Illustrators!? What to do ~ Where to go

Hello again, everyone, Paul here today with a short post. I posted a book blast last Thursday for the book Prince Iggy and the Kingdom of Naysayer and it got me thinking. I love the cover and paid special attention to the illustrator Richie Vicencio. The odd thing is though I couldn’t really find any info on him which leads me to the topic of today’s post. Researching and finding a children’s illustrator.

Kids love pictures

I have done some work in this department and can say it isn’t easy. The fundamental problem is that there’s really no set scale for fees. They’re all over the board. This leads to another problem. I think many illustrators are reluctant to quote prices. The proliferation of non-traditionally published authors has changed the landscape. Some don’t want to pay anything, some want to barter, and some just want to price compare. So I am going to try to help anyone in this predicament.

There are many immensely talented, fair artists out there. I will always recommend my original illustrator Pat Sauber. He and I have parted ways for the most part, but that does not mean he isn’t talented and right for you. If you want to check out his portfolio or contact him click the link: http://www.coroflot.com/saubs83  Here’s his work in the form of my main character Lionel.

Original cover

Daniela’s work

Here’s another great site: Carte Blanche (Click the title to open another page and head there to see for yourself) My friend Amelia Curzon author of Mugai and the Goa Constrictor has compiled a list of  children’s book illustrators on her blog. There are some great illustrators here and if you look in the bottom right you’ll even find my current illustrator, Daniela Frongia. Daniela did the interior illustrations for Lionel and the Golden Rule and I am very happy with them. She is talented, great to work with, and very reasonably priced.

Peta-Ann Smith’s work

Another friend of mine, Peta-Ann Smith runs Langi Lala Studios and is very talented. Click the link to head to her Facebook page and to view her awesome portfolio. I really, really love her work. I would love to work with Peta-Ann in the future. She is a brilliant illustrator and a great person.

Another illustrator I found and looked into is Vippu Kukreja. She works with a group of illustrators called Design Art. Click the link on the word Design Art to be taken to their page and check out their work. While I haven’t worked with Vippu, I can tell you I am impressed by her work and her rates are very reasonable. 

 Well that’s all I have in the way of illustrator advice. I hope if you are struggling with finding someone to work on your book that this will help or at least give you a starting point. If you have any thoughts to add or advice (illustrators promote yourself) feel free to leave us a comment.