep on track, even if the deadlines are often self-imposed.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given as an illustrator?

Just keep putting yourself out there, and don’t let fear/self-doubt get in your way.

What new projects have you got coming down the pike?

I have a couple of ideas that I’m working on right now.  One is a picture book about a famous composer, and the other is based on a verbal game my brother and I used to play.

Was this always your dream job?  If you could do anything else, what would it be? (Sorry! Trick two part question!)

Always is such an infinite word!  I would say this has often been my dream job.   (All right, I’ll admit it, I used to dream about being in animation too.  Been there, …)  If I could do anything else, I would love to be a composer/lyricist for a Broadway musical.  Or a set designer.  Or a costume designer.  Or…

 

While I let Kent finish that thought, I urge you to check out Kent’s debut book Dan, the Taxi Man.  After that, make sure to stop by this website to see even more amazing illustrations, then get breaking news coverage on what Kent is up to on his blog   But if you can’t get enough Kent you can always reach him on his facebook page.

Mini-Interviews are coming…miss it and regret it!

If you are curled up on the couch in a slight fetal position while reading this post on your phone, you are probably asking yourself the same question I’ve been asking myself today – “Why, oh why did I eat so many ‘Fun Size Three Musketeers’!?” Well, I’m here to remind you that today is a new day!  The past is gone, the wrappers strewn about the carpet may remain but from this moment forth you has not fall prey to regret!  This is also a warning though…you definitely do not want to be racked with guilt if you miss this month’s line-up of interviewed talent that could possibly cause this blog to burst through it’s html-coded seams!  Who shall be joining us?  Well, I’m glad I piqued your curiosity…
Each Thursday this month you will get a chance to delve in the mind of…

 
Alexandra Ball

Kent Culotta

Alexandra Boiger

and

David Christiana

 
But we aren’t stopping there!  Make sure to check out the blogs of Juana, Molly and Laura who have their own questions for even more amazing talent!  But for right now, you are allowed to rock yourself gently on the edge of the couch, sip some ginger ale, wallow in your candy regret but do not miss this tour!  Or your regret will be greater than the overabundant sugar content you have previously consumed.

Mini-Interviews 2012

I think I’m kind of freaking out.

Do you ever compose a dialogue in your mind with a famous person while washing the dishes?  Maybe I’m completely alone in this practice, but I regularly interview people I admire while scrapping away at my panini press.  What is amazing (other than a Garlic Chicken Goat Cheese Panini) is that these interviews are coming true.  So I’m a bit excited.  A LOT a bit.

Since November is National Picture Book Month my fellow illustration buddies Juana Martinez Neal, Molly Idle, Laura Jacobsen and I will be hosting a series of Mini Interviews.  We will be relentlessly grilling those we admire, respect and secretly seethe with jealously over their abundance of talent.

Check out who we’ll be featuring throughout the month this November…it’s pretty incredible…

Kevan Atteberry

Lynne Avril

Alexandra Ball

Alexandra Boiger

David Christiana

Kent Culotta

Adam Gustavson

Jeremy Holmes

Brian Karas

Kelly Light

John Parra

Greg Pizzoli

Amanda Shepherd

Mary Sullivan

Constanze Von Kitzing

Wendy Watson
So stay posted!  You don’t want to miss this exposition of talent coming straight at you!  And yes, sandwiches will be served.

Illustration Friday – Book

An illustration I got to do for the extremely cute and well designed magazine LMNOP.  It was a great assignment, the focus being on libraries and books.  Since I frequent the library almost as much as a 13 year old frequents You Tube, I’ve come up with some observations.  Namely being the noise level.  Libraries are just so cool now-with crafty interactive a-la Melissa and Doug puzzle/castles/installations.   There are toys.  EVERYWHERE.  Puppets, blocks, swirly things that I thought existed only in dentist offices.  And the trains.  Kids go into mini-seizures when there is new Fergus, Benedict, Rutger (whatever) train on the train table.   Sprinkled and tucked amidst the playtime chaos are the books.  Books just laying around, asking to be read.  “That kid take your puppet?  Forget-about-it…Read me instead”, “Hey!  Hey!  Little girl with the tiara!  I’m the new Tangled book!”  I think that the librarians love the noise (to a certain decibel) because kids are developing an association between libraries and fun.  It’s probably in some Library Manifesto to put up “quiet” signs, merely just for show.

Illustration Friday – Crooked

I got the opportunity to work recently with the magazine that without question had the largest influence on my desire to become an illustrator.  Grade school memories would be incomplete if I were not able to recall the days coming home from school, checking the mail and the surge of joy that followed when receiving the latest copy of “Cricket Magazine”.  This magazine was a tiny folded and stapled trove of illustrations.  I would devour it within a few hours, examining every page.  Even into 7th grade, I would sneak my favorite copies into art class with me, completely ignoring the required assignment and copy the illustrations from “Cricket”.  These illustrations would of course  later become illuminated manuscripts recounting the events of the day with witty 13 year old aphorisms such as “SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LAME!” and “BBB!!!!!!” (bored beyond belief) and then thus folded in the intricate 7th-grade-girl-origami-note style.  I could never master the “heart” fold.
This illustration will unfortunately not accompany me to pass off to my friend Lashawn while she waits outside the band room but thanks to the amazing AD Suzanne Beck will be featured in Cricket’s other imprint magazine, “Spider” in January.

Where drawings go to die

I had a friend tell me once that an artist has a finite number of bad drawings within them and it was only a matter of doing enough drawing to reach that limit.  Very poetic and a positive way to look at things, but c’mon.  I can’t believe that in it’s totality.  Even Picasso did a couple eyesores, you just never saw them (except for this crazy long documentary where Picasso paints on glass and his eyes are bulging and the music is intense and the filmmakers are practically biting their nails bloody in anticipation for the next great masterpiece only to have him chuck it and do another painting in like a minute and a half).

So I needed to get some sketches done and as I started drawing that voice that we all have in the back of my head started in “And this is how I will ruin this beautiful white page in my sketchbook”.  But instead of stopping and agreeing with said low self-esteem voice, I embraced it.  I celebrated it!  “Crappy drawing, I CELEBRATE you!”  The awkward, stiff, inflexible drawing came forth from the tip of the felt marker one of kids dropped on the floor and what I did next was a bit of an epiphany (or apostrophe – Hook).  I just kept them coming, one on top of the other until I had a sprawling field of dead drawings.  It was quiet cathartic in an abstract expressionist way.  But really, the whole exercise was process over product.  Getting over my fear of yet again not living up to my own standards and making an ugly page *gasp!* in my sketchbook.  If a sketchbook is filled cover to cover with unique and original fine tuned drawings, I have a hard time trusting that person.  I keep a close eye on my kids around them.
In essence – dedicate a couple pages in your sketchbook to be a drawing graveyard.  Warm up on those pages and then move on until you’ve stretched those muscles enough.  Big dynamic stretches people!  Don’t forget to breathe… inhale….and exhale….