The Adventure of Publishing Your First Children's Book, by Flavia Z Drago

We spoke with this talented Mexican illustrator about how she got her children's book published

Flavia Z Drago (@flavia_zdrago) studied Graphic Design but specialized in illustration and children's books. She has illustrated more than ten books, a Hermès carré (scarf), a Frida Kahlo coffee pot, and cups for Chocolate Abuelita, among many other things. This year, Walker Books published her first book as an author and illustrator, titled Gustavo, the Shy Ghost, a dream that has haunted her for over a decade.

We talked with her about her passion for storytelling, her influences, and the experience of preparing her first book.

Where does your interest in illustration and passion for storytelling come from?

As a child, I liked to draw all the time and read about illustration; my mom had a lot of encyclopedias, and I loved going through them. However, when I had to go to university, I didn't want to study Fine Arts because I assumed that I would end up doing installations or conceptual art if I did.

My sister, who is 11 years older than me, studied Graphic Design. I thought her homework was fun: I was constantly watching her take photos, design logos or use Photoshop, so I followed her and studied the same thing.

After graduating, I thought I wanted to do branding and packaging but found it boring. What I really wanted was to develop my style as an illustrator and write the books that I would have liked to read as a child.

What are your biggest influences?

More than influences, I would call them role models. First, my sister, because, thanks to her, I studied design and got to know all sorts of wonderful things like Balkan music, the USSR, the lonely-men-who-sing-atrocious-songs (Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and Nick Cave), reading books about books, etc. She is my idol.

My favorite illustrators are usually those who also write their own books: Carson Ellis, Jon Klassen, Keith Negley, Isol, Paloma Valdivia, Beatrice Allemagna, Sara Fannelli, Anushka, Allepuz, Marta Altés, Tomi Ungerer, Juan Palomino. There are many. They all have very different styles, but I admire their ability to think up stories that make me laugh, surprise me, or make me think, and that are also visually beautiful.

Also, I am fascinated by illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages, Art Brut, Naif art, Mexican, and Russian handicrafts. I love Bosch, Brueghel the Elder, Matisse, and Chagall. I like to watch a lot of horror movies and, obviously, I love Guillermo del Toro's work.

How would you define your aesthetic style?

I believe that a style is the mixture of an artist’s strengths and weaknesses and how they take advantage of them, as well as the imaginary themes that arise from their experience, interests, and personal taste.

From a visual standpoint–since I know that perspective is not one of my strong points, I like to distort the planes and play with "anti-perspective" in my compositions, a bit like a cubist. I focus more on abstraction than realism. I think use of color is one of my strengths, and I love paying attention to detail and the psychology of my characters, everything that surrounds them has a reason for being.

And as for your themes?

I think my editors and my agent would say that I like dark and comical. I am fascinated by fairy tales, but in their original versions, dark and twisted, full of cannibalism, abandonment, witches, death, and hard lessons. Much of what I do lately is full of monsters and supernatural beings.

What are illustration’s advantages as an artistic and creative communication tool?

Illustration, unlike art (especially postmodern), does not intimidate the public. It is not necessary to go to galleries or museums, where the work is treated as if it were a supreme, divine, and unattainable entity. I am not saying that one thing is right and the other is wrong, or that one is superior and another inferior, they are simply different.

For me, the wonderful thing about illustration is that, in general, it is an accessible artistic expression on many levels; you can find it and enjoy it everywhere, from books, fabrics, clothes, and tattoos, to an animation on your cell phone, even in advertising.

Illustration shapes and shares the everyday reality.

Let's talk about your first book, how was the process that took you from the first idea to sharing it with the publisher, to its preparation for publication?

When I finished my master's degree, I already had three or four projects written, and I was in negotiations to see who I would sign a contract with. A small publisher in London (which makes some beautiful books) had already made me an offer. On the other hand, I had been dreaming of making books with Walker Books for years, but none of the projects I had convinced them.

After a meeting, before saying goodbye, I mentioned to them that I had other ideas, including the story of a very shy ghost who hid under his sheet to feel safe. Finally, when he managed to overcome his shyness, the cloth fell away. I was going to discover what was really under it. They laughed and thought it might be a good idea, especially if we mixed it with the Day of the Dead, that's when they made me an offer that I couldn't or didn't want to refuse.

In the beginning, I was not sure about the idea of ​​how the story was going to unfold. What I did know was that my character was going to be a very shy ghost. I started by drawing Gustavo in all possible situations to find out what he likes to do and how he would react to certain situations. As a child, I was very shy, and had a hard time making friends, so I started writing about my experiences and thinking about what helped me make friends.

Then I put everything into a storyboard, assembled by organizing the sketches with the texts to see how the sequence could work. I had to edit it many times. For the final piece, I made the pencil and ink drawings in layers and edited the colors in Photoshop.

It was a very long process that lasted about a year, but my team helped me a lot when I no longer knew how to move forward. I am very grateful that this is my first book because it represents me as an author, it has everything I like: monsters, Day of the Dead, and bright colors.

What would you say were the biggest problems you had to overcome during this process? Can they be avoided, or are they essential for growth, both for publishing a book and personally?

There were several hits and misses during the creative process, but we solved them step by step. It is naive to think that everything will be fine the first time. It is not usually like that. You have to be self-critical and seriously evaluate what works and what doesn't. Sometimes, even if you really like an idea (like the first ending we thought for the ghost’s sheet), it is not necessarily what works best for the story, and you have to find other paths.

What do you think the greatest successes have been?

It is always a good idea to trust that you are capable of doing a good job. Believe in your character, trust why it is important for you to tell that story. And trust your team, they will also have very good ideas to contribute.

What was the best experience of the entire project?

I suppose it will be seeing the book printed, seeing it in bookstores, in my hands and in the hands of others.

What do you enjoy the most, creating stories or bringing them to life through drawing?

I don't work like a writer who sits down to create her story and then illustrates it. In reality, it is a simultaneous process. Many times the images appear in my mind before the text. Both are inseparable and are enjoyed equally but in different ways. The most challenging thing is creating the story because you want everything to have meaning, coherence, rhythm, and a surprising ending. When you do it right, it is incredibly satisfying. On the other hand, illustration is a more relaxed process, as long as you know how to organize your time well and don't leave everything for the last minute.

Do you have any obsessions as an illustrator?

For some reason, I have found that I recurrently like to draw "medieval" things, weirdos, eyepatch characters, punk princesses, women with hairy legs, and fish with legs.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

The creative process, with all its obstacles. It is also very nice for me to know that these stories bring children closer to reading, I feel that I am doing something valuable with my time. It also fascinates me to see the drawings that children make inspired by my illustrations.

Any advice for those who want to start illustrating?

Never finish what you already started.

If you want to learn more about Flavia, check out her course, Picturebook Creation, and use illustration as a narrative base for your book and create a model ready to present to an editor.

You may also like:

- Digital Illustration for Children's Stories, a course by Teresa Martínez
- Children's Illustration for Editorial Publications, a course by Pamela Barbieri
- Illustration and Design of Children's Books, a course by Carlos Higuera