I am so happy that Jamie Bauza, illustrator of Masaya Maging Ako, is the blog’s featured illustrator of the month. I am honored that Lampara Books picked her to interpret my manuscript. Jamie is unafraid in her use of colors. Her lines and spacing are neat and clean. She was able to breathe life to Tere, our main character, who is funny, spunky, kind, ”galawgaw” and leans on the queer side. I cried when I first saw the studies.
I have mentioned Jamie's name in previous posts on the Kuwentong Musmos Workshop and the Room to Read book project. Now it is time to hear from her!
After reading the manuscript, I worked on some sketches of the character, in different situations. I wanted to get to know her, see what she was like, and imagine her in different situations. Once I felt like I had a good grasp of the character, I made thumbnails (or small sketches) of the different pages in the book. After consulting with our workshop mentors, there were some changes to the initial manuscript / flow. We tweaked it a bit to make it feel more organic. Once all the sketches and artwork samples were approved, I had two weeks to render the final artwork. Finally, I scanned the illustrations (which were done with colored pencils) for cleaning/retouching on the computer. It was a really, really tight deadline, and that was certainly challenging, but I'm really happy with how the book turned out.
2. What is the picture book/children’s book you wish you had created or illustrated?
I really love Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson. It's so simple and beautiful, and so creative! I wish I had a magic crayon too.
I am also a really big fan of Oliver Jeffers, and I love all his books!
3. What are your 5 tips for aspiring illustrators?
- Practice, practice, practice!
- Let your illustrations tell a story.
- Don't worry about "style" -- that will develop organically. Instead, focus on what you want to say.
- Don't compare yourself to other (maybe more successful) illustrators. It's not a race! Everyone is on their own path.
- Stretch! Take breaks! Go outside! If you want to have a successful career, you have to take care of your health.
Children's Picturebooks by Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles
Ways of Telling by Leonard S. Marcus
Picture This by Molly Bang
How to be an Illustrator by Darrel Rees
Duck, Death, and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch
My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano and Jillian Tamaki
5. What part in Masaya Maging Ako did you enjoy drawing the most or proved challenging to draw?
I really enjoyed drawing Tere in different dance poses! I love drawing movement and silliness, and I used myself as a reference for the different positions (haha).
Most challenging was the part where Tere was being bullied, and she was asking herself why. I wanted to show that she was sad/doubtful, but not in a cliche way.
Visit Jaime’s website at https://jamiebauza.com
