When I wasn't at the shop, I spent hours at baseball games, sharing the stories about the teams and players. My grandmother, who lived nearby, shared stories about her earlier life on a farm with my three brothers and me when we kept her company during thunderstorms. Drawing was how I captured the stories I heard. My older brother sketched cartoons and I began by copying him. I drew mostly at the kitchen table, but also used my crayons on stairwell walls. My early pictures still decorate the basement of my mother's house.
|
 Starting From Sketch Inside the Picture Book of Will Hillenbrand
|
I went on to art school, although my father was worried that I wouldn't be able to make a living. When I graduated, I found work in advertising, but after a class in picture book art, I decided to try my hand at illustrating children's literature.
When I approach a story, I think of myself as a choreographer adding movement to a score or a movie director bringing a script to life. I read the story many times, just to let the wonder of it wash over me and feel it stretch and deepen in my imagination.
As I begin to draw, I try to keep the child's viewpoint foremost in my mind. For each book, I keep a journal of my sketches.
Every journal has a child's drawing tucked inside to remind me that a child's imagination is the starting and ending point for my art. My studio shelves are lined with marionettes, stuffed toys, and folk art animals to help me with ideas for my drawings. My wife, Jane, and our son, Ian, provide inspiration, too.
|
