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As promised, the author/illustrator interviews are beginning! I had the chance to talk with Roberta Collier-Morales, illustrator of Inside Out. In Inside Out, a young girl's imaginary friend helps her discover her own shiny spirit. Roberta's vibrant illustrations breathe life into this tale of inspiration.
- When did you decide that you wanted to be an artist?
When I was four years old I copied a drawing my older sister did of a horse - my family fussed over it and I knew from that age that I wanted to be an artist. It's been an uphill trip for most of my life, I'm lucky! I didn't realize until much later that I was fortunate in untold ways, that I knew music, art, dancing, writing and anything to do with drawing - were the driving force in my life. - What other children's books have you illustrated?
When I was in my mid-twenties, I moved from Denver to New York City to pursue my career as an illustrator. I've illustrated so many educational books, workbooks, auxillary materials as well as mass market and trade books that I can't begin to tell you how many books I have out there both in and out of print. - Did you have a difficult time deciding how to illustrate an invisible friend/shiny spirit?
No, I've had so many unusual experiences in my life with the seen and unseen world, that it was a gift to get to illustrate a book about a girl who had experiences similar to my own.
- The back blurb says that you modeled Karly after your daughter Kara. What did Kara think of being in a book?
I'm quoting my daughter directly now, we're on the phone together, here's what she says - "I love it when you use me as your inspiration. I'm honored. it brings me great joy and I feel extra loved. Because you did so many multi-cultural illustrations that represented EVERYBODY I wasn't that aware of the lack of diversity in most of the books that were available to me as I was growing up." - What is your favorite children's book (other than your own, of course!) and why?
I still have a several children's books that influenced me. "The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies" illustrated by Garth Williams, "The Tall Book of Nursery Tales" illustrated by F. Rojankovsky and "Funny Bunny" illustrated by Alice and Martin Provenson. Looking at these books I realize the thread that winds through each of them is the emotional impact the art evokes in me. Each book is so full of the wonderful world of imagination, that the illustrations still excite my own creative juices and stimulate artistic ideas that I can hardly wait to explore with my own talents. - Who has influenced your art the most (in terms of style, subject matter, etc.)?
The first illustrator I started to copy was Paul Brown because most of his pen and ink illustrations were of horses - my great love when I was little. But I was attracted to how well he drew, how beautiful his line work was and how the drawings made me FEEL. The other illustrators mentioned above were also a huge influence on how and what I drew. Because my family couldn't afford a horse, it was drawing the horse of my dreams that got my started in the big world of drawing and exploring my big imagination. I always gravitated toward illustration that were imaginative and well drawn and designed. My work isn't edgy, it's more classic - which is sometimes good and sometimes keeps me from getting jobs I'd like. Illustration is trendy, what publishers are looking for from season to season as far as style, palette and design changes and will continue to do so. The pendulum swings, and just like fashion, the trends tend to swing between realistic and contemporary. Right now, knowing how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and painting programs on the computer are essential tools of the trade. - Anything else you'd like to share?
At a time when our kids have so much spelled out for them, when their senses are bombarded by all kinds of imagery from television, computers, computer games and so on - I wonder if we're doing enough to encourage younger generations to think for themselves. Although I love what the Graphic Novel has done for the tween and teen crowd, many of the drawings look the same. On the other hand, the quality of the drawings in many of those books is outstanding. The fact that this is a market that was started by and is driven by teens, is important to take note of. If we don't insist that art programs - including music, choir, acting, creative writing - be as strong as our athletic departments in our public schools, I think we're missing the boat in a big way. The arts are one area where exploring our inner selves is encouraged.
Hello my friends :)
;)