It was such a pleasure talking to Ana Aranda about her latest illustrated book Moth & Butterfly: Ta Da!, written by Dev Petty! Ana's illustrations bring into colorful focus an insect world full of warmth and friendship, and it was so much fun peeking behind the curtain to see how Ana brought to life these delightful characters. Enjoy! About the book: Two caterpillar friends love what they have in common--lots of legs and a talent for chewing leaves into funny shapes. And when it's time to build cocoons, they hang theirs side by side. Happy metamorphosis, says an older, more knowledgeable butterfly. And it is a happy metamorphosis indeed--for when the two emerge from their cocoons, they can fly! But so much else has changed--as one is now a moth, who flies by night, and the other is a butterfly, who flies by day. How will things work now? Fortunately some things never change--like true friends figuring out a way to be together, and happily flying into the sunset and sunrise. Peek underneath the dust jacket: Let's talk Ana Aranda! LTPB: Hi Ana!! Thank you so much for talking to me today about Moth & Butterfly: Ta Da!! AA: Thank you so much for having me! LPTB: What were the first images that popped into your mind when you saw Dev Petty’s text? AA: I am so proud of this book that all the Nancy Paulsen/Penguin team, Dev and me worked so hard on! When I first read Dev’s text, a lot of images were already in my mind. A lot of colors came to my mind, which is a great way of knowing that this project was going to be awesome! My favorite part in creating illustrations is color – I want that with each turn page we can discover new worlds through a colorful experience. I see Dev’s text so colorful in my mind, full of poetry, joy, fun moments and full of metaphors for meaningful things in life! I wanted to honor that with the best colors I had! The first images that came to my mind were of my early childhood in Cuernavaca, Mexico, also called the City of Eternal Springtime. I remembered the colors in the flowers, trees, plants, which I wanted to show in the book as well. The characters appeared afterwards always surrounded by flowers and tropical vegetation. LTPB: Can you talk about your research process for this book? What were some of the more challenging moments? AA: I loved the research for this book! The process of this book took place in the span of different cities during trips and life changes so I was able to draw inspiration from lots of places and experiences! I went on long walks when visiting Cuernavaca, I went to botanical gardens in the LA area while I was living there, and I went on bike rides while visiting New Orleans, where the house in the book is inspired from. I wanted the book to have bright, joyful colors to illustrate the friendship of the characters, and also the feeling of freedom and beauty that you can find in nature. I also did a lot of research on different kinds of moths and butterflies to see which design and colors would fit best the character’s personalities. Challenging moments during creation definitely involved working during the pandemic and life happening in the middle of it. I was very thankful to work in this book and to have that as a reminder that books and art can bring good and happiness during challenging times. That we can do hard things, and that life has so much color in it that I want to share! LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Is this your preferred medium? How does your process change from book to book? AA: All of the art in this book is created traditionally. Most of the images are created with watercolor, inks and gouache on watercolor paper. I love using a mix of these techniques because they allow for spontaneous washes and textures in areas. I let bright colors mix while losing control and letting myself be surprised by the inks and watercolor surprises that come when letting very watery washes dry for a while. I work in sets of three paintings at a time since there is a lot of drying time involved. I later do a lot of the details in gouache on top, usually light colors on top of darker ones. For this book I used food for two spreads- something I had done earlier for The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra (written by Marc Tyler Nobleman, Nancy Paulsen Books). In two spreads which are very dynamic I threw and splattered a lot of ink into the page and then splattered lime with a toothbrush. When adding this acidic element, colors change in unexpected ways and we allow for surprise to enter into the equation. LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us? AA: I am very excited to be working in my author-illustrator debut book about the Day of the Dead with my wonderful team at Nancy Paulsen Books! I can’t wait for you all to see this book that is so close to my heart in the Fall 2022! I am also illustrating a book written by the amazing Elaine Vickers with the Wiseman/Simon & Schuster team called How to Create a Memory, coming out in Spring 2023! LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why? AA: My favorite illustrator in life is Shaun Tan, so I would like him to illustrate everything possible! I love his way of telling stories using metaphors and whimsical characters! A million thanks to Ana for taking time to answer some questions about this beautiful book! Moth & Butterfly: Ta Da! published last month from Nancy Paulsen Books! Special thanks to Ana and Nancy Paulsen for use of these images! This post contains affiliate links. For more information, visit my policies & disclosures page
The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra by Marc Tyler Nobleman illustrated by Ana Aranda I love cryptids and, with so many Latinx...
The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra by Marc Tyler Nobleman illustrated by Ana Aranda I love cryptids and, with so many Latinx...
The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra by Marc Tyler Nobleman illustrated by Ana Aranda I love cryptids and, with so many Latinx...
The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra by Marc Tyler Nobleman illustrated by Ana Aranda I love cryptids and, with so many Latinx...
Above: The cover for The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra. I love Ana Aranda’s work, and I especially love her incredible color sense. She embraces purple and pink, and makes these colors feel s…
Have you ever heard of a study and search for animals and especially legendary animals usually in order to evaluate the possibility of the...
Join me this June 3rd at the Bay Area Book Festival, I'll be very happy to see you there! I'll be participating in two sessions: June 3, 11:00AM-12:00PM. FREE at the San Francisco Chronicle Stage in the Park Writers and Artists Whose Books You Love, Part 1: A Picture Book Extravaganza for Kids and Their Adults (with Ana Aranda, Jon Agee, Gennifer Choldenko, William Joyce, Michael Slack, moderated by Alex Green) Calling both children and adults to celebrate the joy of reading on a lovely Saturday afternoon in the big tent on the grass in the park. No one’s ever too old to read a great story—even if it’s meant for kids. (Aren’t we all still kids inside?) These all-star picture-book creators share some of the key moments and inspirations from their journeys as visual storytellers that both kids and adults will love. Saturday, Saturday, June 3, 1:15-1:45PM. FREE at the Showtime Stage Ana Aranda Presents The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra Ana is a Mexican artist and mural painter, and are we ever glad she created the illustrations for this tale about three goats and the legendary chupacabra, whose favorite food is not what those goats expect! It’s a hilarious, laugh-out-loud story with vibrant illustrations to love. More info: https://www.baybookfest.org/children/ Big thanks to everyone that has been supporting The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra , it is greatly appreciated!
The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra by Marc Tyler Nobleman illustrated by Ana Aranda I love cryptids and, with so many Latinx...
Our hands are very precious as visual creators and it can be very frustrating when they are injured. I’d like to share with you some of the things I learnt about keeping your hands healthy if you work in the illustration/creative field. Left handed gouache painting by Ana Aranda If you have ever felt pain in your hand or if you would like to avoid this from happening here are some recommendations: If you have pain in your hand, go to the doctor right away. Only a doctor can accurately tell you what is happening and how to treat it. If you have to go unto any treatment it is best to see the doctor as soon as possible so that your treatment starts as soon as possible. Before drawing, do warm up exercises. Think about it as if you were a dancer, using your body for your work but on a smaller scale- you would need to do warming up, and then cooling down exercises. Here is a quick and simple routine to do before you start drawing: Use both of your hands: Additional stretching exercises and resources: -5 exercises to improve hand mobility- Harvard Health Publishing -Tennis Elbow Stretches & Exercises - Ask Doctor Jo -Rice bucket exercise for climbers -Book - Draw Stronger: Self-Care For Cartoonists and Other Visual Artists -Alexander Technique for musicians Warm Up Routine - Alexander Technique -Change Your Life with the Alexander Technique - TED Talk by August Berger -The MELT Method (foam roller and rubber balls to release tight muscles/fascia) -Essentrics: for tension release and specific pain issues Take breaks, even if you are deep in the zone. Use a timer -I like using a kitchen timer to be independent from my phone or computer. You can do 30 or 40 mins work, 5 mins break and after 4 cycles a 10 min break or longer. You can also use the Pomodoro technique which consists of 25 minutes of work, followed by a 5 minutes break. There are several apps that you can download for this, such as Focus Keeper or websites such as Tomato Timers. Taking breaks will give your body and mind some space to breathe after a high concentration period of time. You can take the breaks to drink water, walk around, do anything but use your hand. "Hibiscus and Friends" by Ana Aranda for Nucleus Gallery Workstation ready. Make sure that your desk is in the right position which won’t injure your hands, neck and back. You can have your desk at the height of your elbows and draw on an angled surface. A drafting table works great or if you work while traveling you can take a thick binder, have non slippery plastic and draw there so you have an angle. Posture. Your spine should be aligned and not curved. If you like to get very close to your paper, then bend one of your feet backwards, with your other foot forward and use your left hand (if you are right-handed) to hold your head while still keeping your spine straight. Ideally your paper/surface can be closer to the level of your eyes. Create a bigger grip on your pencils/brushes. You can do this with microfoam tape, buy a spongy grip that you can reuse for several materials or buy mechanical pencils that already have a big grip. Also check out this blog post by Susie Ghahremani about this topic! From Susie Ghahremani's blog post Get a grip Work out. Some recommended sports are the ones that strengthen your upper extremities and muscles, such as swimming. "Fish Frolic" by Ana Aranda for Tr!kster Gallery Eat and sleep well. Keep calm and do whatever you can to stay in peace. If you are injured and in the middle of a process of getting better sometimes the part of your body that you need to take most care of is not your hand, but actually your mind. Some things that you can try are meditation, acupuncture, massages, or any relaxation/healing techniques. Here is an interesting book about pain and how our mind can affect our body: “Explain Pain” Fuel your mind with inspiration & experiences during the times that you have to rest your hand. Go to museums, galleries, concerts, read books, meet with interesting people, experience and say yes! You can also work in parts of the creative process that don't require drawing, such as research. Teach yourself to be ambidextrous. As my amazing art director Cecilia Yung told me: your creativity not only comes from your hand. There are plenty of ways to be creative, and also to create art and to draw. During the time that I had to rest and heal my right hand after an injury, my mind was so restless that I had to draw somehow. I started using my left hand and taught myself to draw with it. I even opened an Instagram account for it. Left handed drawings by Ana Aranda Now that my right hand is recovered and healthy, I try to incorporate my left hand for backgrounds and things where I want a more spontaneous feel and then create the details with my right hand. Illustration for SCBWI's Spring Bulletin, 2019 For this illustration I used my left hand for the backgrounds and parts of the drawing, and the right hand for the more detailed work. Nowadays what I do is have two sides in my sketchbooks. One end for right hand drawings and the other end for the left hand drawings. Try not to press too hard when drawing. This might seem very obvious, but when pressing too hard, your hand accumulates a lot of tension. After a few hours of drawing you can start feeling it. Try drawing softer or use a pencil that is more greasy (I personally love the Palomino Blackwing) or you can draw with brush pens instead. Palomino Blackwing pencil Tombow Brushpens Zebra Brushpen Have you ever had a hand injury or ever felt pain while drawing? Feel free to share your experiences and share this blog post if you find it helpful! Thanks for stopping by! *Please note that I am not a certified doctor and these are recommendations based on my own experience after recovering from a hand injury and recommendations from doctors, physical therapists, friends and fellow artists -thanks so much to everyone who helped with info and resources for this post! Also remember that each body is different, and what works for one person might not work for another. Listen to your body and find a method/workout that you feel most comfortable with. .......................................... Ana Aranda writes/illustrates for children. Some of her illustration titles include "The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra", written by Marc Tyler Nobleman, Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, "Plus Fort Que Le Vent", written by Julia Billet, Éditions du Jasmin and "Our Celebración!", written by Susan Middleton Elya, Lee & Low Books. You can find her work at these different locations: Website:www.anaranda.com Instagram: @AnarandaillustrationTwitter: @anaranda2 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anarandaillustration
Todos las hemos visto en Internet, especialmente en Instagram y otras redes sociales: esos retratos perfectos e inmaculados que muestran a mujeres embarazadas en bosques encantados, a parejas enamoradas descansando en la playa, chicas posando como modelos profesionales en edificios abandonados.
Hello, friends! Today’s book is The Chupacabra Ate The Candelabra, written by Marc Tyler Nobleman and illustrated by Ana Aranda, the tale of three goats facing off against a legendary monster…
Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by the Miyazaki Art Show at Spoke Art SF! You can also find the pieces online at Spoke Art's online shop: https://spoke-art.com/collections/miyazaki Here is my contribution to the show, inspired in the film Princess Mononoke
Wishing everyone a creative and happy 2016 full of great adventures! Happy 2016! ¡Feliz 2016! Joyeux 2016 !
I had the great pleasure to work for the amazing 826 Valencia creating illustrations for their latest Quarterly 22, which features wacky and wise writing by young authors. Thank you Maria and Amy for this beautiful project! Also thank you so much to everyone that came to the book launch last Oct 17th during Litquake ! Here are some of the illustrations inspired by these beautiful writings: End papers
Blue on You watercolour
