Tip Tap Pop: Mini Illustrator Interview

This week on my sketch-blog I interview Valeria Docampo, illustrator of Tip Tap Pop. I'm giving away my review copy Friday to one person who posts on that blog before then.

It's the first time I've done a full interview and I really enjoyed coming up with the questions. I was so thrilled with Valeria's thoughtful responses too. I hope you enjoy it! Below is an excerpt:


5. What is your early process like when illustrating a picture book? Do you spend a lot of time on character design or do you dive right into thumbnails?
The character that I spent the most time studying was Grandpa POP. I sketched more than thirty grandfathers. Some looked too serious, while others looked too old. POP is senile, but he is also a dancer, which means that he must be very dynamic. When I gave POP his unruly fringe of hair, he looked like a mad scientist, and I realized that I was onto something.
I then worked on the character of the dog. It needed to be a dog that wouldn't draw attention away from the other characters and one that was also capable of expressing feelings. The long ears that I chose allowed me to portray his emotions in a very entertaining way.
The little girl and the grandmother came about the very first day I read the story.
Once all of the characters had taken on a life of their own, the challenge was to unify their features, giving them some family resemblance.

The book blog tour also includes an interview of the author, Sarah Lynn, her literary agent, Deborah Warren, and her editor, Marilyn Brigham (Marshall Cavendish).

It was fun to take part in a book blog tour, and also to read interviews from so many of the key players in creating a picture book.