Patricia Storms is a gifted illustrator and cartoonist who has helped breathe life into some of our family’s favourite books and children’s magazines with her amazing images.
When we recently reviewed the book Snowy Science for our blog, we were curious about the illustrator behind the book — so we got in touch with Patricia and peppered her with questions until she begged for mercy (well, not quite).
Here’s what she had to say:
Papertrails Family: Our family is a mix of morning people and night hawks. What time of day do you prefer to create?
Patricia Storms: I am definitely a morning person. For starters, first thing in the morning my brain is fresh and full of energy, not yet weighed down by the worries & stresses of the day. And there’s also something very positive about creating in the morning – that whole concept of the ‘clean slate’ or ‘anything is possible’ because the day is still so young. And of course, with the morning comes COFFEE. Need I say more?
Papertrails Family: Did you have a favourite illustrator/artist growing up as a child? How do you think he/she influenced your artistic style?
Patricia Storms: When I was a kid, I was probably most enamoured with the books by Dr. Seuss. I loved his humour and energy and very unique perspective. Has he influenced my style? Hmmm…perhaps.
My lines have a certain energy and looseness somewhat similar to Seuss. And I generally prefer a simple style of illustration in order to convey a mood or a character, which is certainly reminiscent of Seuss’ work. And Seuss’ work conveys a great deal of emotion, which is something I express in my drawing, too.
Papertrails Family: How do you know when an illustration is truly finished? Or do you feel compelled to keep perfecting until the last possible moment?
Patricia Storms: I know an illustration is finished when my Art Director is phoning me, asking me where it is. But seriously, for me, it’s hit and miss. Sometimes I just instinctively know when to stop, and those are the times when the little creative fairies are sprinkling just the right kinda dust on me and the planets are all aligned and I can fit into my skinny jeans.
Other times, for whatever reason (often it’s because I’m not happy or comfortable with the subject matter in some way), it’s a wretched struggle.
Papertrails Family: What medium do you prefer to use when creating your art (i.e. paint, ink, etc.) and why?
Patricia Storms: I love drawing the traditional way with an HB pencil and then inking with a brush & india ink. Lately though, I’ve been going back to inking with a thin Pigma pen, and have been enjoying messing around with sketchy lines and using a bit more detail and cross-hatching, something I haven’t done in many years.
I use the world ‘traditional’ in order to stress that I do not draw using any kind of computer stuff. I have no issue with drawing digitally for others, but for me, I love the way it feels to push the pencil & brush on paper. I also like the little mistakes that can happen when drawing by hand, which would not be the same if one draws from a tablet, I think.
For the most part, though, I do all my colouring in Photoshop, so I’m not a total purist. I use Photoshop because it’s faster, of course, but also because I’m just not skilled enough in my knowledge of colour to create great drawings using watercolour or acrylic. I wish I was. But I have to be honest with myself – colour is definitely my Achilles Heel in my art.
Papertrails Family: Where did you study art, or are you self-taught?
Patricia Storms: I suppose for the most part, I am self-taught. I have always drawn, and I studied art all through high school, but my teachers generally were not impressed with my cartoon work, and pushed me towards the ‘serious’ side of drawing.
For a variety of reasons (the main one being a lack of confidence) I didn’t go to art school. I studied Library Techniques in college, and worked in libraries for many years, but still always drew on the side.
In my mid-30s I went back to school & studied Graphic Design, and over the years I have taken cartoon and life drawing courses to improve my drawing skills. I still sometimes struggle with the regret of not going to art school in my youth, but it just wasn’t meant to be at that time.
Papertrails Family: Many people try to discourage children from pursuing art as a career. What is your position on artistic careers?
Patricia Storms: Obviously I can’t tell a parent how to raise and guide their child, but I confess I do find it very disappointing that the study of art as a career is so discouraged these days.
Speaking for myself, I lived many, many years bitterly unhappy in my work, full of regret that I hadn’t studied art. It caused me great emotional pain. As a child & teenager, my identity was so closely linked to my creativity (I loved to write as well as draw).
Denying myself the opportunity to develop my artistic self created a major disconnect in my psyche. I’d hate for anyone else to go through that unhappiness.
I do understand the problem of earning a living with one’s art. It’s certainly one of the reasons I didn’t initially pursue it as a career. And trust me, I’m certainly not making the big bucks now.
I guess it comes down to what one wants out of one’s life. Emotional satisfaction, or lots of stuff?
I can recall expressing my fears of trying to make a living with my art many years ago to a very fine cartoonist named Steven Toth, who really helped to get my career off the ground. I was concerned about the lack of security, being an artist. He said to me, “Patricia, nothing in this world is secure.” I’ve never forgotten that. It doesn’t matter what job you have, it can be gone tomorrow. And this is especially evident in today’s economy. Tomorrow is promised to no one. So why not draw a picture? 
Papertrails Family: Are there any children’s book projects you’re working on right now that you can tell us about?
Patricia Storms: Well, another book I illustrated will be out this March – it’s called Kid Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Grown-Ups, and is written by Monte Montgomery and published by Bloosmbury U.S.
It’s a humorous middle-grade non-fiction book all about those wacky and bizarre creatures – grown-ups. And I continue to create the comic strip Chirp for the magazine of the same name, published by Owl Kids. Other than that, well… I am hoping that the picture book fairies will be kind to me in the near future, and that’s all I can say about that!
Papertrails Family: Thanks for sharing your time and your talent with us, Patricia. Here’s to the artful life!
Friday, 27 January 2012 02:24
Written by kerry
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