What Do Illustrators Do? [Hardcover]

Eileen Christelow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1999 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

In this informative companion to the popular "What Do Authors Do?" author/illustrator Christelow turns her attention to the visual side of creating a picture book. Employing her relaxed style and trademark humor, she shows how an illustrator develops a book from rough sketches to finished artwork, following two artists as they illustrate different versions of "Jack and the Beanstalk." Christelow answers the questions often posed by children, such as, "What materials do you use?" and "Is it hard to be an illustrator?" and reveals that the uniqueness of each book depends on many creative choices . . . and a lot of painstaking work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Christelow escorts readers behind the scenes for a fascinating peek at the creative process in this companion to What Do Authors Do? Here she tracks the efforts of two fictitious artists, showing their different approaches to illustrating the same story ("Jack and the Beanstalk" serves as the example). Christelow funnels information through a triple conduit: cartoon panels display the artists at work; a lively subplot features a dog and cat and their running commentary; and chunks of straightforward prose hold the visual elements together. For all the many components, the end result is cohesive and easy to follow, and the amount of material covered is impressive, e.g., how a picture book evolves, from dummy to finished product, and such concepts as scale, perspective and point of view. Medium is discussed and, more importantly, depicted in a concrete way; Christelow demonstrates how the same illustration would look if rendered in, say, pencil as opposed to felt-tip pen, or watercolor as opposed to colored pencil. The roles of editors and designers are also briefly touched upon. By alighting on a subject with which her audience has some familiarity, Christelow instantly engages interest, and by keeping the proceedings briskly informative and fun, she ensures that readers come away with a real appreciation of both the artistry and effort involved in illustrating books. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-In this companion to What Do Authors Do? (Clarion, 1995), Christelow gives readers a great deal of insight into the creative process while entertaining them with a story (actually two) within the story that tells the story of how picture-book artists work. Two illustrators share studio space and, as it turns out, each one of them sets out independently to create a new version of "Jack and the Beanstalk." Readers are clued into the situation and the various choices and dilemmas facing the artists by their pets, the woman's dog Scooter and the man's cat Leonard. In breezy but informative conversations, the animals discuss the deliberations and determinations about the books' sizes and shape, concepts such as point of view and perspective, and decisions about typeface and medium. In addition to the brief text, the pages are filled with cartoon panels, dialogue balloons, and spot drawings. The pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings are expressive and engaging throughout. Children will come away from this effort with a bit of knowledge about how books are made and an appreciation for the hard work and talent involved in telling a story through pictures. Better than a magic bean, this title is sure to spark youngsters' curiosity and creativity, and when that happens-as everyone knows-the sky's the limit.
Luann Toth, School Library Journal
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (March 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395902304
• ISBN-13: 978-0395902301
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 11.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,257,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eileen Christelow has created numerous fun and funny picture books, including the Five Little Monkeys series, Author, and most recently, Letters from a Desperate Dog. She and her husband, Ahren, live in Vermont. For more information visit www.christelow.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Do Illustrators Do?, December 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: What Do Illustrators Do? (Hardcover)

Outstanding descriptions and illustrations describing how two illustrators can get very different results, even though they were both working on the same story. (Jack and the Beanstalk) Wonderful teaching resource. Highly recommend this for K through the 4th grade; also recommended reading for teachers and parents. Contains excellent color illustrations.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, March 14, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Do Illustrators Do? (Paperback)

For a family like ours, this book is magic. We are a visual family, and I often choose books based on the quality of their illustrations. This book takes a step-by-step, pictorial look at how an illustrator approaches his or her work. Shows two illustrators (and two pets) working on the same story, each with their own unique take on the process.

Great, great book.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great job description, June 30, 2009

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Do Illustrators Do? (Paperback)

Eileen Christelow has written a wonderful book depicting the working habits of an illustrator. Not only did she write it, she also illustrated the book, "What Do Illustrators Do?," which can serve as a kind of job description.

Her story actually begins on the back cover with a conversation between an illustrator's dog and her writer-friend's cat. Actually, the illustrator in the book could be Ms Christelow since both are artist/writers. (I don't know who the male writer is.) Now look at the front cover. The two writers are partitioned and asking a book question. He: How can I make this giant look really big? She: Should I draw with a pencil? pen? brush? (Note: Both are picture book writers, however his pictures are created by a professional illustrator hired by his publishing company, whereas she creates her own.)

The title page shows a pencil sketch of a building. The next page shows the sketch colored in. Through the windows on one side is the writer, on the other is the writer/illustrator, with the point of showing how each page can be creatively used.

Now the problem: "Suppose ... two illustrators each decided to illustrate Jack and the Beanstalk. Would they tell the story the same way? Would they draw the same kind of pictures?" Curious Leonard (cat) and nosy Scooter (dog) are peeking to see what their humans are doing and are shooshed away. Now they can get together and complain (mildly) about their humans and tell each other what the humans are creating--a wonderful narrative device, by the way, because in summarizing the story for Scooter, Leonard is really telling it to children-readers, who love animal stories.

The reader also learns that picture books have 32 pages, so the illustrator must carefully determine what he wants his limited number to be. We learn about the dummy (no, Scooter, not you!) and sketches and point of view for EACH sketch.

The illustrator must think of the design of the page, i.e. where each item will be placed on the page, how it will work in that location, or not work. The writer guy says a surprise should come with each page. Sometimes writers use family members, including pets, to pose for their pictures to get a more realistic nuance for the scene. Both Leonard and Scotter and Jacqueline, the woman's daughter, and the writer himself have significant places in the story.

Scooter (the dog) worries why anyone would buy two versions of the same story (after all, the writer/illustrator is his mealticket). That's when Leonard (the cat) explains how each book is different in the making. What font will be used? Which illustrator? Which art technique? Coloring technique? Paper changes the look of the story. Which paper? Exactly which colors? For what look?

At the end the writer/illustrator and Scooter (the dog) and the male writer (whose book was illustrated) and Leonard (the cat) and the woman's daughter celebrate the publication of the two books and all their hard work and each one's hand and paw in the story.

"What Do Illustrators Do?" is a must-have for a school library and class libraries, especially of teachers who emphasize writing and even "publish" books written as a joint class effort. It's a worthwhile book for any child to show just what goes into creating that book in her hands (or your hands).