Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
Little quirky, little witty, little random.
What items are an essential part of your creative space?
What items are an essential part of your creative space?
1 million lights, a window or two, music, and room to lay on the floor.
Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
Photoshop and a Wacom tablet. I also scan handmade textures that I sometimes layer into my art.
Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Beatrix Potter,Lauren Child, Spongebob, who I know isn’t an artist but he still inspires me.
Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?
Probably the Renaissance period so I could sit down and have a sandwich and a chat with da Vinci.
Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?
I just always loved to draw. Nobody in my family was really into art or had any major drawing abilities (sorry Mom, Dad, Little Bro). Nobody in my primary school really did either (it was a small school). I watched a lot of cartoons growing up so my love for characters and storytelling happened at a young age. I went to college for animation and realized that although I wasn’t so much into the motion aspect of storytelling, I was into developing characters. Picture books was my perfect destiny.
Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.
This is the spot I’m at the most. I have another large desk in my art room, it’s three times the size of this one. But for some reason I just love working in the closet. Sometimes I sit under the desk and close the doors for deep thinking.
What is your favourite part of the illustration process?
I really love it all. Nerd alert! I love the brainstorming and planning stage and playing with color palettes. Making the art and losing myself in it. And the moments in between where I think I can’t solve a problem, then all of a sudden I figure it out. I even love making revisions. With every book I work on, I always learn something about myself. I grow a little both as a human and artist. Whether it’s learning to trust the process or just slowing down to enjoy the process.
What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
Say yes. Keep doing what you’re doing, making the art you love making, and say yes to every opportunity that knocks on your door.
Maddie Frost is the author-illustrator of Once Upon a Zzzz, Animobiles, Wakey Birds, and her newest book, Smug Seagull. She is also the illustrator of dozens of books including The Littlest Things Give The Loveliest Hugs, A is for Artichoke, and more. She lives outside Boston with her husband and doggo, Mozzy.