The Girllustrators

A mural by Luz Marie

We have two new Girllustrators to introduce you to: Caitlin B. Alexander and Luz Marie Iturbe.  How exciting to expand the family!

Caitlin, a Texas native, studied Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and after her four-year stint in Georgia, came back to Austin.  Her work is very “retro” and geared towards a children’s market. Luz Marie is originally from Mexico, creating a great influence on her work, which teaches children about language, culture, and traditions.  She has experience working in fine art as well.

Picture book cover by Caitlin

We have a little Q&A so you can get to know our new Girlls even better!

Q: What is your artistic background?

Luz Marie: I have a Bachelor degree in Industrial Design, which has been very helpful not only with painting and illustration, but with other crafts, which I enjoy very much. Sometimes this also allows me to see the illustrations in another dimension, and at the same time, explore a variety of materials.  I spent several years working with excellent Mexican visual artists who showed me the taste of colors and narrative of my country.

Caitlin: I could trace my interest in illustration back to first grade, when I thought I wanted to be an author. I spent years making little books, until finally in middle school, I realized my favorite part was actually drawing the pictures!  I was involved in a good deal of art programs in high school, working all four years towards a “perfect” portfolio to get into SCAD.  When I finally did, it was my dream come true! My education there was great. I majored in Illustration, and minored in Printmaking.  It was incredible to be introduced to so many people from all over the world at that college.  There were inspiring ideas and concepts just floating on the breeze around us all the time.  It was a pretty nurturing place to find my aesthetic voice, but I’ve definitely fine-tuned it most since graduating.

One of Luz Marie’s painting styles

Q: What brought you to Austin?

Luz Marie: The opportunity to make my dreams come true.  To be a full-time artist.

Caitlin: I grew up in Dripping Springs, and I always had a love for this city. By the time I finished school, I knew I had to come back. It’s home!

An illustration by Caitlin

Q: What technique(s), media, and tools do you use?

Luz Marie: I tried many things.  I enjoy very much working with different textures and shapes, but I recently have been working mostly on the computer. I also use acrylics, oil, watercolor, pastels, and yarn.

Caitlin: Gouache paint all the way!  I use a very dry brush on watercolor paper to create a nice texture.  For the most part, it’s just me, my four ratty brushes, paint and paper. Usually I only use Photoshop for touch-ups, unless it’s a really complicated piece with many layers, in which case I use it to arrange the composition.

A portrait by Luz Marie

Q: Who has influenced you artistically?

Luz Marie: Michele del Campo, Diego Rivera, Isabel Lenero, Edward Hopper, Gustavo Aimar, Rebecca Dautremer, Jane Chapman, Mick Inkpen, Pascal Campion, and Nidhi Chanani.

Caitlin: 1940’s Disney concept artist Mary Blair is definitely my number one influence. Printmaker Antonio Frasconi (See and Say) made a big impact on my work at one point, too.  Keith Haring has influenced me a lot, also, even though my style is nothing like his. Illustrators from the ’40s and ’50s really are special to me though, and it’s difficult to pinpoint anyone else specifically. Leonard Weisgard (The Little Island) is another good one. As far as current people go, Peter Brown (The Curious Garden) has really lovely work. I also, as weird as it sounds, get a lot of my inspirations from my Tumblr feed.

Caitlin’s self-portrait

Q: Do you have a picture book that has influenced you most?

Luz Marie: My work is definitely influenced by my mood.  That’s why sometimes it is difficult for me to find a personal style.  I am always picking from here to there.

Caitlin: I’d probably say that “The Curious Garden” by Peter Brown is the one I keep coming back to.  It’s super difficult to pick, though! I have a massive children’s book collection that I’m flipping through constantly.

An illustration by Luz Marie

Q: What are your goals or dream job?

Luz Marie: My dream job is to be painting all the time, and exploring with new ideas, and to share it with everybody. I want to touch people’s souls and minds with it.

Caitlin: Children’s books, children’s book, children’s books, all day long! I just want to share my work with people, honestly. To know I made someone happy, even for just a moment.

A pattern by Caitlin

For more of their work, visit Luz Marie’s and Caitlin’s websites!

Not just any artist can say she has work in nearly every pediatrician’s office in the country. But Leslie Harrington can, because she draws the beloved series Goofus & Gallant for Highlights magazine. She has also successfully tapped into her own childhood love for horses with The Clip-Clop Club—a collection of characters and stories created by Harrington, and enjoyed by girls the world over on www.clipclopclub.com. Harrington works from her home studio near Seattle, and lists one of her her all-time favorite illustrators as Holly Hobbie (who, we learned, is the real-life artist behind the 1960s greeting-card character!). And during her years living outside Philadelphia, traveled every weekend to see the work of her other all-time favorite, N. C. Wyeth, at the nearby Brandywine River Museum and Delaware Art Museum.


What percentage of your illustration process relies on technology?

I say about 90% relies on technology. But first, I draw the old fashioned way with paper and non-repo blue pencils (something I picked up from animators when I worked in the video game industry way back when). I work on bright white 28 lb. laser printer paper. It’s smooth, doesn’t chew up pencil points very fast and it’s just thin enough to see through 2-3 layers on my light box. I don’t remember when I transitioned from Graphics 360 pads etc…I now go to Staples and buy a big box laser printer paper and it last me quite a long time. I scan my drawings and since I usually don’t get it right the first time there is always some assembly required in Photoshop to create the overall sketch. If the new sketch is too messy I will go back to the drawing table and refine version 2.0.

What applications do you use?

I work in Photoshop…with a mouse. This drives my husband crazy—he is a tech savvy art director in the video game industry. Other artists friends just generally shake their heads and roll their eyes that I haven’t embraced the Wacom and stylus. My style looks like it could be created in Illustrator but I use Photoshop. I think Photoshop gives you better options for gradients and for painterly touches than Illustrator (which I have used briefly).


What is your favorite aspect of using technology in illustration?

I love the fact that you an adjust colors in the final artwork with just a sliding bar. In the olden days, if the planned palette goes haywire in your watercolor painting you’d have to start over. But in Photoshop, you can use Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast. I also will build shadows and patterns using lots of layers and layer filters (mostly Screen, Overlay and Multiply). A typical Goofus and Gallant panel will have about 40+ layers, and I organize and name them into Groups. Most art directors want every layer, and I use so many layers “just in case.” That way I can change my mind and I won’t be wasting time selecting around whatever it is I want to alter—I can go directly to that layer and make the change and not affect everything else around it.
“Undo” is also a favorite. And finally, being able to tweak and re-tweak a sketch to play with perspective or fix this and that.


What projects in the children’s market are you currently working on and how do you plan to incorporate technology?

I create Goofus and Gallant every month for Highlights and “the boys” are all digital. It always amazes me the reach and impact these characters have. They have been around for over 60 years! Anyway, a fun thing happened this summer.  *Warning for some curse words*:
On Wil Wheaton’s blog: http://wilwheaton.net/2012/07/in-which-i-am-an-indirect-contributor-to-highlights-for-children/
And a video of him telling the story: http://youtu.be/TkyDhW0AZoE


Currently, I am working on a picture book about Ronald Reagan’s ranch in Santa Barbara and his life as a cowboy, actor and President for Little Patriot Press. It will be out in the Spring of 2013. It is all digital. Since the book is mostly all double page spreads I have had to break out the Graphics 360 pad again! So, what’s old is new again.  The design plan brings in more detail that is softer and painterly in combination with my usual shapes and curves on this project. It is important that Reagan looks like himself. My studio is overflowing with reference!

Once the book is finished then I will be “refreshing” the Clip Clop Club girls. They need a bit of polish to define their ages and to bring their looks together for better branding. I have a licensing agent and we are working with a small team (a tech guru for website updates and social media and a writer)to relaunch and introduce the girls. I’m excited to see what’s ahead for the new year. Busy is good!

Girllustrators Marsha Riti, Lalena Fisher, and Shelley Ann Jackson will be presenting a workshop on creating bookmarks using PhotoShop at the upcoming Austin SCBWI digital symposium—The Nuts and Bolts of Success! Check out the description:

Whether you’re a published or aspiring illustrator or author, chances are good that at some point you’re going to want to create a bookmark for promotion. Now’s the time to learn how! In this Photoshop boot camp, you’ll learn the most basic skills that you need to get started making your bookmarks. You’ll find out how to create good designs, where to order, and how to upload your finished files, plus lots more!

As you can see, we’re busy prepping right now—there’s going to be helpful handouts, inspiring demos, and later in the day there will be time to try out all of your new skills while the Girlls are available to help you. You’re not going to want to miss this! Also at the conference: workshops on blogging, social media, marketing e-books, book trailers, animation and more!

Please mark your calendars for October 6, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at St. Edward’s University and be sure to register right away! The Girlls are hoping to see you there! Wink!

We’ve decided to diversify our Tuesday posts to include some traditional tips, as well as our technology two-cents. Girllustrator Marsha Riti kicks us off with a step-by-step on stretching watercolor paper. We hope you’ll find it useful!

Hello all, my name is Marsha Riti, and I am a children’s book illustrator as well as a member of the Girllustrators. I primarily use watercolor for my illustrations, and I find stretching my paper to be very helpful for these reasons:

• There is no buckling on my finished paintings (they lay flat). This is helpful if you plan to sell professional looking originals
• Scanning is easier because the finished paintings lay flat.
• I save money because I can use lighter weight paper i.e. less-expensive paper. Note: you can stretch heavier weight watercolor paper if you want to.

Here’s a small list of items you will need to stretch paper:

• Watercolor paper (cut to the size you need for your project plus 1/2″ extra on each side)
• One stapler
• Stainless steel staples (so they wouldn’t rust)
• One roll of paper towels
• Gatorboard (large enough to accommodate your paper)

Note: If you want to trace an image on to the watercolor paper before it is stretched, you can. I even print onto the paper before it’s stretched using a printer that has pigmented inks that don’t run.

#1. Before you soak your paper have out: your Gatorboard, stapler (full of staples), paper towel roll, and a double layer of paper towel laid out on your work surface.

#2. Have your bathtub fulled with 6″ of cool water (not warm or hot). Slide your watercolor paper into the bath till fully submerged. Let paper sit in bath till the paper is thoroughly wet but not floppy. Pull the paper out of the bath and let the excess water drip off.

Is it wet enough? “The usual rule is “Test the corners.” If you bend a corner and it doesn’t readily spring back, it’s probably about right. If you meet resistance or it has too much “snap” it is not wet enough. If it’s flopping around like a cooked lasagna noodle, it’s way too wet to work with and you’ll have to blot the heck out of it before stretching. Paper soaked too long can lose much of it’s sizing and will affect the way it takes your paint.“

I use Arches HP 90lb. watercolor paper and it takes less then ten seconds to get the paper soaked.

#3. Lay the soaked watercolor paper on top of your paper towels, then put one more layer of towels on top of the paper. Blot the paper (never rub) till it’s lost its watery shine.

#4. Place the blotted paper onto your Gatorboard taking care to ensure it lays flat. Now you will begin stapling the paper directly to the Gatorboard. Swing the stapler open and start stapling the paper at diagonal corners till all four corners are stapled. Then staple in the middle of each side switching to opposing sides for each new staple. Essentially, you just want to make sure you are stapling equally on all sides. Fill in the spaces between the staples with more staples. I tend to use a lot of staples, each one is roughly 1/2″ apart.

Now your paper is stretched! Yay! If you would like to paint right away you can do a wet-on-wet technique. If you need the paper to be dry, just lay it flat on a surface that is out of direct sunlight and heat. Once dry, the paper will be drum tight! For my 90lb. paper, drying takes between 15-30min. depending on how much humidity is in the air.

When you are done painting wait till the paper is totally dry, then remove the paper from the Gatorboard. I shimmy a thin butter knife under the paper that is directly under the staples to pry them up. After you pry up all the staples you can pull the paper off the board, then pick the staples out of your paper with your fingers. Your paper will have holes on the edges, which you can cut off to get rid of the holes.

Don’t let the looks of a used Gatorboard surface scare you. Your board will still be good even after multiple uses. Just run your hand over the surface and knock off any high points.

Yes, stretching paper does use up paper towel. I reuse my paper towel for dabbing my brushes on.

Side Note: I think proper paper handling is important. When you bring your watercolor paper home, store it flat. When handing the paper, use clean hands. When you pick up the paper, hold it from two diagonal corners. This prevents body oils from transferring onto the working-area of the paper, and keeps your paper damage free.

Special thanks to fellow artist and Girllustrator, Amy Farrier, for the use of her house and camera. Thanks, Amy!

Here are some helpful links:

Watercolor Paper: What You Need to Know

Stretching Paper: Bucking the Buckle

Wendy Martin, co-host of Thursday night’s #kidlitart chat on twitter (you should drop by sometime if you haven’t already), has been an illustrator for more than 25 years. She started out with a degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, followed by a BFA in Graphic Design at the School of Visual Arts; and both areas of study still influence her work today. After working in advertising and graphic design in New York, she moved to Missouri and wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child. Here is what she has to say on using technology in her work. Thanks, Wendy!

What percentage of your illustration process relies on technology? I’d have to say it’s a 50/50 mix. As my working style has progressed, it’s become a merging of the two tool sets. It’s a very rare piece at this point in my career that can be accomplished without both traditional and digital tools.

What applications do you use? I am a firm lover of Illustrator. I also use Photoshop fairly extensively, along with scanning software, MangaStudio MX and image cataloging software.

What digital tool would you never want to do without? I had to replace my trusty old MAC G4 Tower at the end of last year. It was 11 years old and hopelessly antiquated. I got an iMAC with a 20” flat screen. Before I had been using a CRT monitor. I miss the color saturation of the old monitor, but newer computers are all one piece these days. Along with getting a newer MAC, I had to upgrade a lot of my software and peripherals. The one peripheral I’m still waiting to update is my trusty scanner. The scanner works great, I’ve never had a problem with it, but for some reason the company didn’t see fit to upgrade the drivers for the new OS X platforms. Now, in order to scan a piece in, I have to jump through several hoops to get it on my iMAC where all my editing/drawing software is. I have an older laptop with Windows on it. I have to boot up the PC, plug in the scanner, launch the scanner software, scan the image, place it in the sharing folder, send it to the iMAC and then open and save it to a folder on the iMAC. I used to do a daily doodle and post it every day when I sat down to begin my ‘real’ art. I’ve stopped doing that since it’s such a hassle to use the scanner. A new one is on my wish list.

I’m also really excited about the new product from Wacom called the inkling. According to the promo youtubes, you can sketch directly on paper with this peripheral and it’s digitized as you draw. That would reduce several steps in my process, since currently, I sketch with pad and pencil and scan in the sketch, then redraw it in Illustrator with an “inking” brush I created for myself to mimic a felt tip marker.

What is your favorite aspect of using technology in illustration? I’m a noodler. I will redraw the same section of line over and over until the curve is just right. When you do this on paper, you eventual get shadows on the material. When you do this in a computer, you press the Z command and have a pristine white space to redraw on. The editing capabilities of trying different color combinations and the ease of making changes is my favorite time saver.

My only issues with this ease of changing things are 1. There are so many choices to try; it can lead to over stimulation of the creative mojo, and 2. Clients think that ease of change also means I should be faster. Truth be told, it actually takes me longer to finish a painting in the computer than one on a piece of 140lb cold press. Maybe this is because I’ve been painting for twice as long as I’ve been digitizing, but I don’t think so.

What projects in the children’s market are you currently working on and how do you plan to incorporate technology? I’m working on several self written picture book dummies, a couple of logos for picture book people/organizations, I am the webmaster for http://fromthemixedupfiles.com and the co-host of the Twitter chat #kidlitart on Thursday evenings at 9PM eastern time.

Obviously, the web site and the Twitter chat are totally technology driven, since they are all part of the virtual world.

For the book dummies, I use Word to write and edit my text. I draw my thumbnails on a print out of a dummy thumbnail spread sheet which has the entire book’s pages laid out on a single 8.5 x 11 page. I then sketch mini pages by hand and scan them in to place text, print them out larger and use tracing paper to add details and fix placements. Scan each page back in to “ink” in Illustrator. 

For my past books, I’ve use the inked images as printouts on a light table to draw the line work onto 140lb cold press paper. Now that I have a snazzy new printer that can print out directly onto the cold press, I’m going to skip the light table step.

I’ve already used the printer to do single images this way. I’m very excited about being able to do this with one of my new books. The transfer of the images from the printout to the watercolor paper was always very laborious and time consuming. I won’t miss that tedious and back backing step in my process.

Don Tate is the award-winning illustrator/author of more than 40 books for children, trade and educational. His books include: Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite, featured in the New York Times Holiday Book Review, She Loved Baseball, Ron’s Big Mission and Sure as Sunrise, just to name a few. I’m happy to report that Don is also the debut author of It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw, a New Voices Honor winner.

Don’s illustrations are lively and bold. One element I love about his work is that he doesn’t have one signature illustration style, which is typically frowned upon in the business. Each book he’s illustrated has it’s own unique look and feel. That’s amazing!

In his spare time Don is a contributor to The Brown Bookshelf, a site designed to highlight and build awareness of the African American voices writing for young readers  and is a member of the Texas Sweethearts and Scoundrels a group of Texas-based authors and illustrators, each bringing their unique talent to the kid lit community. From what I understand, Don is the resident Scoundrel. And if all of that isn’t enough, Don works as an illustrator/graphics reporter for the Austin American-Statesman.

What percentage of your illustration process relies on technology? While 100% of my illustration work involves technology at some point, I’d say that about 70% of the actual process involves technology along the way. I’m an old-school illustrator, so I do enjoy illustrating with natural media. And I could let go of technology if I had to. But I don’t. Technology makes my work quicker, easier, smarter. If I create a watercolor illustration for a book, I might work out several color comps first in Photoshop. If I’m in the middle of a painting and not quite sure what direction to take, I might take a digital photo and work out the problems in Photoshop before I proceed. Most educational publishers these days expect art to be delivered electronically, email or ftp. They don’t care so much if the art is generated on the computer (although some demand it), but natural media is expected to be scanned, color corrected and delivered ready to go.

What applications do you use? Several. Mostly Adobe products—Photoshop and Illustrator. But I’ve used Flash, several 3d programs (they keep changing and buying each other out), Freehand, Painter, Poser 3d, many others.

What digital tool would you never want to do without? My computer. More specific? My digital camera, Wacom, scanner.

What is your favorite aspect of using technology in illustration? I spend a lot of time illustrating in a newsroom. I can’t really spread out with my oil paint and color pencils and I don’t think my colleagues would want me to. Technology allows me to create illustrations without the mess of natural media. And I can make changes much easier.

The downside is that technology seems to speed things up, but not necessarily in a good way. The illustrator, whose always worked under tight deadlines, is expected to deliver art much faster now. And if you’re not an illustrator who utilizes technology (yes, I know of a few), you may not get work. And the technology is constantly changing. A couple of years ago, I decided to upgrade to a new computer. That also meant getting all new software, printers and scanners, which wouldn’t work on my new computer. My new computer is only two years old, and already it’s time to upgrade all of my programs.

What projects in the children’s market are you currently working on and how do you plan to incorporate technology? I’m working on several traded picture books and a series of chapter books. Again, all of the projects involve technology in some way. With the chapter books, I created line work with pen and ink. Then I scanned in the lines and added grays and texture in Photoshop. I delivered final art as grayscale tiffs. 

In addition to being one of the newest Girllustrators (she hadn’t yet joined our group when she answered our questions), Divya Srinivasan is an amazingly talented illustrator and animator. She has worked for illustration clients such as the New Yorker, This American Life and They Might Be Giants, and she was an animator on the film Waking Life. Divya recently released her first picture book, Little Owl’s Night, the illustrations of which are the perfect blend of simplicity and sophistication, darkness and color, intrigue and calm. It’s been getting rave reviews, and for good reason! Check her out…we’re sure you’ll be seeing more from Divya soon!

What percentage of your illustration process relies on technology? For the past few years, I’ve used only computer for most of my projects. Sometimes, I draw or paint elements on paper, scan them in, and do compositing on the computer. I’d like to do more of that.

What applications do you use? I use Photoshop for illustration.

What digital tool would you never want to do without? For years I’ve done all my illustration and animation on an Apple laptop using a Wacom tablet, which allows me to work from anywhere. Working alone from home can get monotonous. To shake things up, I sometimes visit my sister in the Bay Area. While she’s working during the day, I am too, and then we get to hang out in the evenings. I’m extremely grateful for my portable workspace!

What is your favorite aspect of using technology in illustration? I can play around with colors, composition, and style so easily on the computer. When a deadline is tight and revisions are called for—moving elements around, changing colors, redrawing a face—I can do that relatively quickly on the computer. And it’s easy for me to show the art director multiple possibilities. Because I do all my animation on the computer, it’s convenient having the source artwork in digital form, in layers. For instance, I made the trailer for Little Owl’s Night using elements straight from my Photoshop files for the book illustrations. Little Owl’s eyes, head, wings and body were already on separate layers so I could bring them straight into After Effects and animate.

What projects in the children’s market are you currently working on and how do you plan to incorporate technology? I’m about to start illustrating my second picture book, and plan to use Photoshop. Over the past few years, I’ve done the artwork for three educational children’s apps (Peekaboo Barn, Peekaboo Wild, and Splish Splash Inn). Right now, I’m in the very early stages of planning my own app. Integrating illustration, animation, sound, and storytelling with some level of interactivity, all in one project, could be really fun for me.

Renée Kurilla is brimming over with talent! She graduated with a BFA in Illustration and Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, is a lead artist for the animation studio Fable Vision, and a children’s book illustrator. Renée’s work can be seen in The Christmas Hamster by Bryan Gately; Charlesbridge Publishing’s I See I Learn series: Freda Plans a Picnic, Percy Plays it Safe, Percy Gets Upset, and Freda is Found;as well as Zebrafish by Sharon Emerson, with a second Zebrafish titled Shine on the way! We wanted to interview Renée about her use of technology because her digital work has such a lively, colorful style complemented beautifully by loose, gestural linework. Please enjoy Renée Kurilla’s interview and wonderful illustrations. 

What percentage of your illustration process relies on technology? I’m guessing about 90% of my work is done on the computer…however almost all of my ideas start out as a quick pencil sketch in my sketchbook, which I carry everywhere! I work in Boston, MA at Children’s Media company, FableVision, which was founded by author illustrator Peter H. Reynolds. At work I use a computer about 95% of the time because we make all sorts of digital and educational media for kids. I got very used to manipulating my drawings on the computer. Having one around has definitely made my art-making process go much smoother.

What applications do you use? I now use Photoshop for just about everything. I was trained to start using Adobe Flash for animation, but lately I’ve been working on many more illustration projects. I also use InDesign to do text layout.

What digital tool would you never want to do without? My Wacom tablet of course :) I can’t imagine trying to draw with a mouse again the way I used to in high school!

What is your favorite aspect of using technology in illustration? As I mentioned earlier, what I love most is that using a computer has made my art-making…easier. I’m able to concentrate more on the actual character or scene rather than trying to perfect my craft in painting. (Although, I do wish I could paint more as well.) There’s also a little bit of a learning curve that comes with Photoshop, too. I will never fully master Photoshop as a medium because they keep releasing new versions of the software. It’s a nice thing to have a medium that lets you explore endless possibilities.

What projects in the children’s market are you currently working on and how do you plan to incorporate technology? I’m currently working on a sequel to the Zebrafish graphic novel that was released in 2010 (Simon&Schuster/FableVision/Emerson). The new title is Zebrafish: Shine and it will be coming out in 2013. The book dummy (122 pages) was sketched out entirely on paper first and is inked/colored in Photoshop! I’m very excited, I’m so happy with the way it looks so far and I hope you’ll like it too!