As I mentioned in my last post, Eric Rohmann was one of the speakers at the Mazza Summer Institute who inspired me the most.
He's extremely passionate about what he does, and his enthusiasm shows when he speaks about his work.
He was also very approachable. He spent time talking to everyone who had a book autographed, and he would even answer questions outside of the autograph line. Very friendly.
The three basic points that Eric made were:
Children see differently. From ages one to seven, a child's job is basically to "see" or behold the world. Something as mundane as a shopping cart is as amazing as the Grand Canyon to a small child.
Trust Children. You don't have to explain EVERYTHING to your young readers (listeners). Meet them halfway. It shouldn't be cryptic, but leave enough unsaid to make the child a participant.
Find the Essential. Picture Books are usually about one moment. Distill it all down to that one moment...the essence.
He approaches each book on an individual basis. Just as an editor or art director reads a manuscript and then chooses the best illustrator for the job, Eric does the same thing, but his talent pool is all in himself. There's no way he could have illustrated My Friend Rabbit or Pumpkinhead in the same style he's used for The Cinder-Eyed Cats or Time Flies...it just wouldn't have worked.
I love this! It's one of the reasons I wanted to get into children's illustration. Unless you're working on a series, you can approach each book with a fresh eye.
One of the things Eric said that really hit home with me was "Everything in a picture book has to serve the book." Brilliant man.
More Eric Rohmann links:
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