~ by Julia Anne Young                                                       
 
I have always loved The Wizard of Oz. When I was a kid, I wore out our VHS tape. As a grown-up, I work with a shelf of L. Frank Baum’s Oz books directly across from my desk.
 
Naturally, I was beyond excited when Maria Middleton, Art Director for Random House Children's Books, created an Oz-themed assignment for her illustrators’ intensive at the 2017 New Jersey SCBWI Conference. She asked us to put our own spin on any character from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, write an original story brief, and illustrate a story scene.
 
Follow me down the yellow brick road as I share the process of creating a brief and art for my story: The Forgotten Cavern of Oz!
 
Generating Ideas from a Manuscript
 
At this point, my story brief and art were somewhere over the rainbow. I was facing the scary blank page. Time to revisit the classic book!

Refined Character Sketches
 
Maria Middleton encouraged us to consider our character from every angle. Here are the three tighter character sketches I sent for review.

​She gave me great advice for the final piece, including a suggestion for a middle grade cover design: Dorothy’s canoe coming straight at us, about to tip into the cyclone. Among other things, she also recommended adding touches of Oz to Dorothy’s style, like a ruby slipper charm.
 
 
Thumbnail Sketches:
 
Before starting on an illustration, I create several thumbnails (tiny sketches). Thumbnails help illustrators experiment with composition ideas without expending energy on larger sketches. Here are just a few of mine.

​Collecting Reference Images With Pinterest
 
At this stage, I will gather reference images either by taking them myself (as often as possible) or finding them online. I create secret Pinterest boards for my projects. I never copy a reference image exactly—it's essential to truly make the sketch your own. Gathering multiple photos and studying them before drawing really helps with this! 

​Sketching and Value Studies
 
I enlarged my favorite thumbnail to the correct dimensions and started sketching in Photoshop with my Cintiq drawing tablet. To get Dorothy’s pose right, I photographed myself and used my little artist’s mannequin.

​Here is my sketch, still at a very rough stage:

​As is the case with strong writing critique groups, a strong illustrator critique group makes all the difference! I asked for my group’s thoughts on these value studies, which help artists figure out their lights and darks.

​Inking
 
After refining my sketch, I began inking on a new layer using a favorite Kyle T. Webster Photoshop brush. I smudged some of the lines for the water.

​From Black and White to Technicolor—Time to Paint!
 
I use “watercolor” and “gouache” digital brushes created by Grutbrushes and Kyle T. Webster to build up my paintings gradually, using many Photoshop layers. I spent a lot of time on the water, making some layers more or less transparent and trying different colors.
 
To add additional texture, I take my own scanned, hand-painted watercolor background, convert it to grayscale, and set it as an “Overlay” layer above the painting.

​Off to See The Wizard (at New Jersey SCBWI)
 
Here is the final painting I took to the conference:
 

During our critique at the intensive, I found out that although this might work as an interior illustration, I would need to increase the drama to make it a strong cover.
 
Maria Middleton and the other participants gave me specific and valuable feedback. For example, they suggested I zoom in, add more whites to the water in the whirlpool, and darken the surrounding water. They also suggested incorporating more magical and Oz-themed elements, and they advised me to revisit the drawing of Dorothy and the canoe.

I completely agreed that the changes would make the painting stronger. So, where does this leave me?
 
 
 
There’s No Place Like Home — for Revisions!
 
I’m sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but as is the case in the children’s book world, final art will sometimes require final revisions. This assignment was a great challenge, leading me to try new things and learn along the way. Soon, I’ll be taking this painting to the next level and posting a new version to my website.
 
In closing, I hope this journey through my Oz adventure gave you insights about some common steps in the illustration process. I love reading a manuscript and taking inspiration from it—using my imagination and old-fashioned elbow grease to create a unique illustration that suits the narrative. When a writer’s manuscript is paired with an illustrator’s interpretation of their text, I truly believe the final collaboration can yield some of the most great and powerful magic!

​Julia Anne Young is a Boston-based freelance illustrator and member of SCBWI. To learn more about Julia, visit her website at juliaanneyoung.com, or visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/juliaanneyoungillustration. You can also connect with her on Twitter or Instagram at @juliaanneyoung.  
 

by Milanka Reardon
 
My first children’s book illustration job had a non-traditional start.
 
Eric Bennett, the owner of a penguin gift shop in Western Massachusetts, found my portfolio on my website through a friend in one of my SCBWI critique groups. He was working on a sequel to his 2014 self-published book about a penguin (Noodles) and a fish (Albie). I had been asked to work on self-published books before, but I had been advised to be wary of agreeing to projects that did not have the commitment of an agent or a publishing house for all the traditional reasons: the risk of low sales, a high workload, uncertain paychecks, and stigma from traditional publishers. But the first Noodles and Albie had sold almost 1,000 copies already, and I was looking for an opportunity to expand my portfolio and gain experience. I decided to read the manuscript.
 
In the sequel, Noodles and Albie’s Birthday Surprise, Albie is looking for the perfect birthday present for Noodles, whose birthday happens to be on Christmas Eve. Albie settles on a compass—just the device a frustrated Kris Kringle needs when his GPS fails and leads him off course! And as soon as I read the manuscript, my mind began working through illustration possibilities: mid-way through the book, Noodles and Albie visit an underwater amusement park. While the text did not describe it in much detail, I could already see the “Octowhirl” in my head—a giant octopus ready to spin the characters around as if the tips of his tentacles were seats on a ride. I was in.
 
Traditionally, the art director at a publishing house chooses the illustrator, not the author. But working with an author in the self-publishing realm allowed me to learn a great deal about the process of visual story-telling, communication about the direction of the book, and working through contracts. I reached out to one of my Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education teachers, who gave me a sample contract that I could use as a guideline and adjust it to meet the specifics of my project. The contract specified payment details, including my upfront fee, when I would be paid, and what percentage of royalties I would earn if the book sold a certain number of copies. It also specified the finals timeline and the number of revisions I was willing to do. I made sure I maintained the right to my original artwork, that I would be able to use the illustrations for promotional materials, and that there was a “kill fee”—an amount we agreed I would be paid if I finished the illustrations and the book did not go to print. The part about maintaining the right to my original artwork was important to me. Aside from loving the story and having fun coming up with ideas for the text, one of the reasons I decided to take this particular self-publishing job was to add new illustrations to my portfolio that will hopefully attract art directors or future collaborators. 
 
Within days, the contract was signed and accepted. I was ready to start illustrating my first picture book!
 
Now to the fun part - the illustration process! I was ready to create the main characters and did a lot of sketching. However, the images of Noodles and Albie were already set up in the first book. This was my first big dilemma: should I imitate the original book, or work on the characters in a way that felt truer to my own illustration style? Luckily, the author gave me artistic freedom. He said that he envisioned the characters a little bit older in the sequel. Instead of being a baby penguin with grey colors, Noodles is a spunky 6- or 7-year-old in this book, and his coloring is that of a one-year-old penguin: black and white. But I still had to work with the guidelines that the author gave me, such as the detail that Noodles always wears a blue baseball hat. In self-publishing, the author acts as the de facto art director.
 
Here are some first sketches of the main character, Noodles:

​And this is how Noodles looks in one of the final sketches and the final painting in the book:

​Milanka Reardon is Co-Illustrator Coordinator for New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She recently illustrated her first picture book, Noodles' and Albie's Birthday Surprise by Eric Bennett. Her illustration of "A Beary Special Friend" won the R Michelson Galleries Emerging Artist Award at the NESCBWI 2016 conference. She lives with her family in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. You can see more of her artwork at MilankaReardon.com.

By Brook Gideon
 
I am asked a lot of questions regarding my first book job, illustrating the chapter book Azalea, Unschooled by Liza Kleinman. How did I get the job? Did the illustrator choose me? Did we submit together? How much say did I have in the design and how much say did the author have in my illustrations? As all writers and artists know, the journey isn’t a straight shot.

​©2016 Right Click Photography

~ By Amanda Smith

We are excited to visit with author and illustrator Matthew Cordell at 24 Carrot Writing.

Matthew  has illustrated poetry, novels, and picture books for children including Special Delivery by Philip Stead and the Justin Case series by Rachel Vail. He has also written and illustrated several picture books himself, including Another Brother, Hello! Hello!, Wish, and Dream.

Matthew’s books have been recognized as Best of the Year selections by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, and his first wordless picture book, Wolf in the Snow, was awarded a 2017 Boston Globe-Horn Book honor award.

Thank you, Matthew, for answering all our questions about the making of a picture book from an illustrator's point of view. We are honored to learn from you. 

What advice do you have for writers who are walking around with a wordless book in their hearts?

I imagine it must be an unusual undertaking to be a writer and envision, write, and even pitch a story like this. Much less one with no words at all. But I know it can be done, obviously, and done well. One of my favorite recently published picture books is a wordless book, Sidewalk Flowers written by JonArno Lawson and illustrated by Sydney Smith. If any author is ever on the fence about doing a wordless picture book, I say get off the fence and go for it. Some picture books simply function better with no words at all, and there’s really no better way to do it.

Yes, the dreaded illustration note question: We’ve read agents’ opinions on illustration notes. As an illustrator, what is your take?  

When a manuscript is on submission, I think illustration notes are quite helpful. A picture book text, in the end, should not spell out every single twist and turn that is meant to be seen in the book. If it did, it would be working overtime and be terribly redundant as the pictures are already doing some of this work and filling in gaps. As an illustrator, I don’t mind the occasional illustration note, especially if there is no text to describe a critical element to the story. But if a manuscript is riddled with notes, I think it can be a bit overwhelming and stifling to my own interpretation and decision-making I’ve been hired to deliver. But most editors I’ve worked with strip the manuscript of most, if not all, notes to see how I might interpret the story. Unless, again, there is some critical description that must be seen by the illustrator.

When you are not working on an assignment, what do you do to grow your craft/art? 
 
If I’m not on deadline, I like to use any free time to develop any story ideas that have been sitting around, or simply just to draw for fun. I think it’s important to continue to draw when there’s no pressure of contracts and timelines and expectations for specific books or jobs. Whenever I work on a book, there is a lot of extended planning involved: Image research, sketches, sketch revisions, pencil drawing, and then by the end, I break out my pen and bottle of ink.

When I’m drawing for my own pleasure, a lot of the pressure and expectations are stripped away and I can sometimes stumble upon new ways to solve problems and use the pen and line to do what I never knew it could do. I like to skip any time and labor involved with sketches and the pencil and just attack the paper straight away with the pen, which can be a little intimidating, considering ink is incredibly unforgiving. But often times the best drawing is the very first one that’s been put to paper. Sometimes the very first sketch has so much more energy than a final drawing—one that’s been drawn 3, 4 or more times. So it’s fun to just go at an ink drawing with no planning at all. It’s fun to just draw without limits or expectations.

 
If you give an author a crayon, they think about illustrators.

August is school supply month and as the 24 Carrot Writing crew puts crayons, pens, and pencils in our shopping carts, we get curious about the skilled illustrators who bring picture book texts to visual life.

Who are these creative folks? What makes them tick? How do they create their masterpieces? How do they work with authors? And what do they really think about illustration notes?

We are excited to have illustrators Matthew Cordell, Brook Gideon, Julia Young, and Milanka Reardon join us this month to explore these and other illustrator-centric questions.

Stay tuned for their posts and welcome to 24 Carrot Writing's August Illustrator Bonanza!