{"id":2352,"date":"2012-05-15T00:01:22","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T06:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2352"},"modified":"2012-05-15T07:02:32","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T13:02:32","slug":"jill-mcelmurrys-tale-of-two-books-before-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2352","title":{"rendered":"Jill McElmurry’s Tale of Two Books Before Breakfast"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m sitting down at the breakfast table this morning with author\/illustrator Jill McElmurry<\/a><\/strong>. Rather, I’m handing the 7-Imp mic over to her. And I’m happy to be doing so; I’ve enjoyed many of her picture books and her expressive, detailed gouache artwork over the years. <\/p>\n

And, as you can see at her site<\/a><\/strong>, she has illustrated nearly twenty books in her career. This month, she sees the release of two new picture book titles — on the same day, actually, which she discusses below. She both wrote and illustrated Mario Makes a Move<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Schwartz & Wade), which I haven’t read yet. The other, Pirate Princess<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (HarperCollins), was written by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen<\/a><\/strong> and is an anti-princess (well, anti-traditional<\/em> princess) tale of a young member of the royal family who “couldn’t face [a] life wed to some prince” and wants to be a pirate instead. When she finally makes it to a pirate’s boat, the men try to have her clean and cook, but neither works out too well. Turns out Princess Bea, the protagonist who puts the very “pluck” in plucky, has another talent — but I won’t ruin the read for you with spoilers. <\/p>\n

Kirkus<\/em> calls Pirate Princess<\/em> a “winning combination of smart and silly,” and about Mario Makes a Move<\/em> (which is evidently about a squirrel amazing to his doting parents, but not so much his less impressed friend) Publishers Weekly<\/em> writes that McElmurry’s “text and watercolor artwork capture the exuberance of the creative spirit.” The squirrel appears to have amazing moves. (It looks very funny, and I’ll have to find a copy of this one soon.) “I’m doing a reading of Mario<\/em> at the end of the month with a friend (former actress),” Jill told me, “who reads the part of Mario. It’s fun to read as a pair, and this book cries out for more than one. We’re doing moves and the whole bit. I can (in my feverish imagination) picture doing it with real dancers in a larger space, someday.”<\/p>\n

I’m going to turn it right over to Jill, and I thank her for visiting and sharing words, early sketches, and finished illustrations today. <\/p>\n

On Pirate Princess<\/em>…<\/font><\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

Jill<\/font><\/strong>: Two books I\u2019ve worked on came out on the same day this year — May 8th. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s never happened before. A few days ago, I finished illustrating my 17th book (Tree Lady<\/em> by Joseph Hopkins, Beach Lane Books, 2013), and while I\u2019ve had more than one book come out in the same year, I\u2019ve never had more than one come out in the same season, let alone on the same day. Maybe it\u2019s one of those \u201cevery knack being by practice capable of improvement\u201d*<\/strong> type of things, or maybe it\u2019s coincidental. <\/p>\n

Every book is different. I mean, I can\u2019t predict what kind of experience I\u2019m going to have when I start working on a new book. A manuscript can at first seem like it will be a cinch and end up being a crawl on hands and knees up K2. Or it can appear at first to be a drooling Yeti and end up being a kitten. The sketching process can be all kittens, and the final art a herd of wooly mammoths. Or the other way around. It keeps things exciting.<\/p>\n

When I signed up with HarperCollins to illustrate Pirate Princess<\/a><\/em><\/strong> by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen<\/a><\/strong>, I fell in love with the rhyming text, Princess Bea, and Captain Jack. I loved that Princess Bea threw up all over the pirates on page 24. Wow! <\/p>\n

The sketch phase was fun and fast. I experimented a lot with style and found some great reference material**<\/strong>. There\u2019s no shortage of reference material when it comes to pirates. Pirates are, in case you hadn\u2019t noticed, pretty popular. I didn\u2019t want to look at pirate picture books by other illustrators any more than Mel Gibson wanted to watch Derek Jacobi play Hamlet***<\/strong>. There are some incredible pirate picture books out there. <\/p>\n

Princess Bea evolved quickly. <\/p>\n

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

Her sidekick, Bowser, was based on my friend Sandra\u2019s much-loved Boston Terrier. <\/p>\n

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

Captain Jack showed up after some fussing over his hair and costume. <\/p>\n

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

In the beginning, I did this small character sketch of the pirates and became a little too attached to the look and feel of it. <\/p>\n

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For my own reference, I named the pirate crew (from left to right) Green Beard; Patch; Patch the Cat; Captain Jack, of course; Viking Girl; and Surfer. Later, I made Viking Girl a little less Viking, turned Surfer into Swabbie, and added a mystery man with a beauty mark. The sketches were approved after very few revisions, and I launched into the finished art with pirate-girl bravado only to find that I could NOT, to my satisfaction, translate the feel of the small rough pirate sketch into full-sized art. I began a period of do-overs that lasted for many months. The recycling bin filled up and up with small pieces of painted watercolor paper. <\/p>\n

Two things kept me hanging in there: my agent\/therapist, Marcia Wernick, and Princess Bea herself. When I looked at Bea with her pirate sash, crazy red hair, and defiant gaze, I bucked up. Eventually, in a last ditch effort to achieve that illusive fat rough line of the small sketch, I began doing the art 20% smaller than the trim size of the book. I would have done it even smaller, but I didn\u2019t think the facial expressions would have read very well. <\/p>\n

Also, the art director worried that the colors would become muddy if the art was too small. Working at 80%, I was able to complete the art for Pirate Princess<\/em> without voluntarily walking the plank. Someday I\u2019d like to try illustrating a book at 50% or even 30%. <\/p>\n

Here are some sketches for you to look at. <\/p>\n

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The stages in the life of a picture book spread
(early version, sketch, and final spread):
“Instead she wished for other things \/ Not fancy or frou-frou.
No, Princess Bea felt <\/em>pirating<\/font><\/strong><\/font> \/ Was just the thing she’d do.
But how on earth could Princess Bea \/ Track down a pirate crew?
And though she dreamed of salt and sea, \/ Her dreams could not come true.”<\/em>
(Click each spread to enlarge a bit)<\/center><\/p>\n

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Early version, sketch, and final spread:
“Until one day, Bea strolled the dock, \/ And as she neared the slip,
The sight she saw was quite a shock— \/ A real-live pirate ship!
‘At last, I’ll bid my throne adieu!’ \/ Bea laughed and climbed on board.
She called out, ‘Yo-ho-ho, yoo-hoo! \/
Ahoy, there, pirate horde!'”<\/em>
(Click each spread to enlarge a bit)<\/center><\/p>\n


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The cover: Early version, sketch, and final<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Footnotes: <\/p>\n