GAP FAMILY BLOG WELCOMES ALEX MORRIS,
ILLUSTRATOR OF SLIME & ALL and WATER PLAY.
GAP: Congratulations on the release of SLIME &
ALL and WATER PLAY. Please tell us more about them.
Alex: “Slime & All” is the story of a little boy
who befriends a giant, friendly, but slimy worm.
“Water Play” talks about how rain, snow, and hail are formed
in a fun and playful way for children.
GAP: What medium did you use for illustrating these
books? How do you choose?
Alex: When starting a book I always use pencil and
paper to start, and when the drawings are finished I scan them into the
computer and color them in Flash. I like using this program because it is quick
and easy to use, and with the style I draw with I feel using the simple colors
of Flash really complements the pictures and gives the characters life.
GAP: What is your favorite illustration from each
book? Why?
Alex: In “Slime & All” my favorite drawing is
definitely page 4. I like this picture because I love drawing cartoon animal
characters and this picture allowed me to draw the worm character, Lump, in
full.
For “Water Play” my favorite picture is page 13 mostly
because the Dew Drop characters were my favorite to draw and I simply feel that
it is the best picture both in color and composition.
GAP: Did you have to do any research for these books?
Alex: I had to do quite a bit of research for “Water
Play” because when it comes to drawing buildings, it has never really been my
strong point. So I like to look up pictures of various buildings and
environments for reference.
GAP: Are these your first published books?
Alex: No, actually my first published book was Lily
and the City of Light. It was a big milestone for me, and it helps to
remind me of where I have been and where I hope to go in my career one day.
GAP: We’d love to hear more about you.
Alex: Well, as you know my name is Alex Morris. Since
middle school when I visited an art college I knew I wanted to pursue a career
as an artist. Through the rest of middle school and all of high school I spent
a lot of time in the back of the class doodling whatever came to mind, which
usually was monsters, mutants, and scary clowns.
Attending college was a real wake up call for me and really
pushed me to be the best artist I could be. It also helped me to explore
different avenues in my drawings and it was then that one of my first cartoon
characters, a sad little amphibian named Danny Frog was created. From there I
started drawing more cartoon characters. Many of them a form of my personality
or representations of friends I know.
But after college I received my first official illustrating
job and drew my first children’s book, “Monty and the Rolling Rock”. Shortly
thereafter, with the help of my head illustrator, at the time, Mr. Collier, I
started working for Guardian Angel Publishing, and the rest as they say is
history.
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6 comments:
Both covers look super cool Alex. I so envy you your ability as an artist.
May these two covers and illos lead to many more!!
Books for Kids - Manuscript Critiques
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As the Author of Slime & All I'm delighted with Alex's illustrations. He did a great job capturing the feeling of the story.
Great interviewi ...and congrats on the books Alex. The covers look fantastic!!!
Thrilled to have you as part of the GAP family, Alex.
Hi Alex,
Welcome to the GAP family. Your covers are really cute. And thanks for explaining your methods.
Congratulations to both you and Janet Ann.
Wishing you all the best with your books Alex. Your art work is beautiful. It was a great interview.
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