{"id":3784,"date":"2015-07-07T00:01:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T06:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3784"},"modified":"2015-07-07T06:12:22","modified_gmt":"2015-07-07T12:12:22","slug":"seven-questions-over-breakfast-with-michael-emberley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3784","title":{"rendered":"Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Michael Emberley"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nWell, dear readers, it’s been a while since I’ve done a breakfast interview. Since I’ve been teaching this summer, it takes me longer to get to these more time-intensive Q&As. My visitor today, illustrator Michael Emberley<\/a><\/strong>, deserves an award (or a free breakfast perhaps) for his patience with me. We started talking last year<\/em> about doing this interview. <\/p>\n

And I’m really glad we got around to it. I enjoy seeing his illustration work, and I really enjoyed chatting with him and hearing his responses to these questions. Emberley, the son of legendary illustrator Ed Emberley<\/a><\/strong>, has been illustrating since 1979. He was born and raised in Massachusetts but now makes his home in Ireland, near Dublin. (I highly recommend taking time to read this page<\/a><\/strong> of his site, where he talks about why he started illustrating and why he decided to stick with it: “I began illustrating because I needed money, but now I truly appreciate what I do. I can keep myself from being bored by doing a variety of book projects and using different techniques. This is more difficult than mastering one style but it is the only way for me.”<\/em>) <\/p>\n

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His work has been described as<\/a><\/strong> “an unassuming wonder” and “a playful masterclass in using the page.” His vivid characters leap off the page, and his loose-line watercolors communicate a spontaneity and energy that is infectious. His artwork also communicates the great warmth of family and friends; pictured at the top of this post is but one example of this, an illustration from 2008’s Mail Harry to the Moon<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, written by Robie Harris<\/a><\/strong>. And Emberley’s never been one to let gender stereotypes get in the way of his boy and girl protagonists; he had that covered well before it became PC to let such a thing happen. <\/p>\n

When I asked him about breakfast, I got a hearty response: <\/p>\n

Hey! My favorite meal of the day! Okay. If writing early morning, good coffee and pastry in a caf\u00e9. If heading off cycling, add granola yoghurt and fruit or a ‘fry,’ if I need something extra. (A “fry” here in Ireland means [vegetarians, read no further]: sausage, rashers (thick bacon), eggs, black and white pudding (blood sausage), grilled tomato (pronounced toe-mah-toe), and a farl (potatoe pancake) if you\u2019re up north. All on the same plate.)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A fry it is then. (Hey! If I don’t like it, well … it’s only a pretend cyber-breakfast.) And lots of coffee, of course. <\/p>\n

Oh, and guess what? Michael shares below something he’s been thinking about doing for a while — a complete, single-scrolling image of all the sketches for one book. They are from Barbara Bottner’s<\/a><\/strong> Miss Brooks’ Story Nook<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, published last year. “I didn’t dare count them,” he told me. “Hundreds. It’s never been on any of my blogs or Facebook.” That is at the very bottom of this post. <\/p>\n

I thank him for visiting 7-Imp. <\/p>\n

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

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: Definitely both. I\u2019m an illustrator first, but I\u2019m trying to get better at writing more “books without pictures.” But even when writing a novel, my mind is full of images — a theatre with sets and scenes, costumes and colored lights, players and performances. As I draw a picture book character, I hear them speaking. As I write about a middle grade character, I see their eyes. They\u2019re real to me. <\/p>\n

Pictured below: Sketch pages of different early ideas for <\/em>Miss Brooks’ Story Nook<\/a><\/strong> (Knopf, 2014). See even more sketches in this 2014 7-Imp post<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em>
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\nPictured below: More sketches for <\/em>Miss Brooks’ Story Nook<\/a><\/strong>, followed by a piece of final art. These were Michael’s “wish for a gruesome end to Billy by a Missy-conjured snake. None were accepted for final art. Notice even the final composition in the scene of the snake confronting Billy. I played around with different morphs of Missy into her imaginary snake. My idea of her turning into her creation can be seen in the sequential scene in the final book art where a close-up of her face\/eyes is clearly becoming reptile, and then the snake becomes more a morph of her scarf (look at the color stripes and tail), but my original idea—using a half-Missy, half-snake head, though a more logical extension of the ‘snake eyes’ sequence—was ultimately rejected. It’s all subjective in fantasy.”<\/em>
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” … which is exasperating boys like YOU.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
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\nPictured below: “Development of another hard-to-visualize concept of Billy being a yoke on Missy’s neck. Some things come out first draft with very little change in final art.”<\/em>
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\nPictured below: An unused concept for the neighbor’s basement:<\/em>
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\nPictured below: Lion sketches:<\/em>
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\nPictured below: Ideas for Missy in her raincoat. Not used. “Note the skull pattern, expressing her less than stereotypical ‘girlie’ nature.”<\/em>
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\nPictured below: Some final art from the book:<\/em>
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(Click second image to see spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center>
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date? (If there are too many books to list here, please list your five most recent illustrated titles or<\/em> the ones that are most prominent in your mind, for whatever reason.)<\/font><\/p>\n

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: Yikes. Lots. I could list them, but it\u2019s not nearly as impressive a list compared to what others have done. You can look at my website<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I like to live life rather than spend it all in the studio. This will ultimately limit the number of books I finish, I guess. You can only do so much. I try not to be too hard on myself, but I usually feel I\u2019m not working hard enough. The question is: What do I want to do with the finite time I\u2019ve got?
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: What is your usual medium?<\/font><\/p>\n

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: Line, as I said, first and foremost. Preferably pencil. Sometimes pen. Occasionally brush and ink. [As for] color: Mostly liquid watercolor, but also dry pastel. If I could get away with just a pencil, I\u2019d be happy. I\u2019m experimenting with using digital color.
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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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\nJules<\/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

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: I\u2019ve illustrated for young and old. Fiction and non-fiction. I love all ages. I wish I could draw for everyone. I do as much drawing making cards and notes for adults as I do for kids. I do a comic strip for my local coffee shop. It\u2019s fun seeing people smile. I rarely get that from the book industry. I work so remotely from that whole world.
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Michael: “This is the kind of thing I do for books, as well as cards and letters. These self-portraits were done really fast one after the other on the holiday card envelopes of friends, family, etc. (I used to draw the recipient, but that gets you into a lot of trouble. Easier to pan yourself.) This shows how different each take can be. I do this for book characters as well, until I see the one I like. If this were a book,
I have two favorites here. The rest are trash.”<\/em><\/center>
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: Where are your stompin\u2019 grounds?<\/font> <\/p>\n

Michael<\/font><\/strong> I\u2019ve lived on the east coast and west coast of the USA (Boston, Oakland, San Diego) but now live in a small village on the east coast of Ireland, near the Irish Sea. We\u2019re just south of Dublin, so we\u2019re in the city a lot, too. It\u2019s a beautiful spot for cycling (my other life) and close to trains and an airport shuttle. It\u2019s getting too pricey, though, so my lovely Irish wife Mel and I may be forced to move soon. An artist is always being chased away by gentrification. My life has been pretty nomadic — at least 20 pillows so far.
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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you briefly tell me about your road to publication?<\/font> <\/p>\n

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: Short story: My father was\/is in the biz (Ed Emberley<\/a><\/strong>). He worked at home. I did odd stuff for him when I still lived there. A series of sketches I did for a drawing book he was working on was a failure, because it looked less like his work than he wanted, but instead of throwing it out, he suggested I take it away and make it into a stand-alone book for myself. Clever way of getting me to pay my way I took it in to my father\u2019s editor, the kindly John Keller, and he said, “Let\u2019s go!” I was 19 and never looked back. [That was] Dinosaurs! A Drawing Book<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, 1979.
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you please point readers to your web site and\/or blog?<\/font> <\/p>\n

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: http:\/\/www.michaelemberley.com\/<\/a><\/strong>.
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(Click each to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: If you do school visits, tell me what they\u2019re like.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Dan<\/font><\/strong>: They\u2019re less about me and all about the prep that the school, teachers, librarians, and parents put into the visit. The more they put in, the better the kids are prepared, and the better it goes for everyone. I\u2019m pretty good with the kids. I\u2019m a kid myself. I can be very silly. I draw a lot. Most people like that. <\/p>\n

But if they have no idea who you are or why you\u2019re there, it\u2019s like climbing Everest. Everyone loses. I should do more visits. But no one knows me here in Ireland. Very few of my books are sold here. My publishers claim the Irish don\u2019t want my books. What can you do? I enjoyed visiting a tiny school in Co. Mayo recently. I got them rapping with me to one \u201cYou Read to Me\u201d book. They\u2019re so funny.<\/p>\n

One thing I can say is I stopped prepping for specific audiences long ago, because I was blind-sided so many times with either a completely different age group or topic than I was told. Or it\u2019s teens and five-year-olds in the same room. You have to think on your feet and read the vibe going on. I\u2019ve done some seriously bad talks — and great ones. Worst was an ALA author breakfast years ago. I bombed. Best was my last U.S. gig – in Rhode Island, I think. The kids were great and, therefore, so was I. We all won.
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Illustrations from Barbara Bottner’s<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>Miss Brooks Loves Books!
(and I don’t)<\/a><\/strong> (Knopf, 2010)<\/em><\/center>
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\nJules<\/font><\/strong>: Any new titles\/projects you might be working on now that you can tell me about?<\/font> <\/p>\n

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: Oh boy. Tons of stuff. I\u2019ve taken time out this past year, making a big lunge back towards writing after mainly illustrating for several years. I\u2019m writing for all ages. I have stuff for YA down to picture books. I have at least 15 manuscripts on the go. Yikes! I know: Focus on one, right? I\u2019m working on that. But I\u2019m too excited. I have so many books I want to do. <\/p>\n

And I love all my new characters! Does that sound silly? I sincerely hope I can learn to write well enough so others will \u201cmeet\u201d them and enjoy their company as much as I do. That sounds trite, but who cares? It\u2019s true.
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Michael: “These are Mom sketches from a book I’m doing now. These were nixed for publication. Only the [Mom at the doorframe] is in the current dummy.”<\/em><\/center>
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\n\"Mmm.Okay, we’ve got more coffee, and it’s time to get a bit more detailed with seven questions over breakfast. I thank Michael again for visiting 7-Imp.<\/font> <\/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

Michael<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of sketching. I seem to do more and more as years go by. Loads of it done in coffee shops. I\u2019ll use pencil, but since it smudges if you draw on the opposite page, I only use the right-hand pages. When I get to the end, I turn the sketchbook upside down and draw on those pages in pen. Hey, paper is expensive.<\/p>\n

I do quite a bit of direct sketching on type layouts too. Impulsive ideas first — inventing the characters, their clothing, hairdos, and expressions. You know, the cast and performance of the play. I might add a few backgrounds. I only explore color in the finals, unless there is a color idea that dominates the scene.<\/p>\n

I did this alphabet book with Barbara Bottner<\/a><\/strong> with 26 different kids and one teacher. I created 27 distinct individuals that moved through the book. Then I played them out. That<\/em> was work. Lots of sketchbooks were filled on that one.
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Jacket thumbnails<\/em><\/center>
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Final sketch for book jacket<\/em><\/center>
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Above: Sketches<\/em>
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Color sketches<\/em><\/center>
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\n2.<\/font> Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Describe your studio or usual work space.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: My workspace is wherever I am. I worked in a classic sixth floor factory building loft studio in Boston for ten years; in second bedrooms; in my own bedroom; in a closet-like space, like the one I\u2019m renting at the moment. I make do. I get on with it. <\/p>\n

My fantasy would be a bigger, well-lit, more open space to lay things out. A picture book is a whole, not discrete pieces. It\u2019s great to see it all at once. But I can\u2019t afford that kind of space right now. You make do. I\u2019m writing this interview in my local pub. But maybe that\u2019s an Irish thing.
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\n3.<\/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

Michael<\/strong><\/font><\/strong>: My influences are few as a reader. I did not read much fiction as a kid, sorry to say. Mrs. Bowman read us Dahl<\/a><\/strong> in 3rd grade, and I loved it. I was forced to read things beyond my age and hated them, like Melville\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> Billy Budd<\/a><\/strong><\/em> in 5th grade. That said, I loved all of Richard Scarry<\/a><\/strong>, Charles Shulz<\/a><\/strong> comics, and Charles Harper<\/a><\/strong> books.
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\n4.<\/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

Michael<\/font><\/strong>: I like lots of people\u2019s work. But it\u2019s hard to know who would be a good dinner guest if I haven\u2019t met them. A lousy artist might be great craic, and a brilliant one might only be good for, as a friend once described, “a couple of grim pints.” But it is nice to sit down with a fellow book person and not have to explain what you do the whole night. <\/p>\n

I admire many people\u2019s work and do occasionally wonder if they are anywhere near as interesting as their art\/writing. \u201cMy authors\u201d are all good craic. I met author Barbara Bottner<\/a><\/strong> at a gig once, and whether she believed me or not, I was a huge fan of her book, Bootsie Barker Bites<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. And I can tell you, she ain\u2019t boring. It\u2019s great to be doing books with her. Mary Ann Hoberman<\/a><\/strong> and her husband Norm are great dinner partners. My friends Robie Harris<\/a><\/strong> and her husband Bill are always great around the table. <\/p>\n

[Pictured below: Art from Mary Ann Hoberman’s<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart<\/a><\/strong> (Little, Brown, 2012). Read more about it here<\/a><\/strong>.]<\/em>
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— From Theodore Roethke’s<\/a><\/strong> “Dinky”<\/em><\/center>
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“Nancy Hanks” by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Ben\u00e9t<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/center>
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“Mary Middling” by Rose Fyleman<\/a><\/strong>, “A Frog in a Well Explains the World”
by Alice Schertle<\/a><\/strong>, and “Bat Patrol” by Georgia Heard<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread and read poems)<\/center>
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“<\/em>If-ing” by Langston Hughes<\/a><\/strong> and “Things” by Eloise Greenfield<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
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\nI like work I don\u2019t imagine non-artists can truly appreciate to the same degree as another illustrator would. Brian Karas<\/a><\/strong> is a quiet genius. Ditto Ana Juan<\/a><\/strong>; Frida<\/a><\/strong><\/em> is a fantastic. I love Ra\u00fal Col\u00f3n<\/a><\/strong>, Marla Frazee<\/a><\/strong>, and Jon Klasssen\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> stuff is gorgeous. That tree house book<\/a><\/strong> — wow. Ed Young<\/a><\/strong>, the Dillons<\/a><\/strong>. Jim Kay\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> work in A Monster Calls<\/a><\/em><\/strong> is one of the best things I\u2019ve ever seen. <\/p>\n

I love stuff I\u2019ve seen from Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and eastern Europe. I\u2019m in love with stuff that won\u2019t sell in the U.S. I would love to publish in Poland or someplace like that. France would be impossible to break into, but they have amazing children\u2019s book illustrators. Japan too. Gorgeous stuff. The U.S. book-buyer can be too, uh, American, sometimes. Too limited in their tastes. There is a big world out there beyond the bright lights. <\/p>\n

I love the comic\/graphic novelists coming out of Europe and the U.S. They might be good for a laugh over a glass. <\/p>\n

I want to talk to someone who sees no boundaries between art, science, religion, and philosophy. I like thinkers and dreamers. I like smart — but not at the expense of wonder. I like talking to people who teach me things but don’t lecture. I like people who can skip between genres and genders, fact and fiction, pain and persuasion. Someone who can stay off their phone. Someone funny and kind. If they are an artist, so much the better. But the creative arts is no secret passport to the land of interesting company. (Sounds like a personal ad!)<\/p>\n

Writers? Hmmm. Too many. Short list: <\/p>\n