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Freelance illustrator Jim Di Bartolo<\/strong><\/a> is one happy man. First, if we’re keeping our priorities straight, there’s his brand-new daughter<\/strong><\/a>, Clementine Pie, who—as you can see below—is so STINKIN’ adorable that he’s considering having her for breakfast. He’s also getting RIGHT TO his daughter’s introduction to Neil Gaiman’s<\/strong><\/a> world, as you can see left. He’s not gonna waste any time, no sirree. Smart.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jim’s breakfast-of-choice is a) a first for 7-Imp and b) the Best Breakfast-of-Choice Ever in the Short History of My 7-Imp Breakfast Interviews. What has he requested this morning? The “still-hot-breakfasts of my fleeing enemies. And, on those rare mornings when my enemies haven\u2019t cooked before fleeing, I have a zombie-like hunger for adorableness.”<\/font> <\/p>\n Okay, let’s just get it out of the way. Say it with me now. You know<\/em> you want to, as that is one seriously beautiful puddin’ head child: <\/p>\n (Punkin head. Puddin’. Punkin. Puddin’. Punkin. Puddin’. When will the Cute Attack end? I seem to be mumbling and twitching a lot here….)<\/p>\n I’d like to thank Jim for stopping by. Again. He helped me out tremendously in March of this year, contributing questions to the Dave McKean interview<\/strong><\/a>. Ever since then—and, really, before then—I’ve wanted him to stop by for a breakfast chat, and I’m so pleased he’s finally here. You can also head over to Shelf Elf<\/strong><\/a><\/em> today for Laini’s<\/a><\/strong> chat with Kerry for this week’s Winter Blog Blast Tour. (See the bottom of this post for the rest of today’s schedule.) Let’s set the table for our breakfast chat and get the basics from Jim…<\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: Illustrator, who wants to eventually have something published that I\u2019ve illustrated AND written.<\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: The Drowned<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (graphic novel from Image Comics, 2004), Rex Mundi<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (several issues with both Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics in 2005 and 2007), Dreamdark: Blackbringer<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (Penguin\/Putnam, 2007), The Dragon\u2019s Pearl<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (Simon & Schuster, 2009), Dreamdark: Silksinger<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (Penguin\/Putnam, 2009), Lips Touch: Three Times<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009). I\u2019ve also sequentially illustrated a Ray Bradbury<\/strong><\/a> story for Scholastic Inc.\u2019s educational line (2009), contributed art work to about two dozen role-playing game manuals for White Wolf Publishing<\/strong><\/a> between 2002 and now, and done some random magazine editorial work from time to time.<\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: What is your usual medium, or–\u2013if you use a variety—your preferred one?<\/font> <\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: It\u2019s always pencil to paper first — usually on Strathmore\u2019s Plate Bristol board, since it\u2019s forgiving for lots of erasing, if needed, and it\u2019s versatile for painting on or inking (or both). So, while I pretty much always finish my art in Photoshop to varying degrees, I most often will draw and then at least watercolor before doing whatever I\u2019m going to do on the computer. <\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: Well, Laini<\/strong><\/a> and I have something that we\u2019ve been working on for younger readers (not yet pitched!), and it is\/will be very suited for 7-10 year olds. This is probably most in contrast to the comic book and role-playing game work I\u2019ve done, because those latter two tend to have a smattering of neck-punching or face-kicking. I\u2019m not going to lie to you…I do really enjoy drawing and painting some action-oriented scenes, but I don\u2019t have any desire to go down the “gore” road. Because of a fair amount of action (though no face-kicking or gore), the aforementioned “young readers” project has been absolute fun, and I\u2019m hopeful that it sells, so I can happily dive face-first into the lighter adventure-filled world we\u2019ve created. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Where are your stompin\u2019 grounds?<\/font><\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: Portland, Oregon. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you briefly tell me about your road to publication?<\/font> <\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: The road was either short-to-medium in length or verrrry long, depending on when you start counting. It was filled with far too many uncomfortable interactions at events like the San Diego Comic-Con<\/a><\/strong>, where I was trying to smoothly work my way into conversations with editors who were complete strangers. I don\u2019t recommend doing this, as it\u2019s more likely to induce flop-sweat or nausea, rather than publication. Even so, it was through one of those nerve-wracking conversations that I landed a meeting with an acquiring editor at Image Comics<\/strong><\/a>, where my first book was published.<\/p>\n Specifically to the children\u2019s market, it had to do with Laini\u2019s Penguin\/Putnam Editor, (the incredibly cool, smart, and funny) Tim Travaglini, liking my art well enough to ask Laini if I\u2019d want to take a stab at doing the cover to her first novel. There were no guarantees I\u2019d get the job, but he promised that if he liked what I did (on spec) that he\u2019d take my samples to the decision-making meetings about the book. While I don\u2019t recommend artists doing a ton of work on spec, sometimes it\u2019s the only way to get considered and it CAN pay off. Here are some early pieces I presented to Tim, as well as a piece (the orange one) that was ALMOST the cover:<\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you please point readers to your web site and\/or blog?<\/font> <\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: www.jimdibartolo.com<\/strong><\/a>; www.jimdibartolo.blogspot.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Any new titles\/projects you might be working on now that you can tell me about?<\/font> <\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019m currently working on several projects, but unfortunately I can\u2019t talk about a couple of them with any sort of specifics. (One of them is the project I mentioned earlier.) Here\u2019s a teeny sneak peak of the art style of that one, though: <\/p>\n Two current projects I can mention a bit more specifically, though: {One} is a comic-strip for Barry Lyga\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> very recent release Goth Girl Rising<\/strong><\/a><\/em>. The strip will run online for a limited time and was a lot of fun, since Barry is such a clever and pleasant guy — and an effortlessly talented writer to boot! Furthermore, it was a bit cartoony (which isn\u2019t a style most people have seen me work in, so that was fun to play around with). I\u2019ve also just been hired by Simon and Schuster again to do some interior work on an upcoming (2010) novel. I\u2019m not sure if I can mention the book specifically, but I\u2019ll just say that it\u2019s a different sort of job for me as well.<\/p>\n 1.<\/font> 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: What exactly is your process when you are illustrating a book? You can start wherever you\u2019d like when answering: getting initial ideas, starting to illustrate, or even what it\u2019s like under deadline, etc. Do you outline a great deal of the book before you illustrate or just let your muse lead you on and see where you end up?<\/font> <\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: Maybe the most interesting way I can answer this might be to briefly walk through my process of illustrating a particular book. In the children\/teen market, the most heavily illustrated book I\u2019ve worked on has been Lips Touch: Three Times<\/strong><\/a><\/em> with Arthur A. Levine Books. This is a book which consists of two short stories and one novella that Laini Taylor<\/strong><\/a> (my wife) wrote. We were hopeful of it becoming a book the likes of which we\u2019d been talking about creating together since our days in art school (where we met) — a heavily-illustrated novel. Lips Touch<\/em> has forty-one pages of two-color artwork that, process-wise, was a long time in developing both in style and in concept. When we initially pitched the book, this was the art style (at the drawing-stage only) I included for the publisher:<\/p>\n I had done thumbnails for the book as a whole, choosing various details from each story to depict with my art. Once we sold the project to the publisher, I began to reconsider that more stylized (slightly cartoony) approach. Since we wanted to re-create the type of book that was reminiscent of long-ago illustrated novels (the sort of thing you\u2019d see Arthur Rackham<\/strong><\/a> or Edmund Dulac<\/strong><\/a> illustrate), I began to experiment with a more classic finishing look that (once approved by the publisher) would be printed in two-colors (black and red). At this point, I was still choosing key moments from the stories to illustrate. Here are the three examples of finished art I completed for the book at that point in its development:<\/p>\n While the publisher and his team liked the look of the art, they began to wonder if there might be a more unique approach to using the art that wouldn\u2019t simply show what the text was already describing. At an SCBWI<\/strong><\/a> (Society of Children\u2019s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference in Seattle, where Laini and I were doing separate classroom presentations, we had a long meeting with Arthur (Levine, the publisher of the book), who was in town for his keynote presentation at the conference. We brainstormed different ideas and later had the epiphany of prelude artwork. Since each tale has a backstory to it that also involves a woman from one or more generations prior, I could use that opportunity to tell her story. Our hope was that the reader would be able to get a vague idea about what was happening to that character, but still be somewhat in the dark. Then, when the text of Laini\u2019s stories began, the reader would have these lingering questions about what they had just seen. So as you read each story, the tale told in the prelude artwork would click into place as her story unfolded. It was potentially a risky concept, but we\u2019ve gotten a lot of feedback via e-mail and at signings where people “got it” so to speak and we\u2019re just thrilled! Here is some of the finished art for the book:<\/p>\n So, while that doesn\u2019t describe how most books are illustrated (I assume!), it was an interesting, fun, and ultimately HUGELY rewarding experience. Other books I\u2019ve illustrated have been lots of fun as well, but they more involved the straightforward depiction of a character that\u2019s described in the text of the book, which involved a fair amount of concept design before settling on a final look for the person\/creature. Like I said, I\u2019ve still had a LOT of fun on those books, but Lips Touch<\/em> offered such a different journey and rewarding end-result, because of its unique use of the art and since it was the culmination of an idea (i.e.– a heavily illustrated novel) Laini and I have had for over ten years!<\/p>\n 2.<\/font> 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Describe your studio or usual work space.<\/font> <\/p>\n Jim<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: Well, it\u2019s a medium-sized studio space that I attempt to keep neat, but it often doesn\u2019t stay that way for long. I draw and paint on a drafting table I bought from a retired architect off of Craig\u2019s List, with my easel to my right (for the rare occasional oil painting). Next to the easel is my other desk that has my computer, Wacom tablet, scanner, and printer. <\/p>\n 3.<\/font> 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: As a book lover, it interests me: What books or authors and\/or illustrators influenced you as an early reader?<\/font><\/p>\n Jim<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: Wow. There are so many people\u2019s writing and artwork that has influenced me over the years, especially since going to art school. But, as an early reader, I would have to say that, art-wise, the things that most lit my imagination on fire were Saturday morning cartoons and old Hulk<\/strong><\/a> and Spider-Man<\/strong><\/a> comic books. Not realizing at age eight or nine that new issues of comics came out every week, I must have read the handful of issues I had fifty times each until they were fairly ratty. Thankfully, I still have them all!<\/p>\n 4.<\/font> 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: If you could have three (living) illustrators—whom you have not yet met—over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose?<\/font><\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: Well, I was lucky enough to have two of my favorite contemporary artists (Barron Storey<\/strong><\/a> and Kent Williams<\/strong><\/a>) as teachers of mine — and lots of others I\u2019ve met at various conventions over the years. Without question, though, two of my all-time favorites are Dave McKean<\/strong><\/a> and Mike Mignola<\/strong><\/a>, and I\u2019d love to chat with them over drinks. I\u2019d especially have many a process brain-picking question for Mr. McKean! The final one is tough, but I\u2019ll say Claire Wendling<\/strong><\/a>. LOVE her art.<\/p>\n 5.<\/font> 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: What is currently in rotation on your iPod or loaded in your CD player? Do you listen to music while you create books?<\/font><\/p>\n Jim<\/font><\/strong>: I almost always listen to something while I work. It can be anything from ambient or classical (i.e. wordless) music, to some form of alternative rock, to NPR or Air America Radio<\/strong><\/a> or a book on tape, to comic book or movie or tech\/geek podcasts. It just depends on my mood and what stage I\u2019m at in working on something.<\/p>\n The music with the highest rotation in the studio (some of which also crosses over to what I listen to in the car or at the gym) has got to be the two albums by Ezra Furman and the Harpoons<\/strong><\/a>. (Here are Laini and me meeting him after his concert in Portland a couple weeks ago.) <\/p>\n Other current and\/or long-time faves include Bell X1<\/strong><\/a>, PJ Harvey<\/strong><\/a>, The Pixies<\/strong><\/a>, Tricky<\/a><\/strong>, Radiohead<\/strong><\/a>, ![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/jim_and_laini1.jpg\")
Second, there’s his talented wife, author—and artist<\/strong><\/a>—Laini Taylor<\/strong><\/a>, of whom Jim is very proud<\/strong><\/a> (and obviously enamored) and who has written several books Jim has illustrated. If ever there were a pair of … well, true literary sweethearts you knew were absolutely rooting<\/em> for each other and working in tandem under a shared artistic vision (much as we saw recently with the DiTerlizzis<\/strong><\/a>), it’d be Jim and Laini. And, just last night, they attended the 60th National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner, as Lips Touch: Three Times<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Arthur A. Levine, October 2009), written by Laini and illustrated by Jim, was one of five titles<\/strong><\/a> nominated for the 2009 National Book Award in the category of Young People’s Literature. Yup, Jim is having one exciting week. <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/lipstouch1.jpg\")
Last, but far, far<\/font><\/em> from least, are Jim’s own burgeoning career and impressive artistic talents, which he’d probably be too modest to claim. As you’ll read below, Jim has worked for Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, White Wolf Publishing, and many others. He’s done the jacket art work and interior illustrations for many of Laini’s titles, including Dreamdark: Blackbringer<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (Penguin\/Putnam, 2007) and Dreamdark: Silksinger<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (Penguin\/Putnam, 2009). Lips Touch: Three Times<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, for which Jim created the cover art work and interior illustrations, is a collection of two short-stories and one novella, each story a tale of supernatural love and, as Jim writes at his site, “each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss.” You can read more below in our chat about what else Jim is up to, as well as his description of the “prelude” illustrations he provides for the tales in Lips Touch<\/em>, what Publishers Weekly<\/em> called “tantalizing,” Booklist<\/em> adding, “Di Bartolo…provides skillfully detailed pen-and-ink illustrations that are a fine match for the lyrical, romantic text.” <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/jimandc.jpg\")
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may lead somewhere in the future.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/random_5a.jpg\")
7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: If you have illustrated for various age ranges (such as, both picture books and early reader books OR, say, picture books and chapter books), can you briefly discuss the differences, if any, in illustrating for one age group to another?<\/font> <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/beastassassinfor1.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nOur table’s set now for six<\/em> questions over breakfast. Jim’s got Clementine Pie, and I’ve got my coffee. Let’s get a bit more detailed, and I thank Jim again for stopping by.<\/font> <\/p>\n
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(Penguin\/Putnam, 2007); Mixed media<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/jimandleroy2.jpg\")
I work surrounded by a variety of inspirational art books, a small selection of robots and vinyl character statues, and—until painfully recently<\/strong><\/a>—our old dog, Leroy. Not to get on too much of a downer, but just this week {Ed. Note: Rather, the week in which Jim typed up these responses}<\/em> we had to put him to sleep at the ripe old age of sixteen. He\u2019d been with me since well before I entered art school (rescued him from the pound and was told, as I paid for him, that he would have been put down in two days), and he was always beside me on his bed on EVERYthing I\u2019ve drawn, painted, and worked on digitally since. I miss him so much, like there\u2019s some phantom pain from his absence — it feels like an appendage has disappeared. <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/superkidslines1.jpg\")
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