I love art.
I always have.
I was a CRAZY coloring fool when I was a kid.
So I can totally relate to Louise here.
PLUS, I GOT TO MEET KELLY LIGHT!
Yes, it’s shout-worthy!
Title: Louise Loves Art
Published by: Blazer and Bray, 2014
Written by: Kelly Light
Illustrated by: Kelly Light
Word Count: 132
Pages: 40
In one word: Art-tastic!
In one sentence: Louise has created the best piece of art ever…but what is her younger brother, Art doing?
Favorite pages:
Louise is finding the perfect spot.
Art is making trouble.
And the cat! He’s going crazy!
Likes:
I love the use of red in this book. The rest of the colors are not as bright and those red pops of color are fun to find everywhere.
The siblings are so sweet. As a sibling who mostly always got along with hers, I appreciate that.
The style of the illustrations is so loose and fun. I love all of Louise’s art too. I know it’s tricky to make artwork look like a kid did it J
I love Louise’s voice. She knows who she is an she’s proud to be herself! I think that’s a great thing for kids to see!
The cat. Oh man. He may not say a word but he ALWAYS knows what’s going on. You’ve got to watch for him in these pages!
Learns:
Color has power! Use it wisely!
Strong characters make for strong books.
Let us hear your character’s voice. We’ll most likely connect right away!
Have you read this one?
What did you read today?
Here’s the write up
from when I met her at Hicklebee’s:
Kelly’s energy was contagious and you could tell she was so excited to be there talking to us!
She opened with mentioning how she fell in love with characters when she was a child.
Some of her favorites? I bet you’ve heard of them:
Snoopy
Mickey Mouse
Bugs Bunny
the Lorax
Lowly Worm
And she wanted to make her OWN character.
Then she dove right into reading Louise Loves Art for us.
Authors/illustrators are always the best at reading their own books!
I really love how she “talked” for the cat in a variety of meow noises!
After she finished, she started right in on a sketch for Hicklebee’s,
but took questions as she drew.
All the answers are Kelly’s. I take notes super fast but these may not be verbatim. Just imagine you are there listening; they may not be the exact words but these words communicate what she was trying to say 🙂
Q: What’s your favorite art supply?
A: Blue pencil, probably a left over from animation. I like the way soft lead feels. I like a sharp point too! For Louise, the closest I could find that felt that way was the Prismatic pencil.
Q: What’s your favorite kind of art?
A: Cartoons. I like a lot of line work. I have a love of line.
Q: Did you go to art school?
A: Yes, I went to Syracuse University and was an illustration major and animation minor.
Q: How Louise Loves Art come about?
A: An editor saw my postcard…it’s actually the first full spread of the book, the one with the words: “I love art. It’s my imagination on the outside.” My editor called me and asked, “Who is this girl? What’s her story?” and we had a conversation and Louise was sold before I had a manuscript! From sketch to final art it took me one year. When I turned in the color proofs they liked them so much that they kept them as the final art! It’s good because the art feels really loose and I wasn’t really worried about making it and didn’t tighten up.
Q: How did Louise become a series?
A: When I turned in the final artwork, I was called into Harper the next day. I was nervous, but my editor seemed excited, so I knew it was something good. Then they told me they wanted to make it a series!
Q: What are you working on next?
A: The second Louise book, where Louise meets her neighbor Andy who loves art too, only she loves a different style of art, and illustrating a book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal called Don’t Blink.
She finished up her drawing,
and gave us some advice before setting up to sign books:
“Whatever you love as a kid, hold onto that,
because it will get you through your life
if you hold onto it.”
“Imagination is a superpower.
Don’t get lazy with it.
Exercise it!”
and this one is my favorite:
“Don’t put down your pencil.
Don’t stop.
The world needs more artists.”
I met up with her in line,
gave her a thank you note,
and got to chat a bit with her.
Turns out I picked up one of those postcards with Louise on it,
in 2011 at the Portfolio showcase at SCBWI LA.
I remember really being drawn to the image.
She was really sweet and we had a good chat.
And, of course, she got to meet Singe Singe!
I can’t wait for more books in the Louise series.
She’s spunky, knows just who she is,
and is really talented.
Hey,
kind of like Kelly 🙂
Coincidence?
You decide 🙂
More authors and illustrator events are coming up,
so watch this space to meet more talented people!
Side note: Are September and October huge traveling months for writers and illustrators?
I’m meeting SO MANY these two months!
Until next time,
KE
