Wow! No wonder I love her books!
Liz wrote this post for Eastern Pennsylvania’s SCBWI blog.
On Illustration Notes, By Liz Garton Scanlon.
It is about a subject close to my heart. As a writer as well as an illustrator, I hope I see this issue from both points of view. Every summer I teach picture book writing at Hollins University. My students are mostly “just” writers, and I feel their anxiety about trusting an illustrator with their words.
Will an illustrator understand what they see as they write?
Will the illustrator do the proper research and be accurate enough?
Will the illustrator make it into HER/HIS book and leave the author behind?
These are all real worries and I am sympathetic, but listen to what Liz says:
“For me, one of the best parts of being an author is receiving the artwork for one of my books. And that thrill isn’t because it looks exactly like what I dreamed it would look like, but because it looks like something beyond my wildest dreams.”
I am honored to have illustrated a new book with Liz, In the Canyon, due out in August 2015.
I can report that we had a real give and take over the text and illustrations that resulted in what I think is the best book possible.
Here is a sneak peek at my favorite page
Ashley Wolff 
