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Debbie Ridpath Ohi reads, writes and illustrates for young people. Every once in a while she shares new art, writing and reading resources; subscribe below. Browse the archives here.
I tweet about the craft and business of writing and illustrating at @inkyelbows. If you're interested in my art or other projects, please do visit DebbieOhi.com. Thanks for visiting! -- Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Hazel Mitchell has helped create more than twenty children's books, including her award-winning picture book Toby (Candlewick Press). Her illustrations appear in books by Cynthia Lord, JaNay Brown-Wood (Imani's Moon was mentioned on the Stephen Colbert show!), Lynn Parrish Sutton, Liza Gardner Walsh and others. You can find out more about Hazel and her work at HazelMitchell.com, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Congrats to my friend and agency sister Hazel Mitchell today on the launch of her debut solo picture book, TOBY, which comes out from Candlewick today. Even though I've never met the real-life Toby in person, I've been following Hazel's photos and posts about this sweet rescue dog via social media. And like many other Toby fans, I was genuinely distressed when I heard about Toby getting lost and I cheered out loud when he was finally found, safe. You can find out more about the real-life Toby's adventures in this post by Hazel.
Today, I'm delighted to interview my Pixel Shavings friend, children's book illustrator and writer Hazel Mitchell, about her newest project.
Published by Charlesbridge/Mackinac Island Press, HIDDEN NEW JERSEY is a new book written by Linda Barth and illustrated by Hazel. The book is packed with historical, cultural and fun facts about New Jersey shared in rhyming narrative and Hazel's wonderful art. Young children can search for the hidden pictures throughout as they learn more about the state.
For a chance to win a copy of this book, just post in the comments section below! Be sure to enter your e-mail address so we can contact you if you win (random draw).
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How did you become the illustrator of Hidden New Jersey?
The developer for the book, from Mackinac Island Press (imprint of Charlesbridge) has produced two other books in this series (about Michigan and Ohio) and was looking for an illustrator for New Jersey. She saw some of my work on my Facebook fan page and contacted me. We took it from there. Hurrah for social networking!
Hurray, indeed! How useful have you found social networking in your career? And how did you find the right balance between online marketing/networking and your creative work?
Yes I have, in many ways: making contacts and meeting new people in the industry, learning from other's blog posts and links and for getting my work out in to the world. I spend a lot less time on line than I used to .. especially when I am working on projects. Marketing is a big part of the book industry these days so I will probably spend at least an hour a day doing something online.
Have you ever been to New Jersey?
Yes! My hubby was raised there, so we went to visit occasionally. I had no idea it was such a diverse state, though! The author, Linda J Barth lives in New Jersey and is a local historian.
Did you have any direct interaction with the author during the project?
No, put now the book is ready to publish we have liaised on marketing ideas. it's really great she loved what I did with her words! Phew!
How many illustrations did you have to do for the book? How long did it take?
I did 15 double spreads, plus the artwork for the covers, title/verso page and the 'hidden objects'. In total about 4 months. About 5 days on each full spread.
What media do you work with?
The line work is done in graphite and then I scan in and colour completely in photoshop.
Does illustrating a nonfiction book differ from illustrating a fiction book?
In some cases yes. In this case there was no running narrative throughout the book, as each page is specifically about a different region of New Jersey. So I had to include all the 'facts' in a montage style, abit like a jigsaw puzzle, and yet keep the feel of the illustrations cohesive. I did include the characters from the front of the book (in their canoe) throughout the illustrations as well as their little bumble bee friend, who is the state's adopted insect. There was a lot of research to be done as the illustrations had to accurately reflect many historical places. It was definitely a challenge, but an enjoyable one.
What are you working on now?
I am just about to start illustrating the fourth book in the 'All Star Cheerleaders' chapter book series by Anatasia Suen, (pub Kane Miller). And I am working on writing and illustrating my own picture books, and somewhere in the mix is an illustrated YA. So there is no chance that I will get BORED :-)
Ha! :-D And wow, you have a lot on your plate. How do you juggle your work schedule between so many different type of projects? Any tips to offer other illustrators with multiple projects on the go?
I like a lot going on. It's stimulating. When I have only one thing to do I feel like I am not working at my best. This probably stems from my Naval career and running a print business for many years. However when I am working on a book project I do find it hard to drop it and work on something else. I prefer to see the whole thing through in one go.
Sounds like a contradiction after saying I like working on lots of stuff. But mostly I am thinking about other projects, or making notes. If I have multiple deadlines, then I try and break the day up, or at least swap alternate days to work on them. It's hard. And then sometimes you hit a lull, and it's like you don't know what to do with yourself :-)
My advice is make lists. I cannot do without them and ticking things off gives me a sense of moving forward. I am learning that you have to go with the flow in the world of publishing, that's for sure!
Hazel Mitchell is the illustrator of several books for children, including ‘How to Talk to an Autistic Kid’ (Books for a Better Life Finalist 2012),‘Hidden New Jersey’ from Charlesbridge/Mackinac Island Press 2012, and the ‘All Star Cheerleader’ series by Anastasia Suen from Kane Miller.
She is originally from England, but now lives and works in Maine USA along with a menagerie of animals and a couple of snow shovels.
As a children’s illustrator and writer, the opportunity to get an ebook online can seem both mind boggling and frustrating. Only six months ago, getting a book online was a big and expensive deal, out of reach of most individuals. If you were well published there was a chance your book might be made into an app. The rest of us were just spectators. But just lately the world of kid’s books in apps and ebooks has exploded!
New start-ups are making it possible for children’s book creators to produce their own books and get them out for ipad/iphone/android with little, if any, cost. With the rise and rise of the ipad, and now Kindle Fire, several companies have jumped on board and launched software which enables the easy self-publishing of ebooks.
Each company is doing it in a different way. Some are owned by regular print publishers marrying up with software designers. Others spring from the entertainment industry and gaming companies. Right now, it’s a wide open field.
I was interested to dip a toe into the ‘ipond’ and see what it was all about. I chose to give Utales.com a go. There are several reasons why I was attracted to this app company and one reason was they have an editing team watching over the quality of all books published, headed up by Emma Dryden of Drydenbks.com. She is an industry professional with a lifetime’s experience in editing and producing children’s literature. To me this was vitally important. In a market that is truly self published having no QC is asking for trouble. After all, we want these books to be a great product.
Utales is based in Stockholm, Sweden and is the brainchild of entrepreneur and social media expert Nils von Heijne. Anyone can submit a book for review by the uTales panel. The software created by the company is very easy to use and requires very little expertise. For illustrators who already use a computer, it’s a breeze. The software comes with the ability to create simple animations and sound effects. Those looking for more extensive animations and control might find the software lacking. But it’s about creating great stories for kids, and although there are some bells and whistles, it’s not the main focus of Utales.
Utales works on a co-operative system. (Something very different to other ebook platforms out there). Utales encourages collaboration between authors and illustrators, some working at great distances from each other around the world (over 1,000 to date). Join the Utales page on Facebook to meet other creators, it's a lot of fun! The % earned by a book is 60% of the cost (and you can set your own price). If you are working with a collaborator the % is split 50/50. Books may be purchased singly or the purchaser can choose to subscribe monthly to the service and read all the books they wish. The cost of subscribing is $9.99 a month and with over 150 to choose from, that’s great value! Each Utales contributor is then paid a % of the total subscriptions in that month, dependent on the number of times their book is read.
Another cool feature of Utales is their support of the charity Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit founded in 2008 that has since built 30 schools in villages around the world. Contributors can choose their level of donation from each book.
SO how did I create the book?
First I had to decide what to create. That was pretty easy as Utales was running a competition to retell a classic tale and I chose ‘The Ugly Duckling’ by Hans Christian Andersen.
The page size is always a square format. First I worked the way I would usually for any book - by creating thumbnails and roughs to get the flow of the story. I was aiming for about 30 pages, so about the same as a standard picture book.
I hand drew each page in pencil. (Again this is how I usually work).
I scanned them in and using Photoshop, coloured them. Then I added the text. There is a facility to place the text in Utales, but frankly it was just as easy to add in Photoshop. (Later I wish I had used the online text facility as I had to them go back and forth to make edits and reload which was aggravating.)
Next, I thought about the areas I would like to animate. These areas have to be uploaded as transparent gifs/png’s to the software on Utales and overlaid on the background. I separated the egg out in Photoshop (which moves and makes a ‘cracking’ sound) and also added a couple of dragonflies that ‘chime and wiggle’ when touched. Go to http://utales.com/books/the-ugly-duckling to see the finished page.
I uploaded the background (with the text) to Utales. To do this you need to join the Utales community. Starting a book is easy ... You simply create a new book and the software opens on your computer. No downloads etc. You work totally online with each page in a book format and can preview at every stage. It works on MAC or PC.
The software did have some issues ... occasionally it would lose the animations and sounds and if I had to change the background then the overlays sometimes had to be repositioned (you can change the sizes and positioning with handles, very easy!)
You add cover pages and title pages just as you would with a printed book. Here are a couple of other images. On some of the pages I made things move that you normally wouldn’t expect - like the rain and snow and stones in the barn yard. It created more movement with limited options. I also created some double spreads for interest as well as spot illustrations.
When you have completed the book (and you can rearrange pages and make changes as much as you wish) then you submit it (or ‘publish’) to Utales. At this point the book is reviewed by the QC panel. If they have changes (mine were mainly with punctuation - NO surprise there!) They will get back to you. You can resubmit the book twice more for review. After that if it is still not up to quality - then no deal. And they mean it!
After a couple of back and forths ‘The Ugly Duckling’ made it to the ebook list in time for the launch in early November. And what was even better I won the Utales Classic Tale Competition and got myself an ipad2!! Yippee!
The app is available to download on ipad and iphone right now. You DO need to register first at Utales.com to get a password and user name. This has proved somewhat frustrating because Apple will not allow a redirect to a website OR instructions on the front page (well, they will, but for a BIG %). It’s aggravating as it feels as if Utales is being penalized for it’s community approach. We are assured this won’t be so on the Android, and hopefully, Kindle rollout. We shall see.
So far I have had over 550 hits on the book and am hoping to produce another classic fairytale soon. It was a lot of fun to produce the book. I guess I did it in about a week, a very small amount of time from conception to public release!
Utales are planning on adding more animation and sound features in the New Year. Right now all books are in English, but other languages are planned, as well as more educational books. I really hope that there is a ‘read back’ feature at some point.
Things to bear in mind: These Ebooks are great for younger viewers - if you want to do a graphic novel or similar, not so much. Larger text is best because of iphone in particular. Bright simple pics work well, but with the quality of the ipad detailed drawings do just as well these days. The emphasis is on reading and not games.
Monday, June 28, 2021 at 1:22 PM
