Bob Shea has written and illustrated over a dozen picture books including the popular Dinosaur vs. Bedtime and the cult favorite Big Plans illustrated by Lane Smith. Little Brown, Hyperion, HarperCollins, Random House, Simon and Schuster and Dial have all published his work. They are all still in business. His characters and animations have appeared on Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids. Bob spends his days writing, drawing and having “conversations” with NPR. He’s a lucky guy!
Lots of different things. Right now I am cutting shapes out of black paper. Usually I draw with black ink on watercolor paper. Sometimes I scan in textures and work with those. I put it all together in the computer stripping it of any legitimacy.
Lots and lots of sketching. I fill notebooks all the time. Write down bits of dialogue, jokes, sketch a layout. Take walks. Get up early. Nap. Coffee, coffee, (noon) tea, cookies, tea, wine, tea, cookies.
Favorite place to create & illustrate …
A quiet house early in the morning, the public library, my studio listening to NPR.
Most used art supply or tool …
Laser paper bound into notebooks. Rolling writer pens.
A metal bear suit that has an electromagnet in one paw and a flamethrower in the other. I’ll make the first proto type out of cardboard sans flamethrower to test the concept.
But yeah, metal bear suit. Really just a bear helmet and bear arms, but flamethrower/electromagnet for sure.
Discover more picture book illustration inspiration on The Children’s Book Review by following along with our Bob Shea books tag and our Illustration Inspiration series.
