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A question that often recurs is, "Do you have any advice for budding artists, especially those who aspire to become picture book writers or illustrators?"
Find your passion.
Often passion reveals itself as an interest and beckons you. Immerse yourself in that "bliss" and you'll discover a need to pursue it. Once passion grabs you, you are on your way, because you are no longer determined by "shoulds." Your most treasured works become the remains of your meditation or process or whatever you choose to call it, because by losing yourself in them, they transform you. Fame and wealth are by-products.
True work comes through play, and, unlike a "job," brings you great fulfillment, confidence, and a deep pleasure. I am fortunate to have found my bliss in picture book-making.
My beginnings were in wartime China. Art supplies, pencils, paper, even textbooks were scarce. Not lacking, however, was oral storytelling, of which my father was a master. Not only did he read the Western classics, he made up stories of his own. The few great Hollywood pictures that made their way to us taught me framing of pictures, cuts, drama, style. I copied furiously—great drawings, photographs, paintings from the media. What I couldn't copy, I begged more skilled people to draw for me in a small notebook. With my siblings, I played drawing games. In school, I drew classmates and caricatures of unpopular teachers. I was recognized as the artistic one. It was my bliss. But I had no idea, at the time, that it would take effort to turn the spark into a good fire.
My father was a civil engineer, so when I came to the U.S. to college, it was natural to take architecture, where art is applied to buildings. Three years of architecture school taught me about form, space, light, shade, perspective. Though I had a scholarship, I wasn't satisfied. In my fourth year I transferred to the Art Center School in Los Angeles and tried my hand at illustration and advertising design. By graduation I realized that I had only scratched the surface. I realized that talent alone and two years of art school wouldn't get me far. It was up to me to complete my education. It would need to continue through life.
My first job in advertising turned out to be my last. I realized the power of visual communication. When I was offered a position to teach, I had a chance to examine the importance of efficiency and effectiveness in art and how I wished to use them. That's what I got from the advertising business.
I was studying animals in zoos, and drawing landscapes all over New York City. Those drawings brought me to picture books. At the time, I was curious only about printing and bookmaking but had no intention to remain in the field. My first book got the attention of an agent who, in turn, brought me more books. Five years later, I received my first Caldecott Honor. I was on my summit. Or so I thought.
Fortunately, a master of Chinese sumi brush came into my life and brought me down to earth. He magically transformed blank paper into images that were full of life, without the aid of props or models or pictures. I hadn't been aware that lifelike images express the souls of both the painter and his subject. Compared to the master's, my achievements were mere imitations of things. I needed to observe the life inside things and express myself through them, and to do so I needed to be still and listen and see more. I needed to look between forms, between lines, beyond the paper—to visualize sounds and smells, grasp motions, reveal invisibles, sense the relationship of colors, shapes, textures and pattern, of timelessness, the infinite and universal. My bliss beckoned again, and I followed.
The word "crisis" is often a negative one, because it's about danger and risk. The Chinese expression contains two characters. The first is a man kneeling on top of a steep cliff, looking down at another man cowering in fear. This character obviously means "danger" or "risk." The second character is composed of a tree and next to it is a stool. One takes a tree and makes it into a piece of furniture. This suggests opportunity. So opportunity is also present in crisis and represents the positive side of the word.
All in all, we find our interest, hone it in passion by following our dreams and ideals; we create our environment and take pleasure from practicing among like minds; we take risks and take up opportunities to improve; we value every experience and learn to accept even the most adverse situations to move to a higher plane of study. One day, your spark will become your torch to show the path for those who follow your footsteps. Your play has become work, and work returns into play many times over.
My best wishes to you. •
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About the Author:
Caldecott Medalist Ed Young is the illustrator of over eighty books for children, fifteen of which he has also written. He finds inspiration for his work in the philosophy of Chinese painting.
"A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words," explains Young. "They are complementary. There are things that words do that pictures never can, and likewise, there are images that words can never describe."
Born in Tientsin, China, Ed Young grew up in Shanghai and later moved to Hong Kong. As a young man, he came to the United States on a student visa to study architecture but turned instead to his love of art.
Young began his career as a commercial artist in advertising and found himself looking for something more expansive, expressive, and timeless. He discovered all this, and more, in children's books.
The subject and style of each story provide Young with the initial inspiration for his art and with the motivation for design, sequence, and pace. Accuracy in research is essential to his work, too—whether he is illustrating fantasy, folk tale, or fact. According to Young, a strong foundation of credibility must be established in order to create new and exciting images. Through such images, he hopes to capture his readers and ultimately expand their awareness.
Young's quest for challenge and growth are central in his role as illustrator. "Before I am involved with a project I must be moved, and as I try something exciting, I grow. It is my purpose to stimulate growth in the reader as an active participant as well," Young explains. "I feel the story has to be exciting, and a moving experience for a child."
A graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Young has since taught at the Pratt Institute, Yale University, Naropa Institute, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1990, his book Lon Po Po was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He has also received two Caldecott Honors—for The Emperor and the Kite and Seven Blind Mice—and was twice nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the highest international recognition given to children's book authors and illustrators who have made a lasting contribution to children's literature.
Young lives in Westchester, New York, with his wife, two daughters, and two cats.
Books by Ed Young:
(Unless otherwise noted, all books are written and illustrated by Ed Young)
• Tiger of the Snows: Tenzing Norgay, The Boy Whose Dream Was Everest, written by Robert Burleigh (Atheneum, 2006)
• My Mei Mei (Philomel, 2006)
• Beyond the Great Mountains (Chronicle, 2005)
• Shanghai Messenger, written by Andrea Cheng (Lee & Low, 2005)
• I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket (Philomel Books, 2004)
• Sons of the Dragon King (Atheneum, 2004)
• T'ai Chi Morning, written by Nikki Grimes (Cricket Books, 2004)
• What About Me? (Philomel, 2002)
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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