Hello Char G.

Thank you so much!  One of the best things an artist can ever hear is that their work has inspired someone.  I'm very happy to hear from people who are on the same path of artistic discovery.  

It's also cool to hear that you're interested in drawing manga.  Manga and comics in general were a big influence on my work.  I still read them.  Sequential art, of which manga and comics are a part, is very unique because it tells a story like no other medium can.   There is something special happening with the combination of drawings and words and in the "time" passing between the panels that makes the story spring to life.  Have you ever read "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud?  It's a great book all about the art form, and is very fun to read, because it's told in comic form!

Keep working at it!  With time and dedication, you can reach your dreams with your artwork!

Best wishes!

Dear Aria,

Thanks so much to you (and your mom) for writing!  I am so glad you like "The Star Shard"!  Have you written to Mr. Durbin, the author, yet?  

 I'm so pleased to hear you love the pictures.  I have a lot of fun painting them, so I always hope that readers get the same enjoyment out of looking at them.  I'm glad you like Cymbril, and all of her dresses.  She has so many, I get to try new ideas with each one.  I like all of the Thunder Rake cats, too.

 I'm really happy you love our guinea pigs!  I love them very much, too.  We have five guinea pigs, and their names are Momiji, Patty, Cedric, Rufio, and Frances.  Momiji and Patty are our two girls.  They're roommates and they live separately from the boys.  Rufio and Frances are very best friends and love playing together.  Rufio is much bigger than Frances, who is a little small for his age.  It's very funny to see them together!  Cedric is a little grumpy and picky about his friends, so he lives alone right now until we can adopt the right friend for him.  My husband and I also work to help rescue homeless guinea pigs.  We volunteer with a local rescue and are foster guinea pig parents.  We take care of them until they can be adopted into a new, forever home.  Right now we have two foster guinea pigs named Nicky and Olivia.  Thanks for letting me talk about all of our little friends.  They're very special to us!

I would love to see your drawing of the cats!

Best wishes to you!

Emily

Dear Laura,

Thank you so much for writing!  It's so good to hear that you love drawing and painting.  It makes me happy to read so many responses from young people interested in art.

Illustrating stories is not too much different than drawing or painting something as a stand-alone image, or something that just popped into your head.  The most important thing to keep in mind is that the picture itself needs to help tell the story.  It's a good idea to try to tell a story with any picture you create, even if it's just a drawing of a character, standing alone.  It's always good to ask yourself questions like, "Who is this person?  What's her story?  How can I show her personality from the clothing she wears, or from the way she stands?  From the expression on her face?"

Sometimes, illustrations that accompany a story can even cast the story in a slightly different light.  For example, showing the moment right before or right after a scene takes place in the text, rather than the moment we might expect, gives the reader a different perspective.  A famous illustrator, N. C. Wyeth, who illustrated books like Treasure Island, often used unique compositions and painted unexpected moments in the story to show events in a new light, while still being faithful to the words.

While an artist always injects his or her own vision into the work (most often without even realizing it), we also have to be aware of the author's description of places and characters, and make sure that everything works together.  While I like working with my own ideas, too, I enjoy illustrating other people's ideas because I always get a picture in my head of what's being described as I read, and I like to see how it ends up when I put it down on paper.  And I have to admit, sometimes it's nice to have something to work off of, rather than depending on myself for ideas all the time.  It's really tough when I get "artist's block"!  

You seemed interested, so I'll tell you a little bit about my process.  After doing all of the sketches you mentioned, and the art director, designer, and editor pick one they like, I decide what size I want to paint the image.  I almost always paint at a larger size than the illustrations are printed in Cricket.  That way, I can get all the details I want into the image, even when they're going to print really small.  I always spend some time researching things I don't have a good mental image of, so I might go to the library and check out books to get inspiration, or browse through the file folders I have filled with photos I've collected online or clipped from magazines.  Often, if I need help drawing a pose, my husband or I will get into that pose and take photo reference.  I have plenty of embarrassing photos!  I usually create a finished drawing at the same size I will be painting. It takes at least several hours to finish the final drawing.  Sometimes it can take a whole day or more if the drawing is complicated or has a lot of characters.   Then, I use my printer to transfer the image onto the watercolor paper, and I start painting!  I use gouache, which is a type of watercolor that can be used both transparently, with washes of color, and opaquely, which means I can mix less water with the paint, and make thicker brushstrokes, covering up what's underneath.  In that way, gouache is similar to oil paint.  With all of those steps, it's hard to figure out how much time I really spend on each illustration, but once I get to the painting stage, it usually takes several days for each finished piece.  

Hmm...I'm not sure who my favorite character in "The Star Shard" is!  I like them all, but I think it might be Urrt!  I really enjoy drawing him, and I like the Armfolk's way of life and the storytelling songs they sing.  I also like Cymbril's independent spirit and struggle within herself about who she is, and her uncertainty about where she belongs.  She's a great character.  I agree with you; I always thought of Cymbril as being about twelve years old, and I tried to draw her to look that age.  

Thanks again for your comments and compliments.  I hope you will keep drawing and painting!  I bet you're doing great, and you will continue to get better and better!

Emily

Dear Ethan,

I saw your "Star Shard" fan art!  Awesome!  I didn't know they were going to post the art so soon!  It's fantastic!  You did a really good job capturing Loric.  I am so impressed by your attention to detail.  You did an excellent job with his costume.  I love how heroic he looks with that sword!  It makes me so happy to see cool art like this.  Thanks for sharing it!  It's wonderful that you're doing art and are hoping to make it a career.  The best thing to do is practice, practice, practice, and it sounds like you are doing that, so you're well on your way.  

Thank you for your compliments on my work.  It's so nice to hear that you like my illustrations enough to see them potentially collected in a future "Star Shard" book.  I would love that, too.  Maybe I can talk to Mr. Durbin, and we can convince his potential publisher to hire me.  That would be cool!  :)

I see that you're a Star Wars fan, from your messages to Mr. Durbin and to me.  One of the first movies I saw when I was little was Return of the Jedi. I saw the old trilogy movies out of order, and I can't remember if I was surprised or not about the secret of Darth Vader's true identity!  I loved the movies as a kid and still like to watch them now.  My husband is a big Star Wars fan, and he used to draw Star Wars characters all the time.  It's great to have that special something that inspires you to be creative.  When I was growing up, I discovered some of my favorite artists through video games, especially some of the older games from the Final Fantasy series.  I used to draw the characters all the time.  That, and the Ninja Turtles.

The art school I went to, Ringling (silly name, I know), was a four-year art school.  Most art schools have four-year programs where you earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in your chosen major, much like the way you would earn a bachelor's degree at a "regular" college.  There are also some schools with two-year programs.  In addition to art schools, there are universities with good art programs, as well as community colleges where you can study art.  Going to art school taught me so much about technique, process, and the business of illustration, but the time spent doing art throughout my life, from a very young age, has probably been the most valuable.  Art is a lifelong learning experience.  I am still learning new things every day!

Best wishes,
Emily

Aria,

Found it!  It's tough to find some of the messages when there are so many replies.  Thanks for telling me!