My Process

Typical projects kick off with a contract negotiated through my agent which outlines compensation, size and page number of the book and due dates for sketches and finishes. Once all parties sign off, art directors and occasionally senior editors at the publisher send me a finished manuscript, direction on what they’d like to be illustrated and sometimes a layout of the pages with text. I seldom meet the authors of my books except socially.

I begin with rough sketches on tracing paper, laying out the composition and where I want things placed to best depict what’s in the text. Then, after doing any required research, I complete a much more finished, concise set of sketches, which I scan off to my agent and/or the art director for comments, corrections or, hopefully, approval. 

Within a few weeks, I get the sketches back, usually with suggestions for minor changes but occasionally (horrors!) asking for a total redo of a page or spread (two pages together). My favorite comment was in response to an early sketch for a Magic School Bus book about the five senses. When the students miniaturized and explored the nose, I guess I got a little carried away. The comment was: “Tone down the mucus.”

Once I make and receive approval on any changes, I move on to the final—and my favorite—stage: painting. Originally, I worked in pen, ink and gouache (an opaque, water based medium similar to water color, but with much more saturated colors), but have since graduated to water color which I find more suited to my style and, for me, easier to work with. I transfer all of my sketches from tracing paper to bristol or water color paper using a light box and trace my pencil lines with pen & ink, or art pencil for a softer outline.

Then I paint, scan the finishes and wait for the art director to ask for the originals, which means they are ready to publish. The entire process takes about three or four months, depending on the size of the book and the amount of lag time waiting for approvals.