In
the Book Biz
Do your
homework before your artwork, illustrator suggests
By Craig
Schneider
If you
ever thought illustrating children's books was child's play, Tony Sansevero's
experience in the industry should sway you from that. Sansevero, 30,
last month had his illustrations published for the first time, in the
children's picture-book, "The Secret Admirer ".
The author, Donna Guthrie, of California, has written several previous
books.
Most of the people don't realize the homework that comes with the territory,
Sansevero said. Illustrators not only need to know how to draw, they
must research the details that make for realistic illustrations, learn
how to market themselves to publishers, and keep tabs on trends in the
industry.
“I bought or borrowed every book I could find early in my career
, not only on illustration techniques, but marketing and self-promotion
as well. If you want to succeed without an agent, you need to know the
market and how to promote yourself.”
Sansevero, who recently moved to central New York from Boston, said
he started with a portfolio and a marketing campaign to promote his
work. Breaking into the business was harder than he expected. It was
almost two years before he received his first assignment.
“It was a long time before I got someone to give me a chance,”
he said.
Before he started illustrating children's books, Sansevero was a general
illustrator, designing everything from logos to parade floats, to fruit
in jelly ads.
“It gave me technical experience, but lacked the creative flexibility
I find in children's books. Apparently others think the same thing,
and it's become a difficult field to break into”.
Lois Grambling, a veteran children's book author, says the market is
more competitive than ever.
“Publishers are downsizing and the big ones are buying out the
small ones; not as many books are published each year,” said Grambling.
Most publishers have to reject most of what comes through their door,
those that still allow work to come through at all. That makes it more
important than ever for would-be illustrators and writers to research
trends in the industry. One, both Grambling and Sansevero agree, is
multicultural children's books.
“If you're going to illustrate from another culture, research the
technical differences in features, environment, and social conditions.”
In "The Secret Admirer" an intergenerational story of how
one girl plays matchmaker to her great-grandmother, Sansevero illustrated
32 detailed, colored pencil illustrations.
Specific research is needed for every illustration so that it accurately
represents the text. Sansevero's research included finding a birdfeeder
design that a 7 yr. old could create, and learning the shapes and markings
of north-American birds.
Sansevero used real central NY residents to portray the characters of
Secret Admirer.
“You have to make the characters as believable as possible, using
actors and real people helps.”
Personalities are formed partly from the text and from the illustrator's
interpretation, including items in the room or the clothing he/she wears.
“One of the greatest things about being a children's book illustrator,
and worth all of the rejections and aggravation, is that you get to
be constantly learning. You could live a thousand years, never reach
the end of your potential, and always go to work and be creatively challenged.”
“Part of that challenge is illustrating from a child's perspective,”
he said. Whether talking with kids, watching Saturday morning cartoons
and making social notes on children's likes/dislikes, or spending a
day of research in the library, it's all research.
In his upcoming book, “Sing, Henrietta, Sing,” Sansevero hid
animals on every page throughout the book, even though they weren't
specified in the story.
“An illustration must be faithful to the mood and spirit of the
text,” He said. “At the same time, a good illustrator will
leave a bit of their own heart.”
Tony gave an advanced copy to a teacher to read while he was working
on a mural for the YWCA classroom.
“They were all laughing and picking out the animals (in the illustrations)
they liked,” said Sansevero, “what can be a better reward
than that?”
Thoughts like that are what keeps a beginning- and not-so-beginning
illustrator going.
“I thought when I got the contract, it would be a piece of cake,”
Sansevero said, but then found out that due to a holiday deadline, he
had only two months to produce the whole book. But he makes every deadline,
“Illustrators who accept work and can't meet the deadline find
their careers at a standstill after the first assignment,” he said.
Sansevero has his goals set for the future. “There are different
degrees of success,” he said, “Creating a beautiful final
copy of a book, having it become a bestseller (I'll get there), or seeing
children enjoy it. I've got enough of those successes to feel I've found
a piece of heaven.”
