Illustrator Spotlight: N. Alison Colle
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| © N. Alison Colle |
We are excited to welcome back N. Alison Colle, who designed our September website banner and placed honorable mention in our Kidlit411 banner contest.
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| © N. Alison Colle |
Welcome back, Nancy! Please tell us about what you’ve been doing lately.
I’ve recently completed an early chapter book series, and I’m currently revising a picture book dummy.
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| © N. Alison Colle |
Congrats on your winning banner design! Tell us what inspired you.
Thank you so much! By the way, your website is amazing. It’s got everything from rhyming to retreats. As for my banner, I’ve always been a cold weather gal. I love fall, and yes, winter too! Growing up, I was blessed to live near a patch of woods. Looking back, it was small, barely an acre. But to me it was a land of wonder. After school, my friends and I would wade through the weeds, make discoveries, climb trees, etc. And a tree can be the perfect place to peruse a book.
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| © N. Alison Colle |
What is your preferred medium and illustration process?
Every project begins with a pencil sketch. I love the purity of pencil. I used to consider myself a watercolorist, but nowadays I work mostly in mixed media.
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| © N. Alison Colle |
I’m an extremely visual person. When I’m working on a story, I can see the character/setting clearly in my mind. Getting that down on paper, however, takes some doing. Sometimes I nail the character on the first sketch. Other times I draw dozens of different versions of it. Once I’m happy with the character design, I move on to background sketches, value studies and color roughs before final rendering. Lastly, I scan the painting into Photoshop and make adjustments.
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| © N. Alison Colle |
What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
I took dance lessons as a child and nearly ruined a group recital when my foot fell asleep.
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| © N. Alison Colle |
Where can people find you online?
You can find me at my website/blog: www.talkingdonkeystudio.com
And on Twitter: @DonkeyTalking
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| © N. Alison Colle |
Author/Illustrator N. Alison Colle (a.k.a. Nancy) writes and illustrates picture books, chapter books and dreams of writing middle grade. Born in New England, she now lives in Ohio with her husband and family. When she’s not writing and illustrating, she enjoys baking and British TV.
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| © N. Alison Colle |
Beautiful illustrations, Alison!
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