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By Becca.... Dangerous Lies QUESTIONS with Becca Fitzpatrick! Today, I'm welcoming Becca Fitzpatrick to talk a little bit about Dangerous Lies, her new YA thriller that released yesterday (GO BUY IT!), and ask her some dangerous questions. They aren't really that dangerous, but they were super fun, and I adored reading Becca's answers! But brace yourselves, things may get a little

Can you describe your illustration process?

Q1: What influences your doodle paintings?

I think the truest answer here is that not much influences my doodles. They just sort of happened on their own. Above is the basic evolution of my doodle process. It all began in 2004---doodling in black ink on white paper. After a few of those I naturally began to wonder: What if I add color first, and then draw over the painting? It progressed into subdued washes of watercolor backgrounds on top of which I drew with ink. From there it has been a steady continuation of that original method. Today, my doodles are far wilder in color. I paint more thickly using gouache and I also paint over some parts of the drawing and add touches of colored pencil to push the depth of the shapes and spaces.

Abstract art has been an interesting departure from my representational illustration work. I like that my doodles allow for multiple interpretations---some people see cells, bacteria, bubbles, etc. To me they feel like microscopic worlds or galactic worlds--like alien planets. But I do not try too hard to convey these things literally. My doodles are the one thing I feel like I am discovering entirely on my own---without outside things influencing how they should look or what they should become. Occasionally I take initial color inspiration for my doodles from other pieces of art that have exciting color palettes, but I never plan too heavily when I actually paint them. I just sort of begin painting and let it take me wherever it goes. The reason why I call them "doodles" is because I am truly "doodling" as I create them, drawing whatever I want to, in whatever order I want to ---with no pressure for it to look a certain way. That's the point of doing them---it is a very free process (unlike my illustration work which is VERY constrained by the needs of the project or story).

Q2: What is your favorite holiday movie?

Without a doubt: The Muppet Christmas Carol. 

The story. The sets. The actors! Never have Kermit and Gonzo been better. Oh, and Michael Cane is brilliant, too. OOF! I think the ideas within the Christmas Carol story itself (whatever the iteration) can be appreciated by anyone who wants to find it in their heart to change for the better. Its message resonates very strongly within me, and as a non-religious person, this particular retelling is pretty secular-friendly. Funny enough, it is a muppet movie that brings out my humanity the most at one of the warm and fuzziest times of the year. Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas. That's a message to which I can truly relate.  

Continuing "Two-Question Tuesday", in which I post and answer two questions each week, one pulled from some of the actual questions I've received over the years, the other a silly question I ask myself. I hope they provide a bit of insight into who I am and how (and why) I do what I do!

If you have a question you'd like to ask me, post it as a comment below and I will answer it in a future post.

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Q1: Did you take art classes when you were young? 

NOTE: I like to think that I am still young, but I get what you're asking...for the sake of argument I will address my relationship to art prior to age 21.

As a child, I had regular public school art class like everyone else around me. But at home, my sister ---she's 3 years older---liked to draw and paint and it wasn't long before I decided I wanted to, too. Maybe part of me wanted to show her up a little? (I am the middle child, after all...) By middle school I was drawing a TON. It was my favorite thing to do, and all that outside practice helped me improve pretty quickly. Granted, the kind of art I was doing at the time involved realistic teeny bopper drawings of my celebrity crushes [see above, age 11: Devon Sawa], but I guess they served a grander purpose eventually. When I was younger, I spent most of my personal time drawing from photographs as opposed to from my imagination. It taught me certain basics of light/shadow/value, but now I wonder where I'd be as an artist if I had relied more on my imagination as a child...it's something I'm still trying to develop now at age 30.

Anyway, I digress.
In high school I continued taking art classes as electives (i.e. advanced drawing and painting, portfolio, and AP studio art) but I was equally if not more concerned with my academic classes. I didn't want to be just a good artist, but a good student all around. My favorite teacher was my English teacher, Mrs. Sullivan (I had her sophomore year and senior year) who encouraged her students to approach their final projects creatively rather than just written essays. For The Lord of the Flies I drew realistic before and after portraits of Ralph (see above, age 15), and for Macbeth I drew a poster montage of key scenes from the play (see above, age 17). I loved having the opportunity to fuse my art with my academics and will always be grateful for having had a teacher like Mrs. Sullivan.

All throughout high school my number one pastime was drawing in my bedroom for hours on end. Most often by myself, but occasionally with the company of one or both my sisters. I was a pretty independent art maker motivated by a simple desire: make realistic portraits of my favorite movie stars to hang on my bedroom wall. It might not have been the most sociable use of my free time, but it kept me entertained through the stress factory that is high school, so I regret nothing!

After I graduated, I went to RISD---but that's a story for another question. :)

Q2:  What is your favorite book?

Oof! How do you pick just one when there are so many books that make your life a little more complete just by existing?

UGH. Ok--- I know! I'll answer this in list form.

FAVORITE
Picturebook: The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzelli, illus. by Mary GrandPre
Graphic Novel: The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Middle Grade Novel: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Juvenile Sci-Fi Series: The Giver series by Lois Lowry
Juvenile Fantasy Series: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
YA Series: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Adult Fantasy Series: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
Non-Fiction: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan andAnn Druyan

These are the books I'd rescue from a fire.
These are the books whose images have implanted in my mind, whose inky words have stained my fingers and become part of my being. (Can you tell I do not read ebooks?)

But if I had to pick JUST ONE book to attribute my entire being to, I'd pick Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. 

Reading this book at the age of 16 forever broke me of my adolescence-induced, too-cool-for-anything cynicism and showed me that it's ok to be a nerd/dork/geek/whatever and it's ok to openly admit loving that which you love. No more teenage apathy and negativity. No more putting people down for what they like, however different it may be from my own interests. Like what you like. Life's too short not to embrace the things that make you happy.

I will never forget reading the first few chapters of Sorcerer's Stone in bed at my gramma's house. She'd bought books 1-4 for us grandchildren to share, despite none of us really being interested at the time. Begrudgingly, I decided to see what all the fuss was about (Goblet of Fire had just come out--midnight book release parties for a kids book? Whaaat?). But there I was, finding myself absolutely hooked by the first few words:

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

I sat in bed with the dawning realization that this book, this writing and the world within those pages---Roald Dahl meets The Worst Witch but with a voice entirely its own--was the book I had always wanted to read. It felt as if JK Rowling was speaking directly to me. I was at once both 16 and 6, teenager and child, completely transported, my imagination unlocked. There is no spell strong enough to undo the magic this book cast on my life.

Harry Potter singlehandedly changed everything I thought I was by connecting me to my true, unapologetic, wide-eyed inner child. Without this book (and subsequent HP books), I would not have made the friends I did, or met the love of my life in my husband (also a huge HP fan), or done just about anything else that makes me who I am today. This book made me love books, reinforced my lifelong love of reading, and kindled a passion for children's literature in particular which gives shape and meaning to my life and career on a daily basis.

So yeah. I guess I DO have a favorite book afterall!

Continuing with "Two-Question Tuesday", in which I post and answer two questions each week, one pulled from some of the actual questions I've received over the years, the other a playful question I ask myself. I hope they provide a bit of insight into who I am and how (and why) I do what I do!

If you have a question you'd like to ask me, post it as a comment below and I will answer it in a future post.

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Q1: What artists influence you?

I am a great appreciator of the work of many children's illustrators, although I don't actively try (or succeed) at making work anything like theirs. Instead, I admire their work because it looks like they sincerely enjoy their process. They are consistent in their dedication to quality and their craft, whatever their medium of choice. Most of my favorite illustrators have a recognizable, characteristic style that makes their work easily identifiable. Some of my favorites are Mary GrandPré, Linda Wingerter, Cory Godbey, Brett Helquist, Brian Selznick, Tony DiTerlizzi, Rebecca Guay, and Aaron Becker (just to name a few). If you know their work you'll probably notice that they all have distinctly different styles from each other and from my own work.

By looking at these artists' images, I absorb valuable insights that I hope to someday be able to bring to my own art---insights into color, composition, lighting, character, style, etc. Qualities like strong drawing skills (good anatomy or intentionally stylized figures), use of interesting perspectives, dynamic environments, looseness of lines, use of expressive, dynamic shapes, and a sense of gesture and movement are all evident in the illustrations that strongly appeal to me (in contrast to my own work, which all-too often tends to become stiff and overworked). There is much to be learned from the artists I admire. 

Most important of all, my favorite artists remind me to enjoy myself, to work hard, and create with authentic passion. They're all so good at being themselves that I'm reminded to be myself, too (whatever that may be). Their techniques and processes encourage me to try something new, loosen up, and be playful. Their work compels me to continue to hone my drawing skills so that I can draw realistically when I need to AND be expressive when I want to.

Ancora imparo!

I'm on the road today, so I thought I'd ask if you have any questions about narrative craft. Maybe an example of something you've seen or written and wondered about?

Or perhaps the opening paragraph of a work in progress that you'd like an opinion on--you can post it in comments and I'll give you my thoughts when I'm home this evening and Tuesday.

Best,

Ray

When I was asked to provide a guest blog about my upcoming book, Pearl, I turned to the Internet to ask teachers, librarians and other writers to find out what they’d most like to hear from me.

How difficult was it to write the riverside funeral scene, blending reverence with humor? —Paul Hankins, a teacher from S. Indiana.

I love this question. Thanks, Paul! I think as soon as I started describing Lexie holding the box of Gus’s ashes, determined not to let anyone help her, I knew what was going to happen. The scene was aching for something to interrupt the extreme tension going on between each of the characters. It was such a relief to throw something at them to make them snap out of the moment for a minute. But it was certainly a challenge not to make it feel too insensitive toward Bean. This was actually a big challenge throughout the book. I think Lexie could see the humor in that moment (and others) because Gus’s death represents an unleashing of so many painful secrets for her. It frees her, really. But Bean’s experience is almost the opposite: Gus’s death leaves her more alone and lost than ever. It’s her journey to understanding her mother’s complicated relationship with him that eventually helps her see humor again, too. At least that’s my hope.

Do you begin with a theme or a lesson you want to convey? The opening of your book is very real...Did you or someone else know someone like the characters who sat and ate while watching the telly? — Mary Lou Cassotto, a writer, teacher and librarian from Connecticut

Two great questions! For the first, I don’t see literature as a tool for teaching lessons. I see it as a wonderful way to stimulate the imagination and inspire compassionate thinking.  BUT, I think that in the end, all literature does wind up teaching us something, whether intentional or not. It’s the very nature of storytelling. I just think if we set out with a particular one in mind, that could be problematic for a number of reasons. So far it’s been my experience that themes sort of emerge naturally as the story unfolds in my first draft. I almost never even recognize them until I’m revising.

For the second question, I didn’t know someone exactly like Sally when I was growing up, but several of my friends’ moms spent their time from 9am to 3pm glued to the TV to watch all of their soaps. This always fascinated me, since my own mother would have fits when my sister and I would try to watch them during summer vacation. I did have one friend whose mom was somewhat of a soap fanatic. She’d watched for years and knew generations of the characters lives. I was fascinated by how real they were to her. She also had very strict rules about watching which were similar to Sally’s. I think somehow I must have picked up on the sadness of it all, and that stayed with me.

I'm a teacher and I'm curious what your thoughts are on how literature is currently taught in schools? Should teachers continue to focus on using the classics or should they incorporate some of the popular YA books? Or a mix of both?—Donna Hale, a teacher from California

Great question, Donna! Since I’m not a teacher, I’m not fully aware of how literature is currently taught in schools. but I’m sure it varies greatly. In general, my big wish is that more teens could have an opportunity to read books that were written for and about them. Sometimes I think we get too caught up in the idea of “preparing kids of college” by forcing them to read more and more “classics” at younger and younger ages. We seem to be in such a hurry for

Call for Submissions to a new and hopefully regular Monday Q&A post on FtQ.

You can email questions to me or post them in the comments section of this and any upcoming Q&A post. They can be on virtually anything regarding the writing/publishing world:

• writing craft
• storytelling craft
• self-publishing
• self-editing
• book design
• techniques or tips
• anything else that comes to mind that's related to good fiction writing and publishing

So please fire up your questions. If I don't have a good answer, there's a strong chance one of the FtQ community will--or, at the least, offer a strong opinion.

Best,

Ray

Denise's latest book, Shout! Shout it Out! comes out at the end of this month.  So we sat down and had a little chat with her about her impressive backlist, and why squirrels might be the next big thing! 

Q     Where do you look for inspiration?

Q    What do you enjoy most about writing and illustrating for children?

Q    How have children changed since you were a kid?

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By: brettdl, on 2/27/2009
Blog: Cybils (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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