BIRDS OF A FEATHER CREATE TOGETHER

MJ and Herm Auch collaborated on three of their books in the conventional manner. For I Was a Third Grade Science Project, I Was a Third Grade Spy, and I Was a Third Grade Bodyguard, Mary Jane was the author and Herm was the illustrator.

Their picture books are a different matter. In THE PRINCESS AND THE PIZZA, SOUPERCHICKEN, POULTRYGEIST, CHICKERELLA, and the upcoming BEAUTY AND THE BEAKS, MJ is still the author, but she and Herm collaborated on the illustrations.How do two artists work on the same book?
Herm starts the illustration process by doing thumbnail sketches. Then he makes the book dummy. This is where they decide how to break up the story into a thirty-two page picture book. When they both agree that the book dummy is the way they want it, they send it off to their editor, Mary Cash, at Holiday House. Mary and art director Claire Counihan go over the dummy and send it back with their suggestions
Sometimes MJ and Herm go to the Holiday House office in New York City and work on the book face to face. Here they are with Mary Cash, going over the dummy and character studies of BEAUTY AND THE BEAKS.
Back in the studio, MJ starts painting or sculpting the characters. Then she files all of the finished paintings for each spread in a marked folder for Herm. In a book with sculpted characters, MJ sets up each figure in the right clothes and the appropriate facial expression, then pins the spread number on the hen for Herm to photograph.

Herm scans the images or downloads the digital photos into the computer and combines them according to his original sketch. He adds prints, textures, and background elements of his own along with shadows to tie everything together. They go back and forth a lot at this stage with MJ painting or sculpting new images and Herm scanning them until it looks the way they want it.

Then Herm does high resolution prints, and puts all the graphic files on a CD to send to the editor and art director.In the past, MJ sent off a package of original paintings, holding her breath until she was sure they arrived safely, so this is a much better arrangement!
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