Illustrators, from striking graphic designs for literary covers to full picture books lovingly illustrating the whole story, illustrators are right there at the heart of what pulls us into the a book.
2023 will see the start of an Illustrator Interview, a series of interviews with book/cover illustrators/artists and I’m just finalising a series of questions for this, if you’re interested please email me or use the contact form on the and we’ll get this kicked off.
I was thinking these could be the questions, any thoughts?
- when did you know you wanted to become an illustrator?
- how long does it typically take to make a page or cover for a book?
- what’s your favourite piece of art equipment?
- do you have a favourite colour scheme, if so what and why?
- who were your inspirations when starting out?
- do you have another job beside being an illustrator, if so what?
- what do you do to overcome a creative block?
- do you have a favourite piece in your portfolio, if so could you share it and talk about it?
- what was your first book related project?
- what type of media do you prefer to work in and why?
- do you have a playlist you like working to? If so do you want to share it?
- do you have any rituals when working?
- do you have a favourite artist outside of the world of books, if so who and why?
- did the books you read as a child influence your work?
- has your illustration/art style changed over time?
- how closely do you work with the author on developing the illustrations for a book?
- if you could illustrate any classic book which would it be and why?
- which illustrated books in the last year have you loved?
- if you can please tell us about your latest project and if not your last project
- do you have any events on in the near future?
An alphabetical list by surname of all the illustrator interviews, with date the interview was published.
- Ian Archie Beck (15/02/23)
- Tom Brown (08/02/23)
- Karin Celestine (11/01/23)
- Olaf Falafel (01/02/23)
- Steve May (01/03/23)
- James Mayhew (05/01/23)
- Maria Oliver (25/01/23)
- Rikin Parekh (22/03/23)
- Keith Robinson (18/01/23)
- Lynne Russell (08/03/23)
- Robyn Wilson-Owen (22/02/23)
Link to Illustrator Interview Questions
If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Subscriber over on Ko-Fi which also lets you read the growing collection of original short fiction.
If you can’t support with a monthly subscription a tip at my Ko-Fi is always appreciated and will go toward the goal of a new laptop.
You can always email me on contact@bigbeardedbookseller.com with any suggestions.