Author & Artist Corner: Artist
Carolyn Digby Conahan
I am illustrating the September 2009 cover of Cricket. Click here to see my sketches for this month's Cricket!
How did I get to be the staff illustrator (bug artist) for Cricket? As a child I was not favored by bugs. Mosquitoes, gnats, horseflies, and deerflies all preferred my sister. I was not the choice of honeybees, either. Once I happened upon a swarm buzz-buzz-buzzing amongst themselves in the tree branches and tall grasses at the edge of a field. Despite my obvious advantages of size and strength, they did not choose me to be queen when they flew off to their new home.
I'm sure the Cricket Country bugs were perfectly happy in the hands of the very talented Jean Gralley (bug artist from 1987-2002), who learned their little ways from the great Trina Schart Hyman, who created them in 1973 and drew them until passing the pen to Jean. The Cricket folks didn't exactly choose me, either. Sure, there was a selection process and it was long, long, long. But at the end there were two of us, and they couldn't decide. So they put the choice (in the form of sample strips) before some kids. The kids chose me. (I don't know why, the other guy is really good! But they did.) Thanks, kids.
Thanks, Carolyn!! It's so much fun just to have one single comic strip online; I can't imagine how great it would be to have one in the magazine every single month (or I guess every other month)!! :):) You do a great job! :D
(July 30, 2009 - 4:59 pm)
Carolyn, does it take you a long time to make the bugs look the same in every picture? I mean, they look different in every picture, but Ladybug (for instance) never accidentally looks taller in just one picture. I've always kind of wondered that about illustrations, but I've never had the chance to ask an illustrator about it before!
(August 22, 2009 - 7:35 pm)
Hi Brynne,
It takes practice to create consistent characters. First you need to know your character. What kind of person (or bug) is he or she? Shy or bold? Quiet or loud? Happy, or silly, or grumpy, or mopey or...? This helps you know how they will carry themselves in the world, how they will act and react to any number of situations. Some people make lists of character traits, and funny facts about their characters.
After you get to know your character, or as part of that process, you should practice drawing them. Doing different things, from different angles, by themselves and with other characters. A lot of drawing! Don't get discouraged if it's hard at first. Sometimes a character comes easily, sometimes it takes a few tries. Or lots of tries! Some characters are very dodgy and hard to figure out.
You should stand back and look at your drawings, too. (I have to remind myself to do this. Sometimes I get caught up and forget.) Be kind to yourself. But if it's not what you had in mind, keep trying! You can do it.
So: Get to know your character! Then do lots of drawing and looking. Good luck! Be patient and persistent. Have fun.
(August 25, 2009 - 1:57 pm)
Hi!
I think your drawings are very original and add a special mood to the entire magazine. I love Cricket and the Gang!
Do you come up with the ideas for the comics, or does someone else? I've always wondered if someone else wrote the story and then you illustrated.
Have you ever written anything, like a book, besides illustrating?
What's it like, to be a professional illustrator? Is it fun?
(September 6, 2009 - 2:30 pm)
Hi DolphinGirl! Thanks, glad you like my drawings.
I write the stories with a lot of help from the other creative folks at Cricket; the editors and art directors and such. We toss around a lot of ideas. They also help me get things in order.
I have written and/or illustrated several books, mostly picture books and story books for younger kids. I'm working on some longer stories, too. I'm working on new things all the time...
I LOVE being an illustrator. Sometimes it's hard, like when I don't feel particularly inspired and have to get some work done on time anyway, or if I have tedious business-y chores to do (illustrators have to keep records and files and do promotion and many other things that aren't very interesting, artistically). But I like my flexible hours, and having an excuse to doodle and draw, draw, draw. Anything, and everywhere.
(September 11, 2009 - 5:17 pm)
Wow, your hair looks long! :)
(September 23, 2009 - 2:24 pm)
Hi Brynne,
Yessss, my hair is long. It just keeps growing, and growing (and growing, and growing...) Sometimes I think it would be fun to make it into a big, fancy hat-like hair-do. But that would be a lot of work. And I'd have to walk around very carefully, to keep it from getting messed up. So it would have to be a special occasion. Mostly I just braid it and forget about it.
(September 24, 2009 - 10:44 am)
I love your art! it has inspired me to practice my own drawing more. Does anybody else in your family draw? How did you learn to draw such cute buggies? have you illistrated any books or other magazines? did you ever do a cover for cricket? Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my, and others, questions!
(September 29, 2009 - 4:08 pm)
Hi Megan,
First, thanks! I am very happy that you feel inspired to draw more. Very cool. And yes! Lots of people in my house draw. Almost everybody. (I wonder if it's contagious... and if it is, is that a bad thing? I think, in this case, it MUST be a good thing.) I learned to draw the buggies by reading about them and getting to know their little ways (becoming VERY fond of them in the process) and by drawing them, of course. Practice, practice, practice. And yes, I have done a cover for Cricket. The September cover, as a matter of fact. (Funny coincidence!) I have done books, too. There's some info about that on the inside cover of the September issue.
Good luck with your own drawing! Have you ever sent anything in? You should! It would be fun to see.
(September 30, 2009 - 4:23 pm)