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Picture Perfect: Author and illustrator, Suzy LeeSuzy Lee is an artist by nature and a children's book illustrator by trade. She has published over 16 books and has won countless awards both in the U.S. and internationally. Many of her beautifully illustrated children's book contain few to no words, so readers can focus on the images and create their own version of the story. The books are picture perfect. We are lucky to have Ms. Lee share with us her point of view and herself. 
You received a BFA in Painting, what made you decide to become an illustrator? What led to becoming an author?
One piece of drawing makes just "a drawing," but if you put one more drawing next to it, they create a story between them. I was more interested in making a story in this way. And also I wanted to reach the wider audience. A book as an art medium seems to be perfect for me. What medium do you like working in best? Pastels, watercolors, oils? What to draw decides what art material you are going to use. I chose a charcoal for Wave because I need something that I can express a girl's dynamic movement effectively. I love charcoal because it can express both contrary qualities -- volume and sharp lines and static and dynamic. What is your favorite children's book? Which of your books is favorite? Sea-Saw by Enzo Mari. It is a simple picture book which shows a perfect narrative with just few images without any words. I tend to like the most recent work of mine among my books , that is, My Bright Atelier. This book is about a girl who wants to be an artist . She happens to meet an eccentric painter and learns the world of art and how to truly appreciate it. What has been your biggest inspiration? 
There are always certain subject matters or images I wish to deal with in my book s someday. They are only the fragments of ideas at first ---e.g. horizontal shapes of book, a stage, a dazzling cyan-color, crispy shadows, a book about a book, 2-color prints, flat surface of the pages, gutter of the book and so
on. They don't seem to be related to each other, but suddenly all of them turn into a book--- recently, they become Wave
, published by
Chronicle Books last year.
From concept to illustration, how long does it take you to finish a book?
It is vary depending on the books- for example, it took one full year to finish Alice in Wonderland, but I made Mirror in just two weeks. Usually if the book is more concept-oriented, it takes less time than a book which is more focused on a story itself. Which do you enjoy more working on a children's books or creating art? For me, there is no difference creating children's books and creating art. I regard children's books as works of art. My books are usually for all ages. Which artist, if any, do you get your inspiration? If I pick three artists at the moment, they are: Michael Sowa, Shinta Cho, Maria Kalman They share two qualities in common that I think artists should have: their pictures are mysteriously strange. And I can feel that they're fully enjoying themselves when they're working through their works. What book are you currently reading? What to Expect the First Year -- I gave birth to my second baby just a month ago. Everything seems to be new to me! What would you be doing if not art/children's books? Any kind of musician -- probably a guitarist? |
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