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Here’s an interview that I had planned to post around Christmas, one of the last interviews of 2010, as it features author\/illustrator Elise Primavera<\/a><\/strong>, who included some illustrations below from some of her Auntie Claus<\/em> titles. Clearly, I didn’t quite meet my goal, now did I? Consider this a gift to those of you who are a) Elise fans and b) still haven’t taken down your Christmas tree. <\/p>\n I had the opportunity to meet Elise, who has been writing and illustrating books for children for over twenty-five years, in 2009 at the Southern Festival of Books<\/a><\/strong>. Little did I know till then what a wonderfully dry and wicked funny sense of humor she has, though I suppose if I had paid more attention I would have figured that out from her pen-and-ink drawings, such as this delightfully disturbing one: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elise is best known for her bestselling Auntie Claus<\/em> titles (this<\/a><\/strong> being the most recent) from Simon & Schuster and her Louise the Big Cheese<\/em> books (also Simon & Schuster), the latter illustrated by Caldecott Honor Medal Winner Diane Goode<\/a><\/strong> (with this one<\/a><\/strong> being the most recent in that picture book series). But, never one to rest on her laurels, she has tackled other age ranges as well. In 2006, she wrote and illustrated her first novel, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls<\/a><\/strong><\/em> from HarperCollins (School Library Journal<\/em> calling her illustrations for this title “small artistic gems”). In 2007, Elise launched a graphic novel\/chapter book series with Fred & Anthony Escape from the Netherworld<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Hyperion). “Expertly blending short blocks of text with pages from a Netherworld travel guide and quick-sketch cartoon panels,” wrote Kirkus<\/em>, “Primavera…never lets up on either the laughs or the helter-skelter action. A series kickoff with kicks galore.” Her latest picture book, Thumb Love<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, is about a young girl who decides to break her thumb-sucking habit. Wrote Publishers Weekly<\/em>, “while the illustrations—mostly vignettes—feel a world away from the lavishness of her Auntie Claus<\/em> series, they make their point with wit, empathy, and frisky color.”<\/p>\n And that’s just it: Elise is always up for surprising us. Changing her game. Switching up her style. Let’s find out what new things she’s up to these days. She’s joining me for breakfast. “Every morning,”<\/em> she told me, “I have the same thing: McCann\u2019s steel cut oatmeal<\/font> (that I make for the week and nuke in the morning). I add blueberries, pineapple, honey, and cinnamon. Sometimes I throw in dried cranberries or cherries and walnuts. Of course, coffee -\u2013 2 cups.”<\/em> <\/p>\n Oh, good. A coffee-drinker. Let’s get right to it, and I thank her for stopping by… <\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019m an author\/illustrator.<\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: {A partial list of Elise’s books thus far}:<\/em><\/p>\n …I think I must have somewhere around forty books by now.<\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: What is your usual medium, or–\u2013if you use a variety—your preferred one?<\/font> <\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: I have worked in a lot of different mediums. I started out working in watercolor and then did some books adding gouache to the watercolor. I did two of the Auntie Claus<\/em> books in pastels; the last one I did in acrylic. I also love working in black and white, using pen & ink.<\/p>\n Jules<\/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 Elise<\/font><\/strong>: I have illustrated books for various ages: picture books, a chapter book series, and a middle grade novel. The illustrations that I\u2019ve done for my picture books have been a lot more involved. For instance, the first two Auntie Claus<\/em> books I did on 20\u201d X 30\u201d boards that I coated with a gesso and a pumice stone mixture and then did an under painting with gouache. It took me two years from sketches\u2014which I did very tightly in charcoal\u2014to the finished art. But then from 2007 \u2013 2008 I did a series of four graphic novels\/chapter books, the Fred & Anthony<\/em> books, that were done entirely in marker and black watercolor. For my novel, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, I had a lot of fun doing the interior art in pen and ink. I hadn\u2019t worked liked that since my days in art school. I used those old fashioned Speedball pen nibs that you dip in the ink. In the beginning, I had my share of blobs and accidents with those pens, but I loved working that way once I got the hang of it. <\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Where are your stompin’ grounds?<\/font><\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: Red Bank, NJ, is a great little town that has kind of an arty feel. There\u2019s the Count Basie Theatre<\/a><\/strong>, a movie theater, the Two River Theater Company<\/a><\/strong>, some galleries, and of course Starbucks and No Joe\u2019s (which sells even better coffee!). We have a wonderful independent bookstore down the street, called River Road Books<\/a><\/strong>. I lived in NYC before I came here, so the culture shock wasn\u2019t too bad. I\u2019m near NY to get in whenever I want but have more room to work, so it\u2019s been really good for me here.<\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you briefly tell me about your road to publication?<\/font> <\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: I was a fashion illustration major in art school. I did do some freelance fashion illustration early on for Seventeen<\/em> magazine and Henri Bendel\u2019s in New York. But that business was drying up because of the use of photography. I decided I wanted to try illustrating children\u2019s books. I put together a portfolio and started to make the rounds and got a book jacket to do from what was then Harper & Row. After that, I got a little picture book to do from Margaret McElderry that was in black and white with a pre-separated cover. I had no idea at all how to even to do a dummy! It was definitely learning-as-I-went-along. <\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you please point readers to your web site and\/or blog?<\/font> <\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: www.eliseprimavera.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Any new titles\/projects you might be working on now that you can tell me about?<\/font> <\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: I am about to begin writing a couple of middle grade books about girls and horses. I will be doing the art for them as well. I have two picture books that I wrote and somebody else will be illustrating. One is called The House at the End of Ladybug Lane<\/em>, and the other is called, Who Needs Love?<\/em> They will both be out in the next couple of years. There will be two more Louise the Big Cheese<\/em> titles coming out in 2011 and 2012.<\/p>\n 1.<\/font> Jules<\/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 Elise<\/font><\/strong>: The first thing I do when I\u2019m illustrating a book are character sketches. I\u2019ll work on tracing paper or copy paper \u2013- something really cheap that I don\u2019t mind throwing out. I will do a ton of these until I start to feel like I\u2019m getting the right character. There\u2019s so much to consider, and I really do spend a lot of time doing this, but I don\u2019t always get to the point where I feel like I\u2019ve totally nailed it. I figure as I do the dummy I will get the character down. If there\u2019s research to do, I\u2019m doing it right at this point and gathering it all around me to use for inspiration.<\/p>\n The next step is to do a dummy. I don\u2019t work on a computer, so I\u2019m still doing every thing the old-fashioned way. I cut up the text and start to figure out how it will break up and what will be on each page. I do several versions of this, trying to get the design elements of the book figured out. I\u2019m also thinking about what medium I\u2019ll do as well, because that will affect all sorts of things, too. I do a lot of prep work before I even think about doing a finish. I always do a black-and-white dummy that is fairly tight. I\u2019ll use everything from pencil to markers to charcoal. <\/p>\n Once the dummy is done and everyone is happy (editors, art directors), I start to do some color sketches to figure out the range of colors that I want to use. Then I\u2019m able to move on to doing the finishes.<\/p>\n 2.<\/font> Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Describe your studio or usual work space.<\/font> <\/p>\n Elise<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: I have a really great workspace. I bought this house in 1999. It was built in the ’20s and has a craftsman-style feel to it. My reason for falling in love with the house was that it had a porch that faced north. The light was fantastic, and I knew immediately that it would be my new studio. Most of the money went into rebuilding that porch into a studio. Above it was an attic. I had the builder take down the ceiling. This opened it up to allow for high windows. The whole thing had to be insulated. A few years later, I had the outside porch re-done and a patio put in. I had the yard fenced off and trees planted for privacy so that it\u2019s my little retreat from the world. Lulu, my dog, wanders in and out all day so it\u2019s really nice for her!<\/p>\n Next to the porch was a large walk-in closet that I have turned into an office. Lately I\u2019ve been spending more time in there, because I\u2019ve been doing a lot of writing.<\/p>\n 3.<\/font> Jules<\/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 Elise<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: I was sick all the time as a kid. It was one cold after another. In fifth grade, I had scarlet fever and a month later came done with rheumatic fever. It was literally an entire summer in bed. During that time, I think I read every Harvey Comic<\/a><\/strong> that they produced. I loved them all! Richie Rich<\/a><\/strong>, Little Dot<\/a><\/strong>, Casper<\/a><\/strong>, Wendy the Witch<\/a><\/strong>. This was also the time that I started to become interested in drawing, because I tried to copy the cartoons. <\/p>\n After that I read The Hobbit<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and I think this was the book that got me hooked on reading. I read The Lord of the Rings<\/a><\/strong><\/em>; I loved Madeleine L\u2019Engle\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> Wrinkle in Time<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, The Phantom Tollbooth<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and then The Earthsea<\/a><\/strong> Trilogy<\/em>. I loved The Wizard of Oz<\/a><\/strong><\/em> and Alice in Wonderland<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. I was very into horses as a kid, too, so I read King of the Wind<\/a><\/strong><\/em> and the Misty of Chincoteague books<\/a><\/strong>, too.<\/p>\n 4.<\/font> Jules<\/font><\/strong>: If you could have three (living) illustrators or writers—whom you have not yet met—over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose?<\/font><\/p>\n Elise<\/font><\/strong>: I love Raymond Briggs\u2019<\/a><\/strong> work. The Father Christmas<\/a><\/strong> books, The Snowman<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, his book about his parents, Ethel and Ernest<\/a><\/strong>. His work really touches me. I would LOVE to meet him. Also Lynda Barry<\/a><\/strong> — The Greatest of Marlys<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, One Hundred Demons<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, What It Is<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. I\u2019ve loved her work for years! And I would also like to meet Cynthia Rylant<\/a><\/strong>, who I am in awe of!<\/p>\n 5.<\/font> Jules<\/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 Elise<\/font><\/strong>: I have a very strange conglomeration of songs. I\u2019ve got the Rachel Portman<\/a><\/strong> soundtrack to Chocolat<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, some ![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/Unglued-elise-use.jpg\")
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Okay, table’s set. Here’s our cappuccino, and let’s keep on keepin’ on. We’re ready to get a bit more detailed…<\/font> <\/p>\n
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