Introduction by Liz Yanoff: Thank you Ms. Ettlinger for agreeing to be interviewed by NY students about The Orange Shoes. I know that my own children were drawn into these beautiful illustrations and our interviewers were as well. Two classes have questions about your artistic process.
Ms. Ettlinger: Thank you so much for your interest in my art work in The Orange Shoes.
Ms. El-Bahtity 3rd grade students ask Doris Ettlinger about The Orange Shoes:
1. Do you paint fast?
Not really. I can only work at one speed. Slow. As I approach a deadline I put in long hours, but I don’t think I work faster.
2. How did you draw the pictures? 3. Did you color the pictures or paint them?
I often have a picture in my mind. When I make the first sketches I try to draw what I imagine. I scan the sketches into the computer, make adjustments using a Photoshop program. Then I email them to the editor and art director for approval. When I get the OK I print out the sketches to the size they will appear in the book. I trace the enlarged sketch onto smooth watercolor paper using a light table. (A light table is a piece of frosted glass over light bulbs.) I develop the traced drawing using all of the reference material I assembled, including photographs of my models. Then I paint with watercolors. The last thing I do is go over the original pencil lines with colored pencil to make them darker. I also use colored pencils for additional detail and make dark colors richer. Here is a picture of my studio.
You can see my light table on the left. I have lots of colored pencils.
4. Why did you make the picture showing just the girls’ skirts and shoes?
This is a good question. Here are some of the “thumbnail” sketches I made when I began thinking about this scene.
In this small sketch, I thought about the school yard and the children at recess, with Delly as just a part of the scene.
In this sketch, I show the schoolhouse on one page and Delly showing off her shoes on the facing page. In the first two sketches there isn’t much happening. The important action hasn’t happened yet.
I thought about what action was most important in this scene. Delly’s classmates destroy her shoes! I decided to zero in on that action. Delly’s shock and emotion are communicated in the gesture of her hand. Very often children (and adults) do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do when they are part of a group led by someone with a strong personality urging them to do something they shouldn’t do. It takes a strong person to say, “This isn’t right. I’m not going to be part of this.” Prudy is the leader of the attack on Delly. The other girls go along with her. I imagine that later the girls felt ashamed. By not showing their faces, they don’t become the bullies in our minds like Prudy is. The other girls are in the Harvest Festival scene later in the story and they are very happy for Delly.
Another reason I think this is good compositions is because the reader gets to see what shoes of this era looked like and also to see how special Delly’s orange shoes were.
This is one of my favorite illustrations in the book. I am pleased with how the stripes on Prudy’s dress suggest movement. And I am very pleased with the expressiveness of Delly’s hand.
5. Did you ever not have an eraser like Delly?
No, I have always had an eraser and I frequently used it. I still do! But I make a point of drawing lightly at first. That way, it’s easy to erase.
6. How old were you when you started to draw?
I don’t know when I began to draw. I remember painting in kindergarten and not being very pleased with how my painting compared with my classmates’. Here is a drawing I made when I was about 7 years old. My mother kept it for many years. I loved fairy tales. This looks like a combination of Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and the Cow that Jumped Over the Moon.
And Mrs. Wilcox’s Fifth Grade students asked Ms. Ettlinger:
1. In all the pictures detailed emotion is shown. How do you show the feelings this strongly?
Drawing is a bit like acting. I have to think about my character. How would they express what they are feeling? I keep a mirror by my drawing board. Often while I am drawing an emotion, my own face expresses it. Facial expression is just one part of showing emotion. Body posture is just as important. Sometimes when I photograph models they will make a gesture that I might not have thought of.
2. How do you make the faces so detailed?
When I am on the phone and absentmindedly doodling, I doodle faces. I have always enjoyed drawing faces. Here are some faces I drew when I was in 7th grade. I liked to copy faces from the Sunday comics in the newspaper, just as kids today like to copy anime or manga characters. It’s good practice.
3. Which was harder to draw, the animals, backgrounds or humans?
Backgrounds can be difficult if they involve buildings in perspective. A natural landscape is a piece of cake. Drawing man-made things like cars or bicycles are a challenge. I love to draw animals. I have a collection of plastic critters that I use as models, especially when I need an unusual point of view. 
When I begin a sketch of human figures I use a technique I call “eggs and sausages”. I then put clothes on the figure and refine the drawing. Whenever I can, I practice drawing from life. All that practice makes drawing a figure out of my head much easier.
4. What was it like trying to think of what the characters should look like?
I “see” the character in my head. Also, while I am doing research for the book, I look at the people around me and look for possible models. Many people in my books are drawn from my imagination. But where there is a main character, or a character that appears several times in the story, I like to have a model. Even then, the character I draw may not look exactly like my model. I used my niece Tilly as my model for Delly. But Delly is really a combination of Tilly and the little girl inside of me.
Tilly
Me
5. What inspired your pictures for Orange Shoes? Why did you choose brown for Delly’s hair?
While doing research for The Orange Shoes I looked at pictures taken by a photographer named Walker Evans who photographed poor farmers in the South during the Depression of the 1930s. I referred to his pictures when I drew Delly’s home. Also, I had one of the sharecropping farmers in mind when I drew Delly’s father.
When I first began this project I was reading a book about the painter Pieter Brueghel who lived 500 years ago. In one of his sketches he drew a beautiful old twisty tree. In the opening spread of The Orange Shoes I included my rendering of Brueghel’s tree. I think it has a lot of personality. Just like Delly.
I’m not sure why Delly has brown hair. I didn’t want her to stand out because of her looks, that may have been the reason. Her art work is what made her stand out. That’s what I feel I have in common with Delly.
6. Why did you put a dog in many of the pictures?
Even though the text that Trinka wrote does not mention pets, I imagined that the Porter family had a dog and a cat. Being country people I also imagined they had chickens. Naturally, in drawing a dog I used a handy model; that is, my own dog, Bruce Wayne. I got Bruce through Petfinders.com. He was born under a handicap ramp in a town south of Atlanta, Georgia. One of the other puppies in his litter was hit by a car when it wandered into the road. That’s when the puppies were discovered. The mother, who looked like she may have been a Bassett Hound, ran off when the ASPCA arrived. An animal rescue person brought Bruce and dozens of other puppies north to New Jersey to be adopted. She gave him the name Doodles, but we renamed him Bruce Wayne, because my daughter thought he looked like a bat when his sharp puppy teeth showed. His father was obviously a black Labrador Retriever. So I refer to him as a Bassalab. He’s VERY friendly.
7. How did you become the illustrator for Orange Shoes?
I had already illustrated 2 books for Sleeping Bear Press. G is for Garden State and T is for Teachers. I was delighted when the editors and art director thought my style would suit Trinka’s story.
8. The designs are so vivid, what illustrating methods did you use and how did you get these ideas?
I enjoy doing lots of research before I illustrate a book. I try to immerse myself in visual information from books, my clipping file and source on the internet. I also look at great art to inspire me and keep my standards high. Sometimes I will borrow a composition from an artist, or their combination of colors. I like to look at art that was created at the time the story took place. When I worked on a book called, Abe Lincoln Loved Animals, I looked at the art of Currier and Ives, who were the popular illustrators in the mid-19th century.
Liz Yanoff: A final question, what’s next for you as an illustrator?
I am working on a new book for Sleeping Bear Press that is about the Oregon Trail. I have not yet begun sketching, but I have found a model for the main character. At the Oregon Trail website I was able to print a copy of a diary written by a woman who made the journey in 1851. I also read two middle grade novels in the Dear America series based on actual young people who survived the trip to Oregon. I am about to contact a local farmer who owns oxen. I will ask him if I may photograph his animals wearing their yokes. I wish I could take a trip out west to visit some of the landmarks along the route, but I will have to settle for some good photographs in books or on line.
I am also part of a children’s book writers critique group. Someday I would like to illustrate my own story. The other members of my group read my manuscripts and offer polite, constructive criticism. It’s an exciting process and I’ve made some good friends.
Thanks again for your questions. If you still have questions after reading these answers, feel free to visit my website which has a link to my email.
Best regards,
Doris Ettlinger
June 16, 2009
http://www.dorisettlinger.com/
