An Interview with Children’s Book Illustrator Nia Tudor
When Babipur customer Nia Tudor, a very talented children’s book illustrator, had her debut children’s picture book published we just had to stock it! The Queen On Our Corner, written by Lucy Christopher and published by Lantana Publishing, is a heartfelt, and heart-warming exploration of homelessness through the eyes of a child. We caught up with Nia to find out more about her amazing work.
Hi Nia! Thanks so much for chatting with us about your work as a children’s book illustrator, we’re huge fans!
What does a typical day look like for you, if you have one?
My three children are unschooled, so each day is different to the last. We have forest school, and other clubs that we go to, so I fit my work in around them. I mainly work when they’re in bed – so usually from 8pm onwards, and of course on weekends my husband is home so I get to put the hours in then. Otherwise it’s grabbing a few moments here and there during the day if everyone is off doing their own thing!
What’s your creative process when you are first presented with a book idea? How do you create your artwork?
When I’m presented with a book I’ll take some time researching. A lot of time spent looking at colour palettes, different layouts etc. I then work on what we call thumbnails. This is where I will draw up very, very rough ideas on the layout and fitting everything around the text – some text can shift around a little which is helpful. These thumbnails will be made up of stick figures and very basic shapes – just to show the publisher where I’m planning on putting everything on the page.
Once they’ve been seen by the publisher – and approved, I then go in and do roughs – these are more detailed sketches so will have a lot more character and scenery development. Once these have gone around everyone again at the publishing house for approval – and edits – I then get the go ahead to work on the finals, which is when I start to colour everything up.
I work digitally, which I find allows me a little more wiggle room with editing as I can go in and easily change the colour/position/size of something should it need doing. There’s a lot of back and forth during the process, and a lot of waiting for everyone to gather feedback – which can also mean a lot of editing and trying things out. Sometimes everyone will agree and you get the go ahead, but other times it can be trying something out for it then to be scrapped altogether.
What, or who, inspires you?
Although my work is nothing like his, I’m massively inspired/in awe of Jon Klassen. I really admire his approach to illustrating and creating books. I’d love to be well established enough to one day get away with working on a book that uses an all brown colour palette (this is almost unheard of in children’s books).
What has drawn you to becoming a children’s book illustrator? Is it something you’ve always wanted to do?
I came to children’s books quite late on. Through having children, our house began to fill up with more and more children’s books. The more I bought the more I began to take an interest in them myself. I’ve been a professional illustrator for nearly 8 years now. As my love for children’s illustration grew, it felt like natural progression to move from what I was previously doing and moving on to children’s books!
For a young person thinking of starting out with children’s book illustration, what’s your best piece of advice?
Look at a lot of picture books. Figure out what you like, and also what you don’t like. And without being cliché, draw a lot! Even now, I still make time to practice when I’m not working to a deadline. Even when I’ve got two moments whilst waiting for feedback on a book, I’ll draw and research.
Have you got anything exciting in the pipeline that you can share with us?
I’ve recently finished a book with Little Tiger: ‘When You Joined Our Family’ written by Harriet Evans and publishes in August this year. And I’m currently working on a couple of other books that I can’t speak about just yet, but I’m very excited to share more when I can.
