Illustrator Saturday – Sandra Salsbury

Our featured illustrator this week is Sandra Salsbury. Sandra is a born and raised San Franciscan. Like most artists, she enjoyed drawing as a young child, but she really didn’t get into drawing until she went to high school. However, despite drawing for hours every day, she ended up going to Smith College to study pre-med. After three weeks of into to Bio, she realized that she had made a terrible mistake, and the next semester she returned home and enrolled in art school.

Below is Sandra (on the right) with her sister Vanessa (on the left).

Sandra studied illustration at the Academy of Art, but it wasn’t until she took an amazing class taught by children’s illustrator LeUyen Pham during my last semester that she decided to pursue children’s book illustration. That class caused her to stay on to get an MFA and she graduated in 2009. Since graduating she has illustrated one book with Little Pickle Press. Now, she is working on building her portfolio and making contacts with publishing companies. She also works as an art teacher and substitute teacher.

Here’s Sandra talking about her process:

All my illustrations start with a series of quick thumbnails that probably only make sense to me. I try to give myself a few options to work with (the more the better) even if I am happy with the very first thumbnail I drew. I always want to have a pretty good idea of my composition before I get into my sketches.

My next step is to create a fairly detailed sketch of my thumbnail. The purpose of this is to make sure I have the correct proportions and that the perspective and layout of my illustration is something that actually works. Sometimes I like to make an enlarged photocopy of my thumbnail, so I can preserve my original composition, other times I just sketch straight on to paper and only use the thumbnail as reference. After this, I will sometimes create a color rough. For this particular piece I did a color rough because I had no idea where I wanted to go in terms of color. There are also times when I know from the beginning what sorts of colors I want, and I skip this step.

After this, I create a detailed line drawing on tracing paper. This is the drawing that I will transfer onto my water-color paper, so I need to resolve any issues and include all the detail that I want in my final painting. I then transfer this drawing onto the water-color paper using my light box. I try to keep my pencil lines as light as possible. To be honest, this is the step that I like the least and I am still exploring other ways to transfer my line work. Sometimes I will make small changes from my final line art to the final illustration. On this piece, I decided to change the table leg on the bottom right corner. Any changes I make at this point will be fairly minor.

Once my line art is transferred, I stretch the paper. I use Arches 140lb cold press watercolor paper. I soak the paper in my bath tub for about 20 minutes (usually I forget about it for about an hour and then run into my bathroom, fearing that it has turned back into pulp. It’s always fine). I then attach the paper to my very nifty foam core watercolor board by stapling all around the edge. I like to let it sit for at least 12 hours to make sure it’s very dry before I start painting.

I am not particularly attached to any brand of paint, but I do tend to use Winsor & Newton more than any other brand. I am in love with their Payne’s Grey. I use Payne’s Grey throughout every illustration. I use to it darken my browns, or create blacks, purples, and greens. I like to use it to create shadows and stormy skies. In general, I try to keep my number of colors to a minimum. I use a warm and cool red, a warm and cool yellow, Ultramarine, Payne’s Grey, Burnt Sienna, and Burnt Umber. Any color in my paintings are created from these 8 colors. Typically (and sometimes I’m embarrassed to admit this) I paint with very tiny brushes. The brushes I use range from 000 to 6. Unless I am doing a very large wash, I won’t use anything larger than a 6. I like to paint in layers, starting very light and building on top of that until I get my desired depth of color.

After this, my work is scanned, but I don’t do very much in Photoshop. Any color correction is only to get the scan as close to the original painting as I can (something I still struggle with). I will do some touch-ups if some paint bled out of an area, or if a tiny splatter magically appear without my knowing, but in general, there is very little alteration after I am finished painting.

Is the candy shop picture part of a picture book dummy?

This illustration is actually inspired by a real candy store in San Francisco called Miette (they also have a very popular bakery and recently came out with a cook book). Miette is the most beautiful, perfect little candy store that I could ever imagine. They have shelves upon shelves of apothecary jars filled with candy and everything in the story is light pink and white. It feels like stepping into candy heaven. As soon as I walked into the store, the idea for this illustration stuck in my head, even though I didn’t start working on it for a couple of years after my first trip to the store.

Below is Sandra’s debut book published by Pickle Press

How did the opportunity to illustrate WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAFE come about?

What Does It Mean To Be Safe? is a perfect example of the importance of networking. It would be lovely if having a great portfolio was really enough to find work, but there are so many wonderful illustrators out there that you really have to be noticed by the right person at the right time. Little Pickle Press was started by Rana DiOrio, who worked as an investment banker (among many other things) before moving into children’s book publishing. My boyfriend’s parents were friend with another investment banker who knew Rana and he introduced us over email. I sent my samples to LPP and it happened that they were currently in the process of starting another book. It was really a combination of knowing the right person, having the right artwork and being introduced at the right time.

Below Interior Art from Book

I love the red polka-dotted skirt girl and wonder about her and her story. Is this a dummy? Have you written text for it? Or do you plan to do a wordless picture book? If not, do you ever plan to do one, they are very popular now.

Part of my thesis project included writing two manuscripts that I would illustrate. One of them came out terrible and made me thankful I am an illustrator and not a writer. The other was a rhyming poem about body parts. I actually quite like it, but I have not yet submitted it to any publishers. I am hoping to redo my book dummy and experiment a bit with pastels for the illustrations. Those pieces were actually done in acrylic (which in the end, is a media I am not terribly fond of), but I think I would have more success achieving the look I want if I use pastels.

Even though these illustrations were done in Acrylics, it seems that most of your illustrations are done in watercolor. Have you always tended to gravitated to watercolor or is this something that came about while studying art at the academy?

I experimented a bit with watercolor in high school, but nothing very in-depth. At the Academy, the second semester illustration class is taught entirely in watercolor and I found that it was something that came naturally to me. I have always loved watercolor illustrations and I found that this was the media I could use to achieve the look I wanted most easily. I also really like that clean up is a breeze and paintings dry very quickly.

Do you think watercolor will remain your choice of paint materials?

I love watercolor, and because I have worked with it so much, I am significantly better at watercolor than I am with other media. I would like to try working with pastels a bit and also maybe trying collage, but I imagine I will work primarily with watercolor. I am also trying to get more experience with digital media. Digital is much easier to clean up, and it’s very mobile (if you use a laptop) and after the initial cost of programs and hardware (which I have anyway), it’s free. It is also easier to produce work quickly with digital because you can make changes much more easily, and there isn’t the delays from stretching paper and waiting for paint to dry. However, it’s very difficult to get the look of watercolor with digital media, so I have to experiment to see if there is a look that I like.

It looks like many of your illustrations could be from dummies that you have made. Like the ones of the redheaded, ill-tempered princess. Could you tell us the story behind the pictures?

This story is called Prince Amilec and it’s about a spoiled princess whose father wants to marry her off as quickly as possible. Prince Amilec falls madly in love with her (based only on her looks alone, of course) and he has to complete a number of impossible tasks to win her hand. He enlists the help of the kind witch that lives in the forest, and by the end of the story, Prince Amilec is in love with the witch and wants nothing to do with the princess.

Did you write text to go with the pictures?

This story is from an anthology of fairy tales called Don’t Bet on the Prince, which I came across when sitting in on a modern fairy tales class at Smith College. This particular story is called Prince Amilec and it was written by Tanith Lee.

What was the type of class you took at the academy that changed your illustration direction? Can you share some of the things that inspired you in the class?

In my final semester at the Academy of Art, I took a children’s book illustration class with LeUyen Pham (illustrator of Julianne Moore’s Strawberry Freckleface and author/illustrator of Big Sister, Little Sister, among many other books). Before this class, I hadn’t really settled on what type of illustration I wanted to focus on, but after working with someone who was so talented at both illustrating and teaching, I decided to focus my portfolio on children’s books. The entire process of creating a book was just so exciting to me, in ways that I didn’t experience with other types of illustration. For me, the act of planning the book out is just as exciting as doing the final paintings.

Why do you soak the watercolor paper before working on it?

I soak my paper before painting to stretch the paper. When paper gets wet, it absorbs the water and expands. When it gets wet in some areas, but not wet in others, you get wrinkles, called buckling. The problem with buckling is that when you try to paint over it, the watercolor pools in the bottoms of the wrinkles, and you can’t get even washes. Soaking the paper lets it absorb water evenly so it is completely stretched out. Then, while the paper is wet, you staple it (or use special tape) to a board and as the paper dries, it stays completely stretched out, so you don’t get buckling.

Is the picture of the prince collapsing in the chair being served tea, the end of the story? Who is serving him the tea?

In that last picture, the kind witch from the forest is serving Prince Amilec tea in her house while he complains what a terrible person the princess has turned out to be. His last task is to get a wedding dress for the princess that is made out of moonlight and other impossible items. The witch agrees to make the dress, and in the last scene of the story, she delivers the dress to the wedding by wearing it (sneaky) and that is when the prince decides to marry the witch instead of the princess.

Can you give us a feel for the types of classes you took at the academy?

At the Academy, students start out by taking “foundation” classes. These are classes in figure drawing, still life drawing, color and design. Over the 7 years at the academy, I have taken at least 9 figure drawing classes, as well as multiple portrait classes and anatomy classes. I have taken still life drawing and painting and landscape painting. Even though my illustrations art very stylized, I think these courses are essential to really understanding anatomy, form, fabric, light and shadow. Even if an artist does abstract paintings, I think a strong foundation in traditional realism is essential. Aside from the courses in traditional art, I have also taken many illustration classes. During my time as a graduate student, I was able to adapt most of my classes to build a children’s book portfolio.

Are you represented by an agent or artist rep.? If not, would you like to be?

I am not currently represented by anyone. My plan for this year has been to begin looking for representation, but like most marketing aspects of illustration, I find that I have put it up. The greatest challenge that I have faced as an illustrator has been marketing my work. If I could just pay someone else to do it, that would be a dream. Also, having negotiated my first contract on my own (and not very well, I might add), I have determined that it is a process that I could do without.

What was the first thing you illustrated where you received payment?

When I was in high school, I drew all the time. I drew in class, during recess and lunch, after school. Basically every minute that I wasn’t forced to do something else, I spent drawing. At this time, I was very much into comics and manga (Japanese comics) and my friend and I would go to conventions and sell our drawings. It’s funny how even as I was doing this, it didn’t occur to me that I could become an illustrator. As for “real” jobs, I have also done some logo work, as well as commissioned pieces. In terms of major jobs, What Does It Mean To Be Safe? was my first long term project from a company, rather than an individual.

Sorry, to be asking so many questions about the stories, but you illustrations have so much story behind them. Like why is the lady all dressed up with a rolling pin in her hand? Was she baking? Did the man knock her on the floor? Is he threatening her with his sword? The perspective is fabulous and demands answers, which is a great thing to accomplish in an illustration.

When I was a child, my father brought home a children’s book. It quickly became my sister and my most favorite book, even though my mother hated it. It was Captain Murderer by Charles Dickens. It is a story told within one of his novels. In the story, Captain Murderer marries young women, then takes them home and teaches them to bake a pie crust. After they make the crust, he kills them and cooks them in the pie and eats it. In one town, there are two beautiful sisters, and one loves the Captain and the other hates him. He marries the sister that loves him and eats her, as he does with all young women. The other sister, decides to take revenge and she pretends to fall in love with the captain and she marries him as well. On their wedding night, she makes the pie crust, but right before he kills her, she drinks poison. When the captain eats the pie with the poisoned sister, he gets poisoned as well and dies. It’s an extremely dark story, but I find that these are some of the kinds of stories that children love most. At least my sister and I did.

What did going for your Master’s bring to the table? Do you feel it was worth the time and money?

The only reason I got a Master’s degree was because I wanted to continue taking classes, and it’s easier when there is a specific goal. I didn’t decide to focus on children’s book until my last semester in undergrad, and at that time, my portfolio was all over the place. The master’s program really served to focus my studies and give me the opportunity to work with more instructors. In terms of career, it basically means nothing. I find that it makes it easier to get jobs teaching art, and technically I could teach at a community college if I desired, but as an illustrator, it isn’t important.

Where do you do your illustrating?

I do all my painting at home. I have a little alcove where everything is set up, but as often as not, I migrate out to the dining area and completely take over the table. The nice part about watercolor is that the set up and clean up is very easy, so I can move around the house quite a bit as I feel like it.

This is a fun Illustration. What is the story behind this one?

I did this piece for my art class. The assignment was for everyone to chose a funny sentence out of a basket, and then illustrate their sentence. I like to do the projects alongside the kids, so they get an idea of the direction they should go in, and see my thought process. The sentence I picked was “She knew there was something odd about the new student, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.”

Do you follow schedule or a routine?

My biggest struggle at this point is finding balance. Currently, illustrating is not my primary source of income, and I often find that the jobs that generate income take over my time as an illustrator. I typically work 40-50 hours a week on other jobs, and I have to squeeze illustrating in between. The nice part about my other jobs is that they are very flexible, so when I do have illustration work, I can just drop everything and focus on illustrating. However, I find that I don’t put enough time into actively looking for illustration jobs. When I have the time to illustrate, I want to paint, not create mailers to send to publishers and organize my taxes. I am currently in the process of trying to create a very detailed schedule that will hopefully address this problem.

I assume that being an art teacher gives you more time for your artwork. Is that correct?

Unfortunately, being an art teacher is something like the variety of other jobs I hold, where it only takes time away from illustration. I love teaching art, and it’s so much fun to work with kids and see what they can do, but when I am teaching, I am not thinking about my own work. I teach at a school called “The Community School of Music and Art,” which teaches after school programs and camps during vacations. When I am teaching a class for them, it is typically only an hour a week, unless it is a camp, and then it is a few hours a day for a week or two. In an ideal world, I would teach art classes a couple days a week, and spend the rest of my time illustrating, but alas, I am not at that point yet.

What type of things do you do to promote yourself?

This is my biggest struggle. I have postcards to send out, but I’m afraid that I don’t send them out as often as I should. I recently attended the SCBWI winter conference in New York and I had the opportunity to network with a number of people. While I was in New York, I also did portfolio drop offs at a number of publishers and I received a lot of positive feedback. My next step is to reach out to those people again with new material, as well as look into getting an agent, as I mentioned above.

Do you have any tips you can share with other illustrators starting out?

Join SCBWI and attend the conferences. Before the winter conference, I was not feeling that great about my work and I was really questioning whether or not illustration was something I should stick with. The conference in New York was a huge emotional and creative boost for me and I left feeling like I could achieve my dreams. It can be had to find a balance of earning money and building your career when you are starting out, but it’s important to keep working on it and don’t let illustration fall to the wayside.

Thank you Sandra for sharing your talent and process with us. I am sure everyone enjoyed their time with you.  We’ll be keeping an eye on your career.

If you would like to visit Sandra’s website the address is:  www.sandrasalsbury.com 

She also has an etsy shop: http://ssalsbury.etsy.com For those who were interested in the Candy Shop, here is the address: http://www.etsy.com/listing/96036768/10×13-print-of-candy-shop

She will also do smaller prints if you are interested, as well as prints of pretty much anything on her website. Feel free to just send her an email if you are interested in anything!

email: sandra.salsbury@gmail.com 

I’m sure Sandra would love to read your comments, so please take a minute to write something.

Thanks,

Kathy