We have the exciting opportunity to hear from two talented illustrators who can speak from experience of what life is like once "Book Deal" is marked off the bucket list.
Kelly Light:
*I don’t remember not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. Aside
from a brief Broadway dream of being ANNIE! when I was 9, I have always
wanted to be a cartoonist. Cartoons in all forms, paper, t.v., cinema,
books and design… cartoons have always rocked my world.
*I was an Archie and Harvey comic fanatic but I would read all of my older brother’s comics too.
*My studio is the attic of my house in N.Y.. I have a Tudor home, so the walls are slanted making it difficult to get things to stick. Uhg! Gravity! Things fall on my head sometimes. I do like it up here, it’s like being in a tree house. Just hope the neighbors stop cutting down their trees!
* I used to have a career in cartoon merchandise. From famous
character t-shirts to theme park merchandise and every thing in between
that could have a mouse or rabbit printed on it. It was both fun and
non-fulfilling. There was free swag.
*Before that I did have a bright and gloriously brief stint in animation. In college, (Syracuse University) I was hired out of class by my animation teacher to work at his studio in downtown Syracuse. Animotion, Inc. -they were great guys. I lived in Los Angeles for a few years and interned and p.a.’d and cleaned peoples work stations all for free until I moved back to N.Y. and kept doing it for free until I took the job in merchandising.
*I work digitally in Photoshop. I still do most of my drawing by hand and color it up in Photoshop. I got a Cintiq recently and that has been an exciting change in how I work.
*I collect different old things. A lot of artists do this – collect things. I wonder what makes us do it?
You can see Kelly's work here and her blog here.
Molly Idle has been drawing ever since she could wield a pencil. But while she started scribbling before she could walk, her professional career as an artist began slightly later…
It was upon her graduation from Arizona State University, with a BFA in Drawing, that Molly accepted an offer to work for DreamWorks Feature Animation Studios. After five years, a number of film credits, and an incredibly good time, she left the studio and leapt with gusto into the world of children's book illustration!
Molly now lives in Arizona with her brilliant husband, two wonderfully mischievous sons, and two snugly cats. When not making mischief with her boys or watching old Technicolor musicals, she can be found at her desk scribbling away, with a pencil in one hand and a cup of espresso in the other- creating a plethora of profoundly whimsical picture books!
You can see Molly's wonderful work here and read her blog here. (She is part of the mini-interviews crew, it's worth a read!)
Kelly Light:
*I was an Archie and Harvey comic fanatic but I would read all of my older brother’s comics too.
*My studio is the attic of my house in N.Y.. I have a Tudor home, so the walls are slanted making it difficult to get things to stick. Uhg! Gravity! Things fall on my head sometimes. I do like it up here, it’s like being in a tree house. Just hope the neighbors stop cutting down their trees!
*Before that I did have a bright and gloriously brief stint in animation. In college, (Syracuse University) I was hired out of class by my animation teacher to work at his studio in downtown Syracuse. Animotion, Inc. -they were great guys. I lived in Los Angeles for a few years and interned and p.a.’d and cleaned peoples work stations all for free until I moved back to N.Y. and kept doing it for free until I took the job in merchandising.
*I work digitally in Photoshop. I still do most of my drawing by hand and color it up in Photoshop. I got a Cintiq recently and that has been an exciting change in how I work.
*I collect different old things. A lot of artists do this – collect things. I wonder what makes us do it?
You can see Kelly's work here and her blog here.
Molly Idle has been drawing ever since she could wield a pencil. But while she started scribbling before she could walk, her professional career as an artist began slightly later…
It was upon her graduation from Arizona State University, with a BFA in Drawing, that Molly accepted an offer to work for DreamWorks Feature Animation Studios. After five years, a number of film credits, and an incredibly good time, she left the studio and leapt with gusto into the world of children's book illustration!
Molly now lives in Arizona with her brilliant husband, two wonderfully mischievous sons, and two snugly cats. When not making mischief with her boys or watching old Technicolor musicals, she can be found at her desk scribbling away, with a pencil in one hand and a cup of espresso in the other- creating a plethora of profoundly whimsical picture books!
You can see Molly's wonderful work here and read her blog here. (She is part of the mini-interviews crew, it's worth a read!)
