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This isn’t Molly’s first book, by any means, so she’s here today, ’cause I asked her for breakfast, to talk about her work thus far and work to come. As for breakfast? Well, I love it. Most people say, “sure, let’s have some cyber-coffee and, er, eggs. Yeah! Eggs!” But Molly gives this a lot of thought: <\/p>\n Well, any breakfast for me has to start with coffee. I\u2019ve got my little workhorse of an espresso machine in the kitchen, and—even though I’m a morning person—the first thing I do is shuffle out of bed and push the button! After an espresso, I\u2019m game for eating just about anything, but I really love to bake. Hate cooking. Love baking. Cooking: Feels like something you have to do. People gotta eat. But baking: I mean, you never have<\/em> to bake fresh blueberry muffins, but you can if you want<\/em> to, right? So, let\u2019s have coffee and a blueberry muffin, hot from the oven. Or maybe two. Alright. Three.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Indeed, her homemade blueberry muffins are pictured below, as well as her coffee maker. (I often feel like my coffee mugs, which hold the sweet, brown lifeblood, are smiling at me, telling me in my delusional way that everything really will be okay, but Molly’s truly<\/em> is attempting to cheer us, bless it.) <\/p>\n Let’s get to the interview, and I thank Molly for visiting and sharing art. (Note: Nearly all of the books in this Q&A are linked to Changing Hands<\/a><\/strong> bookstore, which is the bookstore local to Molly.) <\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n Molly<\/font><\/strong> (pictured left): Both! I love the freedom that working on my own books provides, the emergence of the story and characters from that first idea to finished book. There’s an immense feeling of accomplishment that accompanies putting an entire picture book puzzle together. <\/p>\n On the other hand, having the opportunity to illustrate someone else’s story is like being given an incredible gift. Suddenly, someone plops a whole world in your lap and you get to explore it. How cool is that?! <\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n Molly<\/font><\/strong>: A baker\u2019s dozen of them. But my favorites are always the one I\u2019ve just finished, or the ones I\u2019m working on, or the ones I have\u2019t started yet. At the time I\u2019m writing this, the ones I\u2019ve just finished are: Flora and the Flamingo<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Chronicle Books, March 2013), Tea Rex<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Viking, April 2013), and Zombelina<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (written by Kristyn Crow<\/a><\/strong>, Bloomsbury\/Walker Books, Fall 2013).<\/p>\n [Ed. Note: To learn more about Molly’s previous titles, visit this page<\/a><\/strong> of her site.]<\/em><\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: What is your usual medium, or\u2013\u2013if you use a variety\u2014your preferred one?<\/font><\/p>\n Molly<\/font><\/strong>: I work with Prismacolor pencils. Only pencils. I don’t paint. There is something wonderful about painters; they embrace the often quixotic qualities of their medium, and there\u2019s something very beautiful and very Zen about that. But that is so not me. I\u2019m the kind of person who color codes my pencils, who straightens the papers on my desk at the end of each day (and then straightens the paperclips on the papers). I am type A to the extreme when it comes to my work. And so paint and I … well, we don\u2019t blend too well (ba-dum bum-bum). <\/p>\n But pencils?! Now you\u2019re talking! I love<\/em> pencils. The feel of them in my hand. The precise line-work they can produce. The smell of the pencil shavings. Heck, I even love the little \u201cscritching\u201d sound they make as they move across the paper!<\/p>\n Molly<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019m strictly a picture book person at this point, though lately I’ve been itching to try my hand at chapter books. I love black and white pencil work!<\/p>\n But, as to working on different types of stories, my early career was spent working in animation. And, really, animation is simply another form of visual storytelling. The work flow is very different, being part of a large crew of artists working on a film vs. working alone in my studio. But so many of the basic premises are the same. <\/p>\n In fact, when I approach the creation of a new book, I think about it in the same way I would when staging a film. Each illustration is a scene or shot to me. Whether it\u2019s on film or in a book, it\u2019s about finding the right image that captures your imagination — and a moment of time. <\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Where are your stompin\u2019 grounds?<\/font> <\/p>\n Molly<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019m in sunny Tempe, Arizona! We really only have two seasons here: Summer (a.k.a. \u201cWHY do we live here?!\u201d) and Winter (a.k.a. balmy and 70 degrees, also a.k.a. \u201cAh yes, THIS is why we live here!\u201d)<\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you briefly tell me about your road to publication?<\/font> <\/p>\n After about five years there, the studio announced that they were going completely digital and offering CGI training to all of the artists who wanted to stay on. I started in on the training and, after about six months, found that I just didn’t enjoy it. For the first time in my life, I became a clock-watcher, glancing up from my computer screen constantly to see how much time had gone by. But there were other artists who dove into it. Loved it! They were staying at work till midnight, absorbing all they could. That\u2019s when I knew I needed to find something else. Because the only way to be your best at something is to love it. <\/p>\n So, I started thinking about what else I could do for a living that would allow me to draw all day, because drawing was (and is) what I really love to do. Little did I know, when I started pursuing illustration, that I would find would so much more than just another way to earn a living. I would find the artistic love of my life, making books!<\/p>\n Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you please point readers to your web site and\/or blog?<\/font> <\/p>\n Molly<\/font><\/strong>: www.idleillustration.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 Molly<\/font><\/strong>: Right now I’m working on the next Rex<\/a><\/strong><\/em> book for Viking, Camp Rex<\/em> (Spring 2014), and a new Flora<\/a><\/strong><\/em> book for Chronicle. <\/p>\n It is so much fun to work on new projects with these characters! Every time I sit down at my desk with them it’s like getting together with old friends. <\/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 Molly<\/font><\/strong>: The initial ideas always seem to come when I least expect it. Never have I ever sat down at my desk and thought, “Right. Let’s think up an idea for a new book!”, and then come up with something brilliant. Usually, I’ll be driving, or cooking, or working on something else entirely, and an idea will pop on just like a lightbulb. And I’ll jot it down, usually with a very rough sketch in my notebook. It can percolate in there a long time, usually a few months, but sometimes years. I’ll keep adding to that initial thought. More scribbled notes, more sketches (see photo of a page in my notebook). And none of it is very legible to anyone but me. <\/p>\n It’s only when I’ve worked out the characters and story in my mind and compiled copious notes that I sit down at my desk to start sorting things out in proper sketches. That’s when I really get to know the book. Because no matter how thoroughly I think I’ve thought things through in my head, there’s nothing like working it out on the page. In the process of drawing, I really figure things out. How a character’s emotion lends itself to a particular gesture, how that gesture leads into the pose or placement of another character, how the placement of that character necessitates a page turn, and how that page turn moves the story forward to a particular point. For all of my notes and planning in my head, it can (and often does) all change when I start to put together that first dummy. I work straight through, page one to the end, then repeat and repeat and repeat….<\/p>\n Once I have all of the sketches the way I want them (and the way my editor and art director want them, too), I scan them and print out the scans at 125%. Then I transfer the sketches by hand to a sheet of Bristol on my light table. I know it would be quicker to print my sketches directly onto the Bristol, but I really like doing it by hand. Once the line art is finished, I work each piece from back to front, building up layer upon layer of colored pencils with increasing amounts of pressure. <\/p>\n Prismacolors are wax-based, so the friction that is created by the applied pressure softens them juuuust<\/em> enough to allow me to blend the colors one into another without using solvents or burnishers. Just pencils and paper. Pure and simple.<\/p>\n 2.<\/font> Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Describe your studio or usual work space.<\/font> <\/p>\n Molly<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: My studio is awesome — and so are the people I share it with! When we started planning it out, it was going to be a 9\u2019 x 12′ glorified shed. Just a little extra space where everyone could go to work on their projects away from the hustle and bustle of the house. Living in a multi-generational household with my husband, our boys, and my parents, there\u2019s always a lot of hustle and bustle! So, we needed a place for my desk, for my husband’s books, a rehearsal space for my mom\u2019s improv classes, workbenches for my dad…. Well, If you’ve ever read the book or seen the movie, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, then you’ll be able to appreciate how our 9\u2019 x 12′ shed grew to the size of another house in the middle of our back yard. <\/p>\n At any point in time, you can walk in there and find me scribbling away, books being read, ships being built, an improvisational drama class performing, or—if my boys are in there—an epic light saber battle! My corner of the studio is filled with everything I need to work — layout space, a light table, shelving, pencils, rubber chicken, and Stuart, a little stuffed frog my sister made for me when we were little. He\u2019s my \u201cDo Not Disturb\u201d sign. When Stuart is on the desk, my boys know that I\u2019m working, but when Stuart is hanging from my desk lamp (in an act of acrobatic daring-do), it\u2019s play time. Light saber battles and general ruckus may commence.<\/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 But the books I checked out most often at the library were the Draw 50…<\/a><\/em><\/strong> series by Lee J. Ames<\/a><\/strong>. Draw 50 Dogs<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, Draw 50 Cats<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, Draw 50 Dinosaurs<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. I drew ’em all! <\/p>\n 4.<\/font> Jules<\/font><\/strong>: If you could have three (living) authors or illustrators—whom you have not yet met—over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose? (Some people cheat and list deceased authors\/illustrators. I won\u2019t tell.)<\/font><\/p>\n Molly<\/font><\/strong>: Lane Smith<\/a><\/strong>, Daniel Pinkwater<\/a><\/strong>, and Oliver Jeffers<\/a><\/strong>. <\/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![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/mollyidle1.JPG\")
If you haven’t seen Molly Idle’s<\/a><\/strong> newest wordless picture book—Flora and the Flamingo<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (Chronicle, February 2013), pictured above—and you are a true blue picture book fan, you should take a look, especially if you like to see an illustrator show you how line and movement can tell a story. (The book also includes flaps—see here<\/a><\/strong> for a demonstration—which really seem to serve a purpose and aren’t just there for kicks and grins.) If you don’t believe me, check out these review excerpts: Kirkus<\/em>, for one, praises Idle’s “[c]ourageous use of white space” and the “flowing, musical quality of the illustrations” (“one can almost hear the 3\/4 beat of a waltz in the background,” the review adds); Publishers Weekly<\/em> calls it “seamless and dynamic visual storytelling”; and in her detailed review<\/a><\/strong> Betsy Bird called it no less than a “perfect amalgamation of wordless storytelling,” noting its “likable (or at least understandable) characters, and an artistic sensibility that will make you forget its unique formatting and remind you only of the classic picture book days of yore.” <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/espresso_photo11.JPG\")
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Jules<\/font><\/strong>: If you have illustrated for various age ranges (such as both early readers and picture books) can you briefly discuss the differences in illustrating for one age group to another?<\/font> <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/flora_sketch_03-use.jpg\")
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<\/em>The Little Black Dress of Cats
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Molly<\/font><\/strong>: I was working as an artist for DreamWorks Animation<\/a><\/strong>, and I loved it. Working in animation was all I had ever wanted to do. Drawing all day. It doesn\u2019t get better than that! <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/idleshadowsketch.JPG\")
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<\/em>My Shadow<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Child’s World, 2011)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/midle.JPG\")
<\/p>\nOkay, the coffee’s brewed, and it’s time to get a bit more detailed with seven questions over breakfast. I thank Molly again for visiting 7-Imp.<\/font> <\/p>\n
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<\/em>Tea Rex<\/a><\/strong> (Viking, April 2013)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/back_to_frontsmall.JPG\")
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Molly<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: Seuss<\/a><\/strong> for sure. He was read nightly at our house. But I was a huge Daniel Pinkwater<\/a><\/strong> fan, too (still am)! The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death<\/a><\/em><\/strong> — genius!! Then there\u2019s Little Women<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. I’ve read it so many times I\u2019ve lost count. <\/p>\n