Interview With Tedd Arnold
Q: Before you moved to Florida and started taking art lessons, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Tedd: I wanted to be a soldier. Both my dad and uncle served in World War II.
Q: Was anybody else in your family creative, like you are? (Such as your brothers or parents?)
Tedd: Not in the same way that I am. My mom always made things with her hands, she sewed, etc. She encouraged me to work on my art.
Q: What books did you enjoy as a child?
Tedd: Dr. Seuss and a series of books called Freddy the Pig.
Q: Most people spell Ted with one ‘d’. Why do you use two ‘d’s’ in your name?
Tedd: Before I went to college I signed my name with one d. When I went to college, I wanted my signature to look cooler, more artistic, so I started using two d’s.
Q: You sometimes illustrate books for other authors. Is it harder to illustrate something you’ve written or something that a different author has written?
Tedd: It’s different, but not harder. When I illustrate my own books, I have seen all of the pictures in my head as I’m writing the book. When I illustrate for other authors it is all fresh to me, and since none of the story will change, my ideas are without all of the baggage.
Q: Even though you said in your Website that you come up with the ideas for the stories first and then do the
illustrations, do you think your background as an artist makes it harder or easier for you to be an author?
Tedd: Definitely easier for making picture books because I make sure the books have the action for cool drawings. In my mind I’m more of an artist than an author.
Q: If kids told you they wanted to write and illustrate books when they grow up, would you encourage them to get a degree in English literature or journalism, or would you tell them to get a degree in fine arts, like you?
Tedd: My experience is through art, but that is not the only way to do it. You do not necessarily have to major in journalism, but you need to keep reading ... even picture books. You don’t have to study any one particular thing to be an author.
Q: In your new books with Huggly the Monster, do the ideas of “what lives under the bed” come from your own childhood thoughts or what your children have told you they think lives under the bed?
Tedd: Neither. The ideas came from a classroom of 3rd graders that I visited. The kids sent me a package of their own drawings about No More Jumping on the Bed, but since it was around Halloween they had drawn monsters jumping on the bed.
Q: Out of all your other jobs, which one did you like best?
Tedd: The Author/Illustrator job is my “dream-come-true”. After that, my jobs as a worm counter and at the drive-in theater were among the most interesting.
Interview With Mark Buehner
Q: 3-eyed monsters and Tourist Gorillas might seem weird to you, but they’re completely normal to any child and illustrator Mark Buehner. He’s provided the pictures for such titles as The Escape of Marvin the Ape, Maxi, The Hero and Adventures of Taxi Dog. He’s a man with the magic to bring children’s story characters to life.
Was illustration your first calling?
Mark: Originally, I went to New York with the idea that I’d do general illustration work. After not getting work at all, I started looking for an agent. I met up with the Barracas; they were a husband and wife team that represented about 40 illustrators. After seeing my portfolio they asked, “Have you ever thought about doing children’s book work, because your stuff is really geared towards it.” They had a manuscript at the time and wanted me to look at
it, to see if I’d like to illustrate it. After the first book came out I received enough attention that I had work from
then on.
Q: After the Adventures of Taxi Dog you received a lot of good reviews and went on to do another story with
the Barracas.
Mark: Yeah. Maxi, The Hero. They wanted to continue doing books, but my interests at the time were not there as much. So, they proceeded on with another illustrator and I went on with my wife and did some of our own books.
Q: When I look at your illustrations, like in A Job for Wittilda, the colors seem to jump off the page. Have you ever been disappointed with the quality of reproduction?
Mark: Yeah. When Harvey Potter’s Balloon Farm came out, I looked at it and, oh my, they wrecked the book. The colors were so crazy. They really lost a lot of the subtlety. That’s probably been the most disappointing. The second one was I Did It, I’m Sorry. The pictures in that one are not quite as intense..
Q: Were you able to go back before the next printing and correct them?
Mark: No. Usually once you see the proof, they’re along the way. All of a sudden you get a copy of the book
and that’s it. There have been a few books I think improved upon the artwork with the printing. But that’s usually
an exception.
Q: My Life with the Wave and I am the Cat were more somber books. Did you find those more difficult to produce?
Mark: They were two of the books I had high hopes for when I started to illustrate them. But once I got into them, they became quite a challenge for me to do. I still look at I am the Cat and think, “Why did I make it such a
challenge?” It could have been a lot more fun. It seems to get a little dark. It’s hard to put a finger on why it went that way. I guess the poem had somewhat of an influence-- being a dark poem. I think My Life with the Wave worked out pretty well. But it’s a book that takes place in the winter and it lost a little bit of the fun I had with
previous books.
Q: Did you ever read the original story I Am the Wave by Octavio Paz?
Mark: No. I’ve heard people refer to it, but I have not actually read it. I’ve heard that it’s really written for adults. But the way Catherine Cowan adapted it as a kid’s book, it’s a really fun and imaginative story.
Q: Do you grid your pictures?
Mark: No. I always like to draw out of my head first. Once I’ve done that, I ask myself, “Do I need to take some pictures of this or can I go without them?” So I’ll go both ways. But, there’s something about making things up out of your head that gives it a nice quality you start to lose when you go more realistic.
Q: The bunny and the dinosaur, the cat and the mouse. They are all hidden in books that you’ve illustrated. Have you ever thought about hiding more?
Mark: In some of the other ones there’re other things. It started with Taxi Dog. I thought it would be kinda fun because it’s about a dog. I thought, “I’ll put a cat on each page. Kids like that.” So I started throwing more cats in the second book. Then I kind of got into the rabbit and cat and tyrannosaur-- fun little shapes to hide. Those are usually my repeaters.
Q: You’ve had a lot of practice drawing dogs with Maxi, The Hero. So, in your professional opinion, do dogs
have lips?
Mark: (laughs) It depends if they’re talking to you or not. Sometimes you want to give it a little human look. So yes, you could toss in some lips with those dogs. Even chickens have lips.
There you have it folks, both dogs and cats have lips.
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