Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
Whoever said coloring is for kids must not have encountered the wonderful, whimsical, subtle, yet profound art of award-winning author and illustrator Molly Idle.
After looking at her wonderful illustrations, you might be surprised to learn that Molly only works with pencils. Once she creates a sketch she likes, she reproduces several copies and begins experimenting with color. For example, the green skin of Rex in Tea Rex is really layers of eleven different colors.
Tea Rex by Molly Idle
With books like Zombelina, Tea Rex, and Flora and the Flamingo, Molly has been capturing the hearts of children and parents, as well as editors and award committees, with good reason. I mean, a zombie ballerina, how cool is that? And the story of Flora (a Caldecott Honor book) is told without any words. That takes a special touch.
I find Molly’s work like one of those treats you sometimes think you need to sneak late at night when no one is around to catch you, not because you aren’t supposed to be enjoying it but simply because it’s so delightful it feels like a very special secret. That’s one of the reasons I reached out to Molly. Of course, she’s hardly a secret. I don’t mean that. But she is one of those treats people may have heard of, but haven’t had the chance to appreciate for themselves. I wanted to give them another chance, another venue where they might come across her work.
Camp Rex by Molly Idle
Molly started her career as an animator for DreamWorks (not a bad starting point) and when she approaches the creation of a new book, she thinks about it the same way she would when staging a film. “Whether it’s on film or in a book, it’s about finding the right image that captures your imagination — and a moment of time.” Maybe that’s another reason her work resonates with me so much, my love of movies.
Working in animation was all Molly ever wanted to do. “Drawing all day. It doesn’t get better than that!” But after DreamWorks decided to focus strictly on digital animation she lost some of the passion she got from working with pencil and paper. As a result, she left the company and entered the realm of children’s book illustration. As much as I love movies, I’m glad she’s sharing her talents (as a visual artist and a storyteller) with kids.
Click on Molly’s bird to fly over to her website. And visit her blog, Wackiness Ensues (which she informed me sums up her life as an artist, wife, mom) for some great mini-interviews with other artists.
Tea Rex by Molly Idle
