I Write the Words and Draw the Pictures Too
by Louise Pfanner
Books have always been important to me, I come from a long line of readers, although none of them were writers or illustrators. From the age of six or seven I knew that I would write children’s books, and draw the pictures as well. I always had lots of ideas for books, and would start writing with enthusiasm, although I did find it awfully difficult to finish them. My parents were always interested in anything I wrote, or drew, or made, although I never had much interest from my teachers, until my later years at high school, when I was lucky enough to have one brilliant English teacher, and a good art teacher.
I write picture books, without many words, so the pictures need to contain lots of information and detail, partly to give cues to the young reader, but mainly to create a more interesting reading experience. Without many words on the page, each word is very important, and it often takes me as long to write the text of a picture book as it does to illustrate it.
Some illustrators are able to work in many styles, but I only draw in one way. I like to do lots of rough drawings first, then do a pencil outline, then an ink line over that. I rub out the pencil, then if it’s a colour drawing, I paint it in with water colours, or inks, and sometimes I touch things up with colour pencils. I never use a computer to do artwork, I’ve only just learnt how to write with one! Although I can appreciate other people’s proficiency with computers, I would much rather see evidence of the human hand. In fact, I always enjoy looking for the little pencil lines, or smudges that can very occasionally be found in the illustrations in books. This doesn’t happen often, as illustration is an extremely exacting art form, and illustrators are always very meticulous and careful. As a very messy person at heart, I have found it quite a challenge to be so neat and clean in my work, and the room I work in looks very hectic, although my desk is always clean. After school, I studied Graphic Design at what was National Art School, but became Sydney College of the Arts. It was a good way to learn the discipline that is needed to be an illustrator, and I can really recommend that some kind of formal art training is very useful if you want a career in this field. It’s also great fun to study art and design, and learn how to do all kinds of amazing things.
Writing is not so easy for me, and it’s something I really have to work on, and be helped with. That’s where the editors come in, and I’ve always been so lucky to work with terrific editors. It’s sometimes hard to see where you’re going wrong, because you are so involved and close with the work, so it’s always good to have the input of the editor. It is much easier for me to see where and how a picture is going awry, probably because I’ve been trained to, and I nearly always know how to fix it. But when I write, I have to really harness all my powers of concentration, and do a lot of weeding out. At the moment I am working on a book that I have written, and someone else is illustrating, and it’s incredibly exciting to see your imagination come to life through someone else’s artwork. I have also illustrated other people’s texts, which is quite a responsibility, and although it can be fun, I prefer to illustrate my own words.
I have been very lucky, because when I am not working on a book, I still do book-related work. I worked in bookshops for years, which I loved, and I also review books for magazines. This is a tremendous job for a reader, and also quite a good way to keep realistic about your own work. There are lots of books being written out there, and one’s own book is just one of many. While I find it exciting to have a book published, I don’t really like reading them again, and only do so when I go to schools to do workshops and talks. Sharing the books with classes of children is a particularly good way of testing the books, there is no greater way to learn how boring something really is than by reading it to say, twenty five six-year-olds, after lunchtime on a Friday. When my own children were younger, I could test drive the books on them, but now they’re too old and polite to be really ruthless judges.
Many people say they are going to write, or illustrate a book, and many of them never do. But if you really, really want to, you will, and it will be just as wonderful as you always dreamt it would be.