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I’ve always loved draw and paint, but when I started using collage, I became re-enchanted with my own art.
I’ve struggled, as many artists do, in keeping my work fresh and free.
I was often so critical of my own work that I’d forgotten the importance of having fun and enjoying myself while creating art. Joy is an essential ingredient when creating art for children.
A forgiving medium, collage freed me from the hectoring critic in my brain that often showed up when I painted. If a composition doesn’t work, it’s easy to peel off a piece of it and throw it aside.
Also, I can play with important components of a composition, moving the pieces around until I’m satisfied with the best placement.
Another thing I enjoy in working with collage is adding a three-dimensional element. Instead of a flat plane, you can give a sculptural effect to the collage, with more dramatic shadows and light, and a handmade feeling to the work.
Besides collage, I enjoy working in oils and pen and ink. I’m also learning lithography, which I greatly enjoy.
Most of the pieces in my portfolio were created to accompany a picture book manuscript and dummy. (A dummy is a skeletal version of the picture book I want to create, with the drawings and text roughly laid out for the editor to see.)
One of the pieces I created for my card, another was commissioned, and one I did on spec for a specific job.
A few of them have changed in other ways. I decided that characters from The Witch Who Wanted to Dance were better suited in a middle-grade novel, and that’s what I’m working on now.
Harpo’s Hat I’ve moved from a conventional zoo to a petting zoo, so that Harpo is not separated from the animals but can interact with them.
These are all works in progress, and I’ve yet to write or paint anything that I felt was perfect. But each story I write spurs me on to try to write something better, deeper and more satisfying.
Even though a picture book is short, if it is good enough, it won’t ever be forgotten.
—Frances Hill Yansky
January, 2010