Q. How do you get the plasticine into the book?

A. Just as you see photographs of people in a magazine, you are seeing photographs of my artwork in the books. As each plasticine illustration is finished it is carefully stored in a pizza-sized box. When all the artwork for a project is finished it is photographed. My husband, Ian Crysler, is a professional photographer and he shoots all my work. Ian sets up lights to make each picture look it's best. The right light makes the artwork look very three-dimensional. It can also add special effects like the glowing candles in "The Party", the night- time look of Tunnel's End in the "Subway Mouse" or the shadow of the elephant's foot in "Effie".

Photographing a whole book can take one to three days. The photographs are then sent to the publishers. In the past, we used film, now the artwork is shot with a digital camera and we send electronic images. At the publishers, the art director and designers add the type (words). Then it all goes to a printing house where it is printed on to paper and bound into books. Finally, the books are shipped to bookstores, libraries and you.

I travelled to the printing company Friesens in Altona, Manitoba to attend my first press approval for the book "Perfect Snow". At a press approval, large proof sheets of each part of the book and cover are printed and carefully checked to make sure the colour and layout looks just right. Any necessary adjustments are made, and once everything is approved the book is printed. It was very exciting to tour the factory and see thousands of books in all stages of production, and then to see pages of "Perfect Snow" coming off the press to make a stack- like a perfect snow drift!

Q. What do you do with your pictures after they have been photographed?

A. To preserve the artwork, I frame some pictures. I keep a few, some go to family, friends or to the author of the book, and some are sold or donated to collections or galleries.

For more information, please go to the Original Artwork section.

Q. What comes first, the words or the pictures?

A. The quick answer is: the words come first. This is always true when I illustrate a book written by someone else (like "Gifts" by Jo Ellen Bogart, or "Peg and the Yeti", by Kenneth Oppel). The author writes a story (manuscript), and sends it to a publisher. If the story is accepted, the publisher then looks for an illustrator that is a good match. If the illustrator is me, I read the manuscript (many times!) and start to imagine the pictures that will end up in the book.

It is a little different if I am both the author and illustrator of a book (like "The Party" or "Two by Two"). Because a picture book is a story told in both words and pictures, and I THINK in both words and pictures, I usually imagine them both right from the start. But I begin as an author and write the words first (many times!). When I am happy with the story, I send it to the publisher (sometimes with brief notes about the pictures). If it is accepted, I turn into an illustrator and start to draw the pictures that have been stored in my head. Just like the words, I draw the pictures many times before they are just right and ready to be modeled in plasticine. Both words and pictures go through a lot of changes and improvements before they are finished.

Q. How do you make your pictures?

A. Once I know the story inside out, I start sketching to get a feel for the characters and setting. Then I make a storyboard. My storyboards are big pieces of paper divided into small squares to represent all the pages in the book. I can make quick thumbnail sketches to map out the story in the squares. This is when I decide how to divide the words up to match the pictures (that is called making the page breaks), and which pictures should be big or small, close up or far away. It's a little like making a movie, choosing scenes and keeping the action going so that the reader wants to turn the page.

When the storyboard is working, I collect any research I might need to help me make the pictures. For "Peg and the Yeti", I found lots of pictures and books about Mount Everest so that the scenery would look right. For the "Subway Mouse" Ian helped me take pictures in subway stations around the city. I also collected lots of candy wrappers and bought real feathers for some of the effects in the book.

I have a library of animal and bird books and other reference material in my studio, as well as plastic models of many animals to help me draw them from different angles.

Sometimes I get my family to pose for me. Our daughters Zoe and Tara were the models for "The Party"...

Next, I start making the full sized rough drawings. There is a lot of working and reworking (and some crumpling and throwing of paper!) before the roughs are final. I show the roughs to the Art Director and Editor of the publishing company. Sometimes there are changes. It is very important to listen to suggestions and be willing to work a little more to make your artwork the best it can be. Often a fresh set of eyes can spot a problem or mistake that you have missed.

After everyone agrees that the roughs are finished, I get out the plasticine and the real fun begins. For more information on this part of the process, go to the Plasticine section of the website.

Q. Do your thumbs get sore?

A. Yes! By the time I finish making a whole book my thumbs are toughened up, but the first couple of days are hard. I guess sometimes it's true when they say artists suffer for their work...

Q. How long does it take to make a picture?

A. An idea can come in a second, or it can take weeks - it's magic and unpredictable. Once I have an idea, a drawing takes a few hours to a few days. The plasticine part depends on the size of the picture, and how detailed it is. A small picture like this one from "Sing a Song of Mother Goose" took one day to make.

A large detailed picture like the one of Peg passing the other mountain climbers in "Peg and the Yeti" took five days to make. Faces can take a long time to get right. The picture with the birthday cake and the whole family in "The Party" took seven days.

Q: Do you sometimes give up on a picture and go back to it the next day?

A: Yes! Sometimes a picture has a problem that is hard to solve, and I get stuck. It's a good idea to take a break when that happens, and put it away for a day or two. When I go back to the picture with fresh eyes, the solution is usually easy to see.

Q: Why did you add drawings to Perfect Snow?

A: The main characters in "Perfect Snow", Scott and Jim, prefer actions to words. Adding cartoon like drawings made it easy to reveal a lot of information about the characters, and pack in more action. For example, the opening drawings wordlessly set the scene for the book: frame by frame we see the snowfall that "came in the night".

I saved the plasticine illustrations for the "big scenes" or moments in the story. Also, I LOVE to draw, it was a real treat to include some drawings in a book. The drawings were made with permanent markers and watercolour wash.

Q. How long does it take to make a whole book?

A. The pictures, from rough drawings to finished and photographed artwork take almost a year to complete. Writing the story takes a couple of months, but that's not counting all the time that I have been thinking about it and making notes. Most of my stories run around in my head for several years before I write them down.

Q. How big are your pictures?

A. Most of my recent illustrations are made the same size as you see printed in the books. For some of the very detailed pictures I work a little larger and the art is reduced when it is printed.

Q: How do you get your whites so white?

A: Light colours of plasticine, like white and yellow, can easily get dirty if you have been handling dark colours like black or purple. I use a dry paper towel or cloth to clean as much of the dark clay from my hands as possible before switching to a light colour. Sometimes I will knead an old bit of white plasticine for a few minutes; that helps pull even more of the dark colour from my fingers. I'm also careful to store colours separately so my reds don't get stuck to my blues. Clean hands will help you make the whitest clouds, cleanest snow and the sunniest yellow sun.

Q. What is your favourite colour?

A. Green. Then all the others.

Q. Do you have any pets?

A. Yes! We have a VERY playful wirehaired fox terrier named Ruby. She is white, with brown ears and black spots. Maybe you can spot her in "The Golden Goose" and "Read Me a Book". The dog in the "Party" is Rufus, the dog I had when I was growing up. Here is Ruby all dressed up in the new "Sing a Song of Mother Goose". Can you tell which Nursery Ryme she is appearing in?

Q. What are you working on now?

A. I'm working on a few ideas, but there is nothing ready to talk about yet.

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring writers and illustrators?

A. For writers: read, read, read and write. For illustrators: look, look, look and draw, read, and then draw some more. For both, the first draft or sketch is just the start. Be prepared to re-do and polish your work until it really is the best you can make it. Keep your best work, and don't forget to sign and date it! It will be a great record of you progress and development. And for all artists, it is very important to spend time alone, not doing anything in particular.

If you are interested in learning about how to have your work published, these two organizations can be very helpful:

The Canadian Children's Book Centre
A not-for-profit organization that promotes and supports reading, writing and illustration for young readers. The Centre produces the very useful: Get published! The Writing for Children Kit.

CANSCAIP ( the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Perfomers)
A national organization with monthly meetings and an annual full day workshop conference "Packaging Your Imagination" in held in Toronto.