{"id":1920,"date":"2010-04-20T00:01:52","date_gmt":"2010-04-20T06:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1920"},"modified":"2010-04-20T06:43:14","modified_gmt":"2010-04-20T12:43:14","slug":"seven-questions-over-breakfast-with-peter-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1920","title":{"rendered":"Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Peter Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"

So. I’ve been wanting to conduct this interview for a while. Author\/illustrator Peter Brown<\/a><\/strong> is here to visit. He’s made several really good picture books and is on my illustrator-to-watch list, but here’s where he really outdid himself: Did you see last year’s The Curious Garden<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, published by Little, Brown in April? It’s what the New York Times<\/em> called<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> “a quietly marvelous picture book.” Betsy Bird called it “just about the perfect balance of message and text” in her detailed, as always, August 2009 review<\/a><\/strong>. It was one of my favorite picture books from last year, though I didn’t cover it at 7-Imp, so consider me making up for that today—plus some—with this interview. (In fact, in 2008, Peter stopped by to show us some early art from The Curious Garden<\/em>, if fans of that title would like to go back and explore<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

“Singular style” is a phrase we hear often in the world of illustration, and Peter, undoubtedly, has nailed his with his smooth, stylized, rather retro vibe, playful perspectives, frequent use of earth tones (except for that glorious, blooming garden in The Curious Garden<\/em>), and tongue-in-cheek visual humor. With Peter’s picture book debut, The Flight of the Dodo<\/em>, Publishers Weekly<\/em> called him a promising new talent. Since then, he’s used his droll humor to bring us even more delights, including the precocious, offbeat, and endearing Chowder, the canine star of two of Peter’s titles. <\/p>\n

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His cover and interior illustrations for Cat Weatherill’s<\/a><\/strong> Barkbelly<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> at 7-Imp) and Snowbone<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (co-reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> with Eisha and Betsy Bird), as well as Haven Kimmel’s<\/a><\/strong> Kaline Klattermaster\u2019s Treehouse<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (co-reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> with Eisha — man, we loved that book, though it got very little attention, but I digress), also caught my eye. (You know how I feel about illustrated novels, as in YAY!) Peter’s very rounded, sculpted renditions of these characters are ones you feel like you can reach out and pick up off the page. This morning for our breakfast chat, Peter also discusses his current illustrated title, The Purple Kangaroo<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, the only picture book he hasn’t penned himself, as well as mentions what’s next on his plate. <\/p>\n

And, speaking of plates (bah-dum-ching)… what is he having for breakfast this morning? Get this: “I\u2019m a bit of a French toast connois-
seur<\/font>, if I may say so myself. And my favorite recipe calls for soaking thick slices of fresh Cinnamon Raisin Brioche in an orange zest batter, and then cooking it all up in a pan with plenty of butter until the edges are slightly crispy. I sprinkle a little cinnamon or powdered sugar, drizzle it with maple syrup, add a handful of fresh berries and maybe a few pecans or almonds, and I\u2019ll finish the plate with a mint leaf garnish. (Presentation matters!) Then I\u2019ll pour myself a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee (of course)\u2026and I\u2019ve got my tooth-decaying, artery-clogging breakfast-of-choice. And occasionally my dinner-of-choice.”<\/em><\/font> <\/p>\n

I’m speechless. That right there is a work of art. <\/p>\n

Let’s get to the interview. First, we’ll set the table and get the basics from Peter before our seven questions over breakfast. I thank him kindly for stopping by. <\/p>\n

* * * * * * *<\/font><\/center><\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019m an illustrator who writes.<\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019ve written and illustrated five picture books: Flight of the Dodo<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Chowder<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, The Fabulous Bouncing Chowder<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, The Curious Garden<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, and Children Make Terrible Pets<\/em> (which comes out this September).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve illustrated one other picture book, The Purple Kangaroo<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, written by Michael Ian Black<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve illustrated three chapter books: Barkbelly<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Snowbone<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and Kaline Klattermaster\u2019s Treehouse<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: What is your usual medium, or–\u2013if you use a variety—your preferred one?<\/font> <\/p>\n

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Peter<\/font><\/strong>: I usually use acrylic-gouache on illustration board. <\/p>\n

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But I have so much fun with my loose, energetic sketches that lately I\u2019ve been using my drawings as final art\u2026with a bit of digital tweaking. But it\u2019s very important to me that my digital art does not look digital, so I spend a lot of time working with real drawings and real paper and other real materials before I get my computer involved. You\u2019ll see what I mean when Children Make Terrible Pets<\/em> comes out in September. But here\u2019s a sneak peek: <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: There are many challenges to making a good picture book. But my favorite of those challenges is finding the right balance between words and pictures. Some stories can be told with no words at all, but most need at least a few words. It\u2019s very rare that a picture book needs a lot of words. If a child wants to read a lot of words, I think they\u2019d sooner pick up an early reader than read a lengthy picture book. And so I strive (with varying degrees of success) to tell interesting, imaginative stories with as few words as possible.<\/p>\n

Illustrating a chapter book is quite straightforward. A chapter book\u2019s text is final, and the story has to work well without the help of any illustrations (usually). Sometimes a chapter book may need pictures to clarify a confusing scene, but more often I simply need to find twenty or so scenes that I\u2019d like to illustrate and then have fun making interesting illustrations. It\u2019s a fun job, but not as challenging as illustrating a picture book. Here are a few illustrations I made for Barkbelly<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Snowbone<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and Kaline Klattermaster\u2019s Treehouse<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n


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7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Where are your stompin\u2019 grounds?<\/font><\/p>\n

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Peter<\/font><\/strong>: I live in Brooklyn! I love it here. Brooklyn is still a little gritty, and it\u2019s beautiful, and it has heaps of culture in a comfortable, livable neighborhood\u2026and obviously Manhattan is a quick subway ride away. I have a great community of friends here, many of whom also make children\u2019s books, so there\u2019s always somebody nearby to commiserate with me on the strange world of children\u2019s book publishing.<\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you briefly tell me about your road to publication?<\/font> <\/p>\n

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: At an early age I developed a reputation for being a decent drawer. <\/p>\n

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In the second grade, I drew a picture of a highway in one-point-perspective, and when my teacher saw it, she put me in my school\u2019s advanced art program, which continued all the way through high school.<\/p>\n


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I had an amazing art teacher in high school, Dr. O\u2019Boyle, who really nurtured my talent, and he encouraged me to take many extracurricular art classes. I spent a lot of my time drawing. I especially enjoyed drawing animals from the farms near my house (in the farmy, leafy part of New Jersey) and the animals at the Philadelphia Zoo, where I became a member when I was fourteen.<\/p>\n


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I went on to study Illustration at Art Center College of Design<\/a><\/strong>, where I received my BFA. I started off at Art Center thinking I\u2019d eventually work in animation but quickly realized that children\u2019s books offered much greater creative freedom. And so, after my second year there, kids’ books became my focus.<\/p>\n

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When I moved to New York City in 2002, I was at a party and met a young children\u2019s book editor from Little Brown, named Alvina Ling<\/a><\/strong>. I showed her a book dummy I\u2019d made called Flight of the Dodo<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and after she helped me polish it up, Little Brown bought it! Flight of the Dodo<\/em> was published in 2005, and I\u2019ve been working with Alvina ever since.<\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you please point readers to your web site and\/or blog?<\/font> <\/p>\n

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: www.peterbrownstudio.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: If you do school visits, tell me what they\u2019re like.<\/font> <\/p>\n

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(Click to enlarge.)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: I love visiting schools. These days, I have a cool PowerPoint presentation showing slides of the art I made as a kid, including the first book I ever made at age six, entitled The Adventures of Me and My Dog, Buffy<\/em>. Kids really love seeing the kind of art and stories I made when I was their age, and since neither my writing nor my drawings were very good, I hope that the kids think to themselves, \u201cWell, if THAT yahoo can write and draw for a living, so can I!\u201d <\/p>\n

Also in that slideshow is art I made in art school, samples from my sketchbooks, development art from various book projects, and all the pages of whichever book I happen to be focusing on at that point. It\u2019s great to read a book from a big screen, because ALL of the kids, even the ones in the waaaaay back, can clearly see the illustrations. I always feel silly reading directly from one of my picture books to a large group: The folks in the back certainly can\u2019t see the PICTURES and so they must have no idea what\u2019s going on in the story! What\u2019s the point?!<\/p>\n

But I digress\u2026<\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: If you teach illustration, by chance, tell me how that influences your work as an illustrator.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: I don\u2019t teach illustration yet, but I\u2019d love to someday teach a kids’ book illustration class at a college or art school.<\/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

<\/p>\n

Peter<\/font><\/strong>: My newest picture book is called The Purple Kangaroo<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, written by Michael Ian Black<\/strong><\/a>, the comedian. I never had much interest in illustrating other people\u2019s manuscripts, but Michael wrote a wacky story, and it was a great opportunity for me to experiment with some new illustration techniques, so I happily signed the dotted line. And I think the book turned out great! <\/p>\n

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Michael and I shot a ridiculous parody video about the making of The Purple Kangaroo<\/em>, but I\u2019ll warn you, it is not intended for kids. It\u2019s a tad obscene in places, but it\u2019s hilarious. That may seem weird at first, but I think it makes perfect sense: the video is really intended for Michael\u2019s grown-up fans, most of whom share his dark sense of humor and are of child-bearing age. I\u2019ve noticed a definite generational difference in the response to it. My Dad doesn\u2019t like it at all, which is all the proof I need that it\u2019s actually super cool. Whatever the case, it was a lot of fun, and how many chances will I get to shoot silly videos with famous comedians???<\/p>\n

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As I mentioned earlier, I just completed my next picture book entitled Children Make Terrible Pets<\/em>, and I am VERY excited about it! It\u2019s about a tutu-wearing bear named Lucy, who finds an adorable little boy in the woods. She calls the boy \u201cSqueaker,\u201d because he doesn\u2019t speak Bear (duh), so whenever he talks all she hears is \u201cSqueak!\u201d (Just like you might name a squeaky pet mouse \u201cSqueaker.\u201d) Anyway, Lucy takes him home to be her pet, and although her mom tries to talk her out of it, Lucy insists and gets her pet boy. Lucy and Squeaker are inseparable! However, slowly but surely, the boy begins acting up and eventually Lucy comes to this realization: \u201cYou were right, Mom: Children really do make terrible pets.\u201d This book is a TOTAL giggle-fest. Prepare yourselves.<\/p>\n


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\"Mmm.Our table’s set now for our breakfast interview, and we’re ready to dig in to our French toast. Let’s get a bit more detailed, and I thank Peter again for stopping by.<\/font> <\/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


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Peter<\/font><\/strong>: <\/p>\n

INSPIRATION:<\/font><\/p>\n

My ideas come from all different things: Experiences I\u2019ve had, films (sometimes even TV commercials), books, something I overheard. I never know when ideas will come, so I always keep my notebook with me so I can jot things down and\/or make a drawing. <\/p>\n

In the case of The Curious Garden<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, I discovered The High Line<\/strong><\/a> in Manhattan. The High Line is an old, elevated railway that became completely overgrown with wildflowers and trees and grasses after closing down in 1980. It made me feel like I was a little kid, and so my initial idea for that book was something like: \u201ca boy discovers a wild garden secretly growing in his dreary city.\u201d<\/p>\n


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STORY DEVELOPMENT, a.k.a. \u201cSIMMERTIME\u201d:<\/font><\/p>\n

My ideas never come as fully formed stories, so after I have an interesting idea, I let it simmer in my imagination for days, weeks, months\u2026sometimes years. While my ideas are simmering, I\u2019ll do some \u201cresearch.\u201d That may be actually studying up on the subject at hand, or it could be examining inspirational books or films or other art forms. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a gorgeous background painting from Miyazaki\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> film Spirited Away<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which I used as color inspiration.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the case of The Curious Garden<\/em>, I began discovering many places similar to the High Line in every city I visited, in America and Europe, and I would take photos of those places to use as reference later. <\/p>\n


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As I work through the process of refining my story, I\u2019ll sketch and write and make flow-charts. It\u2019s a very organic process. One quick little doodle might totally change my thinking and lead me to change the story completely. <\/p>\n

This is a very anxious time for me, because at this point I\u2019m still not certain that I\u2019ll actually be able to resolve the story, and there\u2019s a little voice in the back of my head saying, \u201cPeeeeeeeeeterrrr\u2026this just might be a stupid story that wouldn\u2019t be worth writing, even if you could; this will prove once-and-for-all that you\u2019re a TERRIBLE author and artist!!!\u201d <\/p>\n

I hate that voice.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I\u2019ll think, think, think about all the possible versions of my story, I\u2019ll bang my head against the wall (or whatever\u2019s close by), I\u2019ll shed a few tears, and then—by logic and reasoning—I\u2019ll decide why some of my ideas are better, and some are worse, and eventually my story outline will take shape.<\/p>\n


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BOOK DUMMY:<\/font><\/p>\n

When the storyline is resolved, it\u2019s time to decide which parts of the story are best told with words and which are best told with pictures. Using my story outline as a guide, I\u2019ll experiment with lots of different drawings to see which ones work best to tell each part of the visual story. I may have several ideas on how best to depict a certain scene, so I\u2019ll sketch each one and see how they look in comparison to each other. <\/p>\n


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I use Photoshop a lot when making a dummy. It\u2019s very useful for polishing up my sketches and page designs. I\u2019ll scan a few separate drawings and put them all onto one page in Photoshop. I can reposition each element, re-size it, swap one drawing out for another, and look at different versions of the same page, side-by-side. I have so much freedom that eventually I get each page of the book designed exactly as I want it, and I\u2019ll put it all together into my finished book dummy. <\/p>\n

As I\u2019m making all of these visual decisions, I\u2019m also going back to my text and deciding if any of my words can be removed. Often, I\u2019ll realize that I\u2019m telling part of the story with both the words AND the pictures, which is redundant, and so I\u2019ll delete a word or a sentence or a paragraph, or I may realize that the pictures just aren\u2019t doing a good enough job of telling the visual story, and I\u2019ll add a new word or sentence to clarify.<\/p>\n


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COLOR STUDIES:<\/font><\/p>\n

After all of the sketches are approved, I\u2019ll make color studies (using Photoshop) to plan the color scheme for the whole book. Photoshop allows me to really fine-tune my color plan and work through tricky color situations before ever beginning to paint. In the images above, you can see how I started with certain colors that I knew I wanted to include (which were inspired by that background painting from Spirited Away<\/em>), and then I gradually worked through the less important elements, experimenting with a few different colors, until I had a finished study where all the colors worked together harmoniously. I used this first study as a guide for making color studies for the other pages of the book.<\/p>\n

FINAL ART:<\/font> <\/p>\n

At this point, all that remains is to make the final art. The hard part is over, because I\u2019ve got sketches and color studies to use as reference for each piece of final art, so there\u2019s really not much thinking left to do. This part is so cool, because after months (and oftentimes years) of fussing with this project, I finally get to see the actual book come to life.<\/p>\n

But making the final art is no walk in the park. There are always a few illustrations that I know will kick my butt, so I use what I call \u201cPreventive Psychology\u201d to prevent emotional meltdowns. <\/p>\n

TANGENT:<\/font><\/p>\n

Once upon a time, I had to paint several difficult book illustrations in a row, and they ALL totally kicked my buttocks, sending me into an emotional tailspin and my editor didn\u2019t hear from me for WEEKS, and she finally broke-in to my apartment and found me hiding under a pile of dirty clothes, crying and singing Neil Diamond\u2019s song, “Shilo.” It wasn\u2019t pretty. <\/p>\n

FINAL ART (Cont\u2019d):<\/font><\/p>\n

So, to avoid those kinds of disasters, I take some time to think and plan the order in which I\u2019ll make the final illustrations. I NEVER illustrate a book in the order of its pages, and I NEVER illustrate a book beginning with the easiest illustrations and continuing through to the most difficult. Instead, I\u2019ll flag the illustrations that I know will be tough, and I\u2019ll flag the ones that I know will be the most fun, and I make sure to alternate back-and-forth between them as I make the final art, so that I never have to make two difficult illustrations in a row.<\/p>\n

As I paint the illustrations of a book, I often discover little tricks and better ways of illustrating certain elements. For example, after making a few flowery paintings I\u2019ll just naturally get better at painting flowers, so then—after I finish the last illustration of the book—I usually have to go back over each illustration once more to polish up the flowers from the earlier paintings so that all the art looks consistent throughout the entire book.<\/p>\n

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FINAL POLISHING:<\/font><\/p>\n

At this point, I should just hand over the final art and be done with the whole project. But to be honest, I usually make tons of last-minute nitpicky changes to the text until my editor finally smacks me and says, \u201cENOUGH ALREADY! Get a grip! We\u2019re going to press!\u201d<\/p>\n

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CELEBRATION:<\/font><\/p>\n

When I\u2019m finally finished with everything, I get paid. Yayyy!!! So I\u2019ll pay off one of my credit cards and then take that credit card and buy tons of drinks for me and my friends.<\/p>\n

2.<\/font> 7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Describe your studio or usual work space.<\/font> <\/p>\n

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Peter<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: I work from home and, when I\u2019m in the early phases of a project, I spend a lot of time in my living room, surrounded by inspirational kids’ books and art books, as well as my own sketchbooks. This can be a stressful time for me, because at this point I\u2019m still unsure of whether I can turn my idea into a good story, and so I like to be comfortable and relaxed as I plumb the depths of my imagination. <\/p>\n

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When I\u2019ve got my storyline figured out, I usually relocate to my studio. I have two large desks, side-by-side: one for my computer, the other for painting and other hands-on work. Because I use my computer a lot for research and for composing my final sketches, I actually end up doing a lot of drawing right in front of my computer. I try to keep my studio clean and organized, but at some point, usually when the deadline is looming (or more often, when I\u2019m way past deadline), I give up on keeping the place clean.<\/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

Peter<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: My favorite books as a kid are some of my favorite books as an adult. Roald Dahl<\/a><\/strong>, Maurice Sendak<\/a><\/strong>, Richard Scarry<\/a><\/strong>, Robert McCloskey<\/a><\/strong>, The Berenstain Bears<\/a><\/strong>, The Little Prince<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, and Golden Books<\/a><\/strong> WERE and ARE some of my very favorites. As I got a little older, I plowed through my dad\u2019s collection of Hardy Boys books<\/a><\/strong>, and I fell in love with sci-fi\/fantasy, like J.R.R. Tolkien<\/a><\/strong> and Isaac Asimov<\/a><\/strong>. But the truth is that, although I was no dummy, I didn\u2019t read much when I was growing up. In junior high and high school, I thought I wanted to work in animation, so I mostly watched animated films and TV shows, took life-drawing and animation classes, and just drew lots of character-based art. <\/p>\n

One of my goals now is to help nerdy-art kids understand that to make your best art you have to be inspired, and there are whole universes of inspiration waiting to be discovered within the pages of books. These days I think of reading as a huge part of my job, and every morning I sit down with my coffee and read for one to two hours. It\u2019s probably my favorite part of the day.<\/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

\"EmilyPeter<\/font><\/strong>: That\u2019s tough, because I\u2019ve met so many of my contemporaries. But I\u2019d love to have a glass (or four) of rich, red wine with:<\/p>\n