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CREATING PICTURE BOOKS
Creating picture books falls into two categories for me: Illustrating the work of other authors and writing and illustrating my own stories.
Reading a manuscript by another author is like embarking on a journey of discovery. It may be about a subject I've always wanted to tackle, or one I never would have dreamed of, the latter, a real
challenge.
My first step is a series of thumbnail sketches, like a story board, to work out my scenes and the pacing.
Then comes the research, which I love to do. Recently I've delved into everything from blacksmiths to drummer boys to doormen in my research.
Next, I make full size (120%) sketches on tracing
paper, roughing in the approximate placement of the figures in the scenes I've researched. Next comes the real fun. I use my friends and neighbors and their kids as models. They come to my
studio, get into costume if needed, and I set up lights to match the light in my research photos. Then I direct my "actors" and the story comes alive before me. It's as if I'm inhabiting
the story.
I shoot photos from all angles, constantly referring to my sketches. When I get the 35mm slides back I project them and draw the figures into the "stage sets" I've
sketched out for them. When all the spreads and cover are finished I have a dummy book. When the editor approves this for editorial content, I'm ready to start my finished paintings.
The
sketches are transferred onto 5 ply Strathmore bristol and a careful, final drawing is made with a 7H pencil.
This solid pencil skeleton allows me to apply the watercolor with great speed and assurance, rarely re-working it. As I paint I project the slides of the models onto a screen, which is almost like painting from life.
The books that I write as well as illustrate grow out of the travels my wife, Betsy, and I have made all over the world. We get as far back into the bush as we can, soak up every sight, sound and
smell, keep journals, make recordings, sketch and take thousands of photos.
Sometimes stories are given to you, as in Tiger Trek where we watched from elephant back in the Indian jungle as a tiger made a kill. Other times you have to work very hard for a story as in Gorilla Walk, Betsy's and my first collaboration. It was the most physically challenging journey we'd ever taken. We had shared the misery so we decided to share the joy of telling the story.
That's it, really, the joy of telling the story and sharing it with my readers. A trip to Morocco was the inspiration for my book The Storytellers.
At the end of the book, my young storyteller, Abdul, says to his grandfather, "We have the best job. . . ." So do I. •
Ted Lewin has illustrated such books as:
Gorilla Walk by Ted and Betsy Lewin (HarperCollins)
The Doorman by Edward Grimm (Orchard Books, fall 2000)
The Barn Savers by Linda Oatman High (Boyds Mills Press)
The Disappearing Island
by Corinne Demas (Simon & Schuster)
Elephant Quest by Ted and Betsy Lewin (HarperCollins, fall 2000)
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About the Author:
Ted Lewin grew up in an old frame house in Buffalo, New York, with two brothers, one sister, two parents, a
lion, an iguana, a chimpanzee, and an assortment of more conventional pets. The lion was given to his older brother, Don, while he was traveling as a professional wrestler, and he shipped it
home. The family kept Sheba in the basement fruit cellar until Don returned and their mother convinced him to give it to the Buffalo zoo.
Ted always knew he wanted to be an illustrator. As a child he copied the work of illustrators and painters he
admired, including N. C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez, and Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes. When it came time to go to art school (Pratt), he needed to earn
money to finance his education. So, following in his brother's footsteps, he took a summer job as a wrestler. This was the beginning of a fifteen-year part-time career that eventually inspired
his autobiographical book, I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler.
Ted's career as an artist began with illustrations for adventure magazines, and it's only over the last several years
that he has devoted his time to writing and illustrating children's books. "I'm having more fun doing this than anything I've ever done before," he says. He is an avid traveler, and many
of his books are inspired by trips to such places as the Amazon River, the Sahara Desert, Botswana, Egypt, Lapland, and India. His Market!, published in 1996, showcases markets
around the world, from Uganda to Ireland to Ecuador. His most recent book, Gorilla Walk, is a collaboration with his wife, Betsy.
When not drawing, painting, or traveling, Ted enjoys outdoor life and loves scuba diving, birdwatching, and
wildlife observation. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Betsy, who also illustrates children's books. They share their home with their two cats, Slick and Chopper.
Market! by Ted Lewin
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
ISBN: 0-688-12161-6
To contact this author or illustrator, please use the information for his or her publisher provided on our list of CBC member publishers.
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