Illustrator of BrilliANT, Sandy Flett, outlines her creative process for bringing memorable, quirky characters to life for children to love and enjoy.

What do you love about illustrating children’s books?

The thing I absolutely love the most about illustrating children’s books is the delighted response I get from children when they see the pictures - especially if they love the characters. And I really get a kick out of designing characters. I often hear authors talk about the characters as if they are real people. I feel the same way when I first start designing them on the page. I focus on making their facial expressions and body language really obvious. If these two qualities are done well, I believe the characters can start to seem like they almost pop out and come to life on the page. Even if the main character is not necessarily a human, but an perhaps an anthropomorphised animal, or object like a characterised toy, the emotions and movement of the character is just as important. Children need to be able to relate to the characters, so if they are behaving and moving (especially like a child) I believe this is made more possible.

So, going to schools or libraries to do drawing workshops, or book presentations is fantastic fun for me. And when I get to share in the delight of the book the children reading it, I think, "yep—this is why I do this!”

Do you have a favourite style of drawing or painting in illustrations?

My favourite style can vary. I love trying out different techniques. But, if I had to narrow it down, probably my favourite one is what I would call “light, loose and messy with a 60’s cartoon twist”. I adore drawings that look like what some might actually see as a rough draft—a wee bit like Quentin Blake’s illustrations in the Roald Dahl books.

So, to get this affect, my usual first “go to” materials are good old lead pencil or even pen and nib. I’ll add to that, with a crayon or coloured pencil outline, or possibly ink, and fill it with a water colour. A must is using the cheapest paper I can find. That way I feel free to “mess around” creatively. I’ve worked out that I am quite prone to bad cases of “illustrator’s block” if I use the expensive high grade paper! When I mess around on the paper, the characters seem to just appear on the page. I don’t quite understand how that happens—but I guess it’s just how my brain works!

I usually doodle away, using pretty loose and light pencil sketches first (some of my favourite drawing are actually my initial roughs.) When I’m working on the characters’ movements I use a lot of flowing curvy lines of motion in my draft as the “underdrawing”. If they look too stiff and wooden, that can be jarring making it harder for the visual reader to connect with the story, I think. So, my characters really need to move, jump ,run, spin, even just sit and lie down- just like a child would. And when I’m working on the facial expressions- it's the same deal. Even just tweaking the angle of an eyebrow, or a corner of a mouth, can totally change a character’s demeanour- and that’s fun to play with ( I love teaching this in my drawing presentations actually)

I then continue on reworking the initial drafts, going over and over them on my iPad using a fairly natural digital pen. I often keep the initial rough sketch layers visible, as I don’t want it looking too “neat”. After finishing the drafts, I scan them, upload them onto my computer and iPad Pro then finish them off using the Procreate app.

How has your illustrating style changed throughout your career?

Hmm… that is a good question.

I think when I first started, I was very uncertain about my own style, being “acceptable”. I compared myself to other artists, and assumed my drawing was not that great, because it wasn’t the same as theirs ( mostly, that my style was too “messy”!). So, I tried to draw like other people, instead of in a way that came naturally to me.

It was pretty nice though to discover that publishers actually liked my “messy”. It was really freeing and kind of released me to just create.

At the same time, I do know my artwork is influenced by illustrations in the books I devoured in my childhood. I was an avid comic and book reader and loved the nostalgic feel of from 60’s and 70’s, like Harry the Dirty Dog, The Jetsons, or Peanuts or Yogi Bear.

As I shared earlier, I do love messing around with different materials, and styles—but I’ve been told that even if I think I’m using a different style, my artwork still obviously “me”.

What process do you follow when illustrating a new children’s book? Does this change depending on the story?

Step one—read the manuscript! As I read the manuscript, I start to visualise what I think the characters might look like. I pretty much always start with the characters.

Then, there always needs to be a conversation with the editor, to make sure that what I am envisaging is similar to what they are thinking. There is often a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing at that point, which is quite fun. I draw and redraw the character roughs, then send them to the editor and wait for feedback. Top tip—it doesn’t pay to be precious, about your original ideas or too stuck on what you, as the illustrator, think the character should look like! It’s very important to realise that the editors really know what they are doing, and know the book inside out - they are investing a lot of money and time into it! But, once we work out a character design that we are both happy with, I then continue on, placing that character into the various scenes.

In a longer book, like a chapter book, I don’t mind if the editor tells me which scenes or pages they want the various pictures on, and to be a bit directive about it. This is time-saving for me, as it helps me get it right more quickly. Sometimes people ask if I find that creatively stifling, but I truly don't. And I always know that I can suggest another idea as well—it’s a discussion. Collaborative cooperation is a good way to describe the interactions we have.

After that step, I’m good to go with getting stuck into the illustrations more thoroughly. I then send all the roughs (drafts) to the publisher, who then comes back with suggestions for any changes. I work on said changes and send them back, and that is usually it! Working digitally (after the first initial paper drafts) is just the best way for me at this point as it really cuts down on the stress of having to make changes quickly and easily.

What did you enjoy about illustrating BrilliANT by Rosi Ngwenya?

It was an illustrator’s dream come true for me to do a book with one word per page. I’m a big fan of wordless picture books where the “reader” has to work out the story just form the pictures, so Brilli-ANT was very close to that, which was awesome.

It was also an absolute blast to work through the creative process with the editor, Rowena. We had a heap of video chats about the design of the book. Lots of tossing ideas around—me scribbling on a piece of paper, Rowena making suggestions, me changing the scribble, both of us making ourselves laugh about our “brilliant” ideas (I believe the term “cracking ourselves up” fits the bill).

And, as a character design addict, I was pretty chuffed when the cockroach character appeared from nowhere in my initial sketches. She really gave me a giggle. Would love to see her appear in another book maybe one day, if given the opportunity—I reckon she could have some interesting plot lines connected with her!

And I have to add, that you’ll see on the “end pages”, the little scribbly drawings of other ants. They came as bit of fun while I was doing them initial doodles. What a wonderful thrill it was to see them turned into a pattern on the end pages.

Was there anything that surprised you or was challenging about this process?

Although exciting, the one word per page initially felt like a real challenge as well, as it meant I had a big responsibility to come up with the visual “story” behind the words. The creative licence was wonderful, but I ended up with a teeny bit of illustrators version of “stage fright” for a little while. But, once I got into the flow, things took off and the illustrations really started to take shape and that was a very nice feeling.

Being used to mostly illustrating chapter books, the creation of the scenes, the character movement, expressions, colour palette, line-work, and the flow of pictures felt more intense as well, even though there were fewer pages. I felt the weight of working towards a whole cohesive aesthetic that flowed throughout the whole book whilst also pulling together a different in layout on each page at the same time, so it would be more visually stimulating. But by the time it was finished, I was completely in love with the end product.

What is it like to collaborate with authors on their books?

I do love working with authors—I’m astounded actually at their talents! But, as the illustrator, I don’t always get to work directly with the authors- almost all of the collaboration is actually with the editor/publisher.

I do love connecting with the authors though, and we often become friends, even if it is just online. I take it as a real honour to illustrate their original work, and it makes me very happy to make them happy with what I have done as illustrator.

You’ve also illustrated the Juno Jones series by Kate Gordon and the Edie’s Experiment series by Charlotte Barkla. What is it like to illustrate a series? What did you enjoy about these projects?

There are several things I love about illustrating a series.

The first one is reading the manuscript for the next instalment. It's very cool to get the sneak peak at finding out what is going to happen next.

But, there is also that responsibility as the illustrator to help the reader bond with the characters in the book, and to make sure the particular magic of a particular story is enhanced. Playing a part in that magic for the children’s really nice.

Drilling down to the basics of each series though - the Edie’s Experiments by Charlotte Barkla was fun to do as it gave me a chance tap into my 60’s“sci-fi” cartoon style. Juno Jones was fun as the author, Kate Gordon, is the queen of cool characters and creatures doing zany things. Every single Juno book contains a new creature doing something very funny. For example: A "Were-poodle, howling at the moon” and a "barbershop quartet of Ferrets”. I think my favourite is the “Alien-Lizard men" —It was a hoot to draw them attending their annual conference. The imaginative nuttiness is so right up my alley.

Do you have any other projects in the works?

Yes I do.

I have a few more illustrated middle grade chapter books coming out, including several books in the Juno Jones series, and a book with Rhiza Edge publishers too.

And, I’m particularly excited about a hybrid graphic novel series coming up with Riveted Press, which I am working on with by good friend, author Rowan McCauley (of Go-Girl fame). I’m getting to really focus on cartoon lay-out in that series, with one of my besties, which is a very cool.

So, plenty coming up.

To be honest, I feel very very lucky to get these opportunities and really want to thank Rhiza Edge, Penguin Books and especially Riveted Press for taking on my “messy scribbles.”