Contents:
See all books by David Ezra Stein. Inspired by Your Browsing History. The Secrets of the Wild Wood. Up Close With Bugs. Up Close With Spiders. Whose Eye Am I? Andrew Schuerger and Loreen Leedy.
Vollman and Stephen D. Marvel Fearless and Fantastic! Female Super Heroes Save the World. The Bear Ate Your Sandwich. A Bus Called Heaven. Seven Wonders of the Milky Way. Samantha Spinner and the Super-Secret Plans.
Harold Loves His Woolly Hat. Helpers in Your Neighborhood Pre-reader. I Am Little Fish! A Finger Puppet Book.
Ol' Mama Squirrel and millions of other books are available for instant access. Ol' Mama Squirrel Hardcover – March 21, This item:Ol' Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein Hardcover $ As he did in Interrupting Chicken and Pouch!, Stein again shows his skill at finding laughs in commonplace situations. Ol' Mama Squirrel keeps.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. But then I took some liberties with the rest of the body, making it really tater tot-like, like a periscope shape. I just wanted to make them really cute. Like something you would want to hold in your hand. It still had to feel like a squirrel.
Once I go that character everything flowed out of her. I was like yeah this is a great character. It makes me happy. Everything exploded from that good design into the rest of the book. Studies for simpler squirrels: A portrait of the final squirrel family from the book: But then I took some liberties with the rest of the body making it really tater tot-like, like a periscope shape. But it was basically about getting the art to step aside and out of the way of the story.
Making the art of the story more transparent so the story could show through without any hinderance.
That was really what I had to do. So yeah I am happy with how it turned out. They were so polite! But the second time they were so thrilled about it and I could tell they really loved it. They were relieved that this is the book we ended up with. The designer did a really great job too. I love the type. They usually say something like, this is what we like. Do you like it too? And I usually say yes. Kind of like a funny old cartoon. For the second round of artwork, how did you go from your sketches to finals? I usually redo the drawing for the finals and go from pencil to some kind of ink.
I do the ink differently each time; I want to keep it really fun for me. All the line work is done that way. I had to do the thick lines first and then go thinner as the ink was used up. Once I completed the black and white ink drawing, I photocopied that onto watercolor paper and then I added different colors. I messed around with all different ways of painting—different palettes, different kinds of watercolor paper, hot press, cold press—especially in the beginning. To keep the drawing really fresh I like to be able to keep photocopying the same drawing over and using it with different paint techniques.
An illustration from the first batch of final art. The new artwork as it appears in the book. Yes, except for the tails and the trees that have these softer, brushy lines. Those are actually made with a brush that I found that was an old makeup brush. It had an angle to it and it was very small and I used it as kind of a fan brush to make the tails fluffy and to make the bark texture.
And I also used the side of the pencil to make the bark by rolling it back and forth on the paper to get thick lines and scratchy lines. Yeah and it really slows me down because I have to think about how much ink I have on the pencil and when it is going to run out and when have I found the balance and the right thickness of line. I like that meditative quality of hampering yourself to some extent, to have a more creative outcome.
I also like doing something totally different from the sketch because the sketch was just pencil. It almost feels like I am doing it totally from scratch when I go to the ink. It is really gestural. I need to slow it down by about 20 miles and hour so I can plan the next line. I need that pause of contemplation in there. I work in a studio in my apartment.
I always do some kind of exercise and I always try to make some kind of music every day.
I show stuff to my wife all the time and she always tells me the truth about it. You come out with something, you make it, and then you are like is this good? That comes in really handy and I kind of wish I worked in a studio with other illustrators. I have some friends I can send stuff to digitally. I love the list of influences you gave us earlier, can you tell me more about the artists and illustrators that have influenced you?
I am mostly influenced by more traditional artists like Matisse or Degas. I am influenced by lots of Japanese woodblock work and calligraphy, especially for the black line. I love African sculpture. And the essence of emotions in the story telling. In terms of picture book people, Uri Shulevitz is one of my favorites right now: I love the essential quality of his work and his technique is great.
What are some of your favorites? Home Contact Us Help Free delivery worldwide. But then I took some liberties with the rest of the body, making it really tater tot-like, like a periscope shape. Do you like it too? This squirrel was ready to take us on because we were treading on its territory or something. My heart was kind of mixed.
I like pretty much anyone with a lot of line like Steig or Arnold Lobel. Lobel is a huge hero of mine for writing and drawing. So all these guys I read as a kid. Seuss was probably my favorite when I was a kid. And I love the book Ox-cart Man for the sense of place and the way the style tells about that time period. The writing makes me cry at the end because I wish I could have that life where I make my own honey and stuff.
I also love Calvin and Hobbes. That was ingrained in my mind when I was ten or eleven, his expressive brushwork and his writing too. I always wanted to be film director when I was a teenager. I am definitely closeted in that way. I want to be on stage and have attention. That or maybe portrait artist too.
I am actually going into Penguin because they have a sound studio there. Thanks so much David for sharing your story with us. Flatbush, NY Now lives in: Kew Gardens, NY Tools of the trade: Genmaicha smoky green tea. Some color character studies for the original Mama. This is sooooo wonderful to read. I had a great time talking to David and putting it together. Excellent interview, thanks for this! What a totally tip-top interview… Thanks so much.