How long have you been creating art for children?
I have been making art as far
back as I can remember. At school I was
always fulfilling requests from my fellow classmates for drawings of a Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtle, or their favorite Disney character. So I guess even back then I was technically
creating art for children. ;)
I worked for several years as a preschool teacher and a nanny, and in both cases I was constantly creating art projects, drawings, and stories for the children I worked with. I've been selling my art in one form or another for about nine years, but I have only worked full time as a professional illustrator for the past four and a half years. I started off by selling whimsical paintings and prints. My first published work was with a small kids' magazine called Moo Cow Fan Club. The first book I illustrated was a collection of nursery rhymes about Time. It was put out by a small educational publisher based inMinnesota
I worked for several years as a preschool teacher and a nanny, and in both cases I was constantly creating art projects, drawings, and stories for the children I worked with. I've been selling my art in one form or another for about nine years, but I have only worked full time as a professional illustrator for the past four and a half years. I started off by selling whimsical paintings and prints. My first published work was with a small kids' magazine called Moo Cow Fan Club. The first book I illustrated was a collection of nursery rhymes about Time. It was put out by a small educational publisher based in
How long have you been writing for children?
Writing is also something I did
a lot as a child. I always participated
in my school's young authors contest, although I never placed higher than
honorable mention. I also wrote on my own.
I have notebooks where I started several stories, although I rarely
completed them. Today I have similar
struggles….so many ideas, few finished manuscripts! The first children's book I
ever wrote was about eight years ago. It
was based on a quirky little girl I took care of at the daycare, and I wrote
and illustrated the book simply to see what it was like to do so. I wrote two more stories based on the same
little girl, as well as my own version of Little Bunny Foo Foo and sold them as
little paperbacks at comic conventions. The two published self-authored titles
I have now were both based on these original experimental paperbacks I did just
for fun! So I guess technically I've
been writing children's books for eight years, but I've only been writing for
publishers since 2009.
Cori, can you share a bit about your publishing journey? Do you have an agent? I
saw on your website that you have published several books, what did it take to
get those published?
Becoming a published
illustrator/author is somewhat due to luck in my case. I did get an art degree, but after that there was no clear path. I started dating a man, (who is now my
husband), who had an intense ambition for drawing and promoting comics. It was because I went to comic conventions
all over the country to promote him, that I got discovered. As I mentioned above, I wrote and illustrated
a few little books just for fun. I would
bring these along with my portfolio to the conventions. This is how I met the
editor who hired me to illustrate the Nursery Rhyme book, landed my first big
time publishing deal illustrating a book by Brooke Shields, and how I met my
agent. I have illustrated 17 books
total…I think. MOST of those books were
for the local educational publisher.
They were always eager to hand out books to anyone who was willing to work
for so little. The small publisher only
paid about a tenth of what I get from a major publisher per title. I also get NO royalties for them! But they were all learning experiences.
Where do you do your artwork?
I unfortunately work in my
basement. We have a very small, old
house and due to having kids…I had to give up my sunny upstairs studio, for a
little room in the basement. It's a
little wonky, dank, and full of spiders, but it is also very detached from the
rest of the house. When I'm down there,
I do feel like I'm in my own little cave of creativity!
Please tell us about your illustrations. Can you describe your creative process
for us? How would you describe your style?
All of my illustrations start
off as tiny little thumbnail drawings. I
always try to sketch out an entire book in thumbnails so I can see from the
beginning how the art will flow page to page.
Once I like the basic look of a thumbnail, I make a more finished
sketch. This sketch is then scanned into
the computer where I can play with scale, positing of characters, and rough in
a color study in Photoshop. I feel I am
still struggling to find the perfect "style" or voice for my
illustrations. Sometimes I feel like
each story calls for its own style, so I have never wanted to feel connected to
one look. The style I feel the most
comfortable with is a slightly retro look created with acrylic paint. I simply adore a lot of the illustrations
from the 50's and 60's. Richard Scarry, Mary Blair, Eloise Wilkins have all
inspired me! I create all my paintings
using only the three primary colors, plus sometimes black and white. I hand mix every shade and color in my books
giving me a lot of flexibility. Each painting
can take up to 40 hours to complete!
Which comes first the story of the illustrations/sculptures?
I would say that for the most part, my stories
begin with an image in my mind.
Sometimes I start sketching to release that image, other times it is
better captured through writing. With
the books I've both written and illustrated, the manuscript has been a result
of flip-flopping between sketching and writing.
I am currently tackling my first true manuscript. It involves far more text than my previous
books, and I've found that when I get stuck writing, sketching out the story
can help reveal what the text is missing.
Creating a picture book that is truly successful in both the text and
the illustrations is no easy task. I
know I personally struggle the most with the "why". Why am I telling this story? Why should parts of the story be told through
the pictures vs the text? Why is it so
hard to create a bestseller? Why oh why!
;)
Anything else you would like to add about your art, your writing, or your road to publication?
Another struggle I have, which I think few people consider, is that once a story is acquired by a publisher…it is no longer just your story. Many people from editors to marketing reps will have a say in what your story ultimately becomes. You have to maintain an open mind and a patient spirit. Sometimes what ends up on the store shelf is very different than your original concept. I guess I'm not sure if ALL authors experience something similar, but I just wanted to bring it up!
Cori can be found at:
Twitter: @coridoerrfeld
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