Illustrators’ Roundup

Swedish folk art-inspired? From “Gustaf Tenggren’s Tell It Again Book” courtesy of ASIFA- Hollywood

Animation Archive Little Night, written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, published by Roaring Book Press - Holtzbrinck (designed by Jennifer Browne) won the Golden Kite Award for best picture book illustration.
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April’s The Artist’s Magazine (F+W Publications) features an interview with Jan Brett (33 million books in print and still going strong.)

Funny, I was reading The Mitten to my three year old-granddaughter just the other night and we were both enjoying this book very much.

Brett’s only formal art training came from museum art classes when she was young.

She works with a very dry (watercolor) brush technique, “almost like a colored pencil,” she tells interviewer Paula Theotocus.

Loved as much by booksellers and librarians as by children, she travels the world researching the locales of the stories she works on, accompanied by her husband, Joe Hearne, who is also her business manager and webmaster.
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Cynsations, the blog of teen and children’s author Cynthia Leitich-Smith  featured interviews with children’s book industry folks who spoke at the March 29-30  SCBWI Bologna Conference 2008 in connection with the Bologna Book Fair.

Cynsations guest writer Anita Loughrey spoke with Caldecott winning illustrator Paul O Zelinksy, French comic author-illustrator Emmanuel Guibert and Harper Collins executive art director Martha Rago.

For Loughrey’s question, “What makes an artists illustrations stand out for you?” Rago had an interesting answer:

“I would not underestimate technical skills, which are very, very important: anatomy, composition, and perspective, good use of color and line, and effective use of materials,” she said.

“But I am always looking for someone who has not just the technical skills but a distinct individual style, a clear voice and images that suggest narrative through context,emotional tone, and the way they relate sequentially.” It’s not often you get to peek inside the mind of an art director at a major children’s publishing house. Read the full interview with Martha Rago here.