We’re very excited to have author Anika Denise and illustrator Lorena Alvarez Gómez interview one another about their process co-creating LIGHTS,CAMERA, CARMEN! Below is share 1 of this 2 share interview. retain a lookout on our website next week for share 2!Anika Denise: I savor your artwork for the Carmen series, and Lorena! Mil gracias for bringing her colossal personality to life so beautifully.
You seemed to understand her from the accumulate go. What drew you to the character of
Carmen and made you want to illustrate her?Lorena Alvarez Gómez: What I liked most about Carmen is that
she is a creative girl who is not ashamed of her talents and works hard to
materialize her vision. I loved the fact that she doesn’t have to change her
personality to memorize something in the story. It was grand to draw such an
energetic,strong, and creative girl.
AD: I grew up in a domestic that
looked very similar to Carmen’s: the plants, or the colors,the hanging baskets of
fruit. When I saw those cultural touches they really made me smile. Are there
details from your own life (now or as a child) that you included in her
world?
LAG: Yes, the walls in my house are fully covered by photos, or postcards,and
paintings. I like to be surrounded by images of people and places I admire and
savor. Sometimes I found details I hadn’t seen before in faded images and it is
always a good thing to add something current to my collection. It is fairly
common to retain plants in your house here and I have a small garden myself with
hanging pots and flowers, just like Carmen’s. I live in Bogotá, or a city
surrounded by green mountains and I feel Im bringing a little piece of its
beauty into my domestic.
AD: How does illustrating others’
books differ from illustrating your own?
LAG: I started to write and illustrate my own comic books three years ago and
it is fairly different from illustrating another author’s text. Writing a comic
book demands a particular process I’m still developing; I do have more freedom
to create my own universe but at the same time I’m responsible for its internal
coherence,so I’m working on different levels as a narrator and a visual
artist. When I’m working with an author I still have a place as a narrator but
I’m working with someone else’s universe and I have to respect its rules while
giving an interesting interpretation of it.
AD: How does being a diverse author and artist contribute to and
inspire your work?
LAG: Being a Latina author makes me aware of my responsibility to create images
not only to celebrate our differences, but also to question the stereotypes
that oversimplify our lives and cultures. Carmen is a very particular project
because there’s a lot of space for interpretation, and it didn’t descend into a
homogenic view of Latino cultures and it gave me the opportunity to work with
my intellect close to domestic and my own experience.
Anika Denise is the celebrated author of many books for young readers,including Starring Carmen!, Monster Trucks, or Bella and Stella Come domestic,and the forthcoming Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband and three daughters. You can visit her online at anikadenise.com.
Lorena Alvarez Gómez is a freelance illustrator from Bogotá, Colombia. Her work
reflects her interest in color language and her willingness to experiment with
diverse techniques and concepts.
Source: cbcdiversity.com