My newest book:
Author/Illustrator Interview with Jennifer Merz
Congratulations to Jennifer Merz for her new book: PLAYGROUND DAY. This beautiful and fun book is a celebration of those busy hours children spend playing in the playground. With freedom and imagination, the child in this book plays like a monkey, an elephant, a beaver, a squirrel... like a whole gaggle of wonderful animals. Jenn makes her collage illustrations with torn and cut papers - they are magnificent!
Jenn was in my class at SVA several years ago. She went on to publish her first book, the award-winning THAT DANCING DOLLY. (It won a IRA Children's Choice Award!) And now her second book is out, just published by Clarion. I'm very pleased to have an interview with her here, where she talks about her creative process. Enormously talented, hard-working and committed, she is an inspiration!
Can you tell us about the process of working on
Playground Day, from first idea to publication? To
begin with, how did this book get started, what was
the first trigger?
My creative process started with just the germ of an
idea. I knew I wanted to do pictures of happy, active
children on the playground, and was inspired by long,
wonderful days at the playground with my daughters,
Lesley and Julia. I love the sheer joy of outdoor,
imaginative play, and wanted to capture that feeling –
the universal sense of fun from a day outside at the
park.
Here’s a picture of my daughter Julia when she was 2
years old, expressing that joy. Wheee!!!!
Did you work on the manuscript first, or the pictures?
For this book, the pictures definitely came first –
the visual images that I wanted to create were much
clearer to me than the words. I remember very early
on in the process wanting to tie the children’s
activities to animal actions. For example, I wanted
to link climbing on the jungle gym with a monkey’s
climbing, or draw a parallel between the joy of being
high up on a swing with a bird’s flight.
My vision for the manuscript was not as sharp, so the
words went through many, many different stages….and
different styles….before I decided to tell the story
with rhymed couplets.
You make your sketches and your dummy with torn brown
paper, instead of drawing with pencil. Can you show us
a page? Why do you work this way?
Yes, I “sketch” with brown paper bags! After I try to
envision the entire book with small pencil thumbnails,
I use brown paper bags to create collage “sketches”.
I rip out the shapes that I need and adhere them with
a glue stick. Then I put them all together for my
dummy book. I find that working this way keeps my
dummy pictures very loose. It also keeps me focused on
collage, the medium for my finished pictures, so that
I don’t get too preoccupied with the drawing itself.
Although it takes awhile to make a “sketch” this way,
I think that my compositions are stronger when I’m
dealing with silhouetted forms; this method helps me
guard against my tendency to get bogged down in too
many details too early in the process.
Here’s the brown paper sketch that I did for the swing
picture:
…. And here is the final picture: I love the tactile
effects I can achieve by tearing or cutting the
papers. I often use fabric and other trimmings in my
final illustrations, too
When you were a child, did you have favorite animals?
Did you have pets? Favorite stuffed animals?
When I was a little girl I had a black cat named
Mitty, whom I loved very much. In more recent times,
we have had a dog – a pug – named Wonton. He was
totally beloved by the whole family but, sadly, we
lost him to cancer last year. Maybe by next year
we’ll be ready for a new puppy.
As for stuffed animals, YES! I had loads of them, and
so have my daughters. My girls would set up elaborate
parties for them, or bring them on outings, or to
school. They have figured so prominently in our
house, that I wanted to put them into “Playground
Day!” The little girl in my picturebook brings ten
of them to the playground in her red wagon.
If you were going to be an animal, what animal would
you be and why?
Definitely a bird ~~ I like the idea of soaring freely
through the skies!
Can you tell us a bit about how you work?
What is your studio like? You must have a big collection of papers!
I like to work in the daytime, when the light is good
and I’m at my most creative, and I enjoy listening to
music (jazz or classical are my favorites) while I’m
working on the art.
But I often do my best writing out at my local
Starbucks. At least, it’s a good excuse for a mocha
latte.
I’m thrilled with my new studio! It’s the newly
finished attic (3rd story) in our house. Until
now, I’ve been working amidst the Christmas
decorations, suitcases, and all the junk that gets
stored in an attic – Now, I have walls and carpeting
and recessed lighting! And the junk has made its way
to the basement!
I have a fairly large collection of collage papers,
though I always want more! I like using rice papers
and buy most of my supplies at Pearl Paint, though
Kate’s Paperie is also a good source.
Can you tell us about the process of finding your
publisher and your editor?
For my first book, “That Dancin’ Dolly,” a series of
happy, serendipitous moments pointed me towards my
editor at Dutton Children’s Books, even though it took
a long time to get there. For “Playground Day!” I was
amazed and proud to say that I made it through the
slush pile!
You had some rejections along the way, but then
finally a happy outcome. What were some of the ups and
downs?
Yes, both of my books were held up at various
publishers for about a year prior to their acceptance
for publication. At times, I almost gave up! But I
persisted, having faith in my work and in the process.
I think it’s important to understand that
persistence, luck, and patience are key ingredients in
the whole process of being published.
You've taken a number of illustration classes
including with the master artist, Ed Young, and
recently you have also taught a children's book class
yourself. Do you have any special words of advice or
encouragement for illustrators/writers starting out?
I love taking classes and I love teaching, so it is a
pleasure to answer this question!
One bit of advice that has helped me is to make
believe you are making a movie. You are the director,
the cinematographer, the casting director, the set and
costume designer! Think of your book as one unit. In
other words, it must work from start to finish. It’s
sometimes easy to forget that the book is one total
unit, and not a series of pictures.
I’d also advise new students to try to be patient, not
only in terms of waiting for responses from
publishers, but with yourself as you develop your
work. Making books is not an easy task! Sometimes
you need to do something over and over again until it
looks right. I would also say it’s important to seek
out opinions of your work ~ but only from those people
whom you trust. Listen to your own “inner ear” when
you get advice: sift through the information to find
out what works for you and what is not true to your
vision.
Also keep reading: visit your local bookstore and
library frequently. Study as you read. Ask yourself:
what makes this picturebook effective?
Lastly, join the SCBWI for camaraderie and support!
It’s a great organization.
Thank you so much for interviewing me here, Monica!
It’s such a pleasure to be part of your blog!
All my best to you and your readers!
Thank you!! It's great having you here!
For more info about Playground Day, here is the link on amazon.com
And Jenn has a great website - check it out: www.jennifermerz.com