Please welcome Stephanie Graegin to the stage! Photo courtesy of Stephanie Graegin.
Between winning concert tickets to see Death Cab for Cutie late last month and then The Killers earlier this month, I’d say this fall is a winning season. Seeing Brandon Flowers’ beautiful smile in person felt like a golden ticket in itself. And those aren’t the only things I won this fortunate autumn.
When author/illustrator Stephanie Graegin messaged me on Instagram the day after the Death Cab concert that I won a giveaway of her latest picture book, The Long Ride Home, I knew I had to go for an interview. She agreed and I felt like I was winning all over again. The mind behind Fern and Otto, Little Fox in the Forest, and many more picture book gems, Stephanie Graegin first caught my eye at my local library. I adore her whimsical animal worlds and incredible sense of light and shadow. She is not only gifted with her cute characters - from a variety of animals to rosy-cheeked children - her environments are stunning. The cityscapes and neighborhood streets she draws look lived-in and warm. I can’t wrap my head around her level of detail. Pick up any one of her picture books and see what I mean.
How did you begin your journey in the world of children's literature?
A cozy studio space. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Graegin.
I’ve always loved picture books, I've been creating little books since I was in elementary school. At the age of eight, I won an Indiana Young Author award for a book I made about a magical beaver baseball team. That experience made me believe that I could be a ‘real’ author or illustrator some day. In college, I studied fine art at The Maryland Institute College of Art, where I fell in love with printmaking and made a lot of artist’s books. It wasn’t until after grad school at Pratt Institute (I have a Masters in Printmaking) that I really decided to fully pursue children's books. But I quickly learned my artwork wasn’t quite right yet for children’s illustration. I spent several years making drawings and watercolors, with a children’s book portfolio in mind. A major breakthrough came when I switched materials. As someone who was smitten with the work of Edward Gorey, I had been stubbornly using black ink and it really wasn’t the right material for me. One day I was doodling in pencil, and something clicked and my characters came to life. I made new work using pencil and a mix of digital coloring. I ended up making little handmade booklets with artwork in my new style, and sent those out to art directors and editors. By some luck, I received positive responses and my career slowly began. Around this same time in 2011, Writers House Literary Agent Steven Malk saw my work on Nate Williams’s illustration blog (IllustrationMundo) and reached out to me, and I started working with him. I feel very fortunate to have illustrated over two dozen children's books since then, and to have written three.
What is your favorite color to include in your illustrations?
I go through phases with colors depending on the season and feel of a book, but robin’s egg blue has always been a favorite, along with cadmium yellow and sepias.
Some studio trinkets and keepsakes. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Graegin.
Will you describe your illustrative process?
It’s evolved over the years, it started as a mix of pencil drawing, with layers of crayon and watercolor textures, and then that was assembled and colored in Photoshop. As digital tools have gotten better and better, I often draw with an Apple pencil on an iPad using the program Adobe Fresco and then complete the coloring in Adobe Photoshop. I use brushes I’ve made in Photoshop from scanning in textures of crayon, pencil, and watercolor. But I still do a lot of drawing with just a regular pencil and a sketchbook.
Do you have any influences or favorite artists that have impacted your style?
There are so many! As a kid I loved Richard Scarry, Arnold Lobel, James Marshall, Beatrix Potter, Ernest Shepard, Lane Smith, Hollie Hobby, Edward Gorey, and Ed Emberely. I spent countless hours drawing from Ed Emberely’s drawing books, I’m sure that has had an everlasting influence on my art.
Children’s book artists that I find inspiring today are Renata Liwska, Sophie Blackall, Isabel Arsenault, Marla Frazee, Olivier Tallec, Marianne Dubac, Benji Davies, Akiko Miyakoshi, and Zachariah OHora, to name a few…
Stephanie’s beautiful, brimming bookshelf. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Graegin.
Your illustrations depict sweet animal worlds and cozy neighborhoods. What other subjects do you enjoy illustrating?
I always love drawing animal worlds best, especially ones in forests, but I also enjoy drawing cities. I love drawing places where you can add a lot of fun details, little interesting shops, and a variety of people and creatures, night scenes with lit up windows and big crowds. I also love drawing the sea, boats, and beautiful landscapes. But really, I enjoy drawing anything that I can add a magical feel to.
Do you have any advice for aspiring children's book author-illustrators?
Spend a lot of time studying the craft. Read hundreds of picture books, especially modern day ones. Draw what inspires you, if you love what you draw it will show. Children's books are a difficult business to break into, you have to be stubborn and keep trying, keep revising, and keep getting better at the craft of it. It’s a lifelong process, I know I’m still learning every day.
Visit Stephanie Graegin’s whimsical world and check out her latest picture book, The Long Ride Home. Follow her Instagram, @sgraegin, for day-to-day sketches and news.