Today I'm talking to Jenny Lucander about Freya and the Snake, written by Fredrik Sonck. You can tell from the cover that this is a playful book with a lot of serious layers to it, and I'm excited to share our conversation here about the process behind making the illustrations for this unique book. Enjoy!
About the book:
When Freya and her siblings spot a snake near where they're playing, Freya names it Snakey. But her parents are concerned, worried that Snakey will bite someone. Her dad tries to capture the snake, planning to take it far away. Only, that's much harder to do than he expects. So, to make sure Snakey doesn't harm his family, her dad decides he must take a different approach. One that offers a more permanent solution. One that Freya says she'll never forgive him for.
Let's talk Jenny Lucander!
LTPB: How did you become the illustrator of Freya and the Snake? What were the first images that popped into your mind when you saw Fredrik Sonck’s text?
JL: I got the assignment from my editor at Förlaget publishing company. Fredrik had whished for me to illustrate his text and I was very happy to work with him since we have worked together when he was the editor in chief on a cultural magazine (Ny Tid) and I was a freelance illustrator working mainly with editorial illustrations some years ago. The first thoughts I had when I realized that the text was about snakes I started thinking about how to depict snakes in a children’s book. Obviously some snakes (or at least vipers) are dangerous and poisonous animals and they are often portrayed as evil characters in picture books. But all animals have the right to live, love and take care of their babies. The snake in this book needed to have both an intimidating and a friendly look. How do I do that? And snakes don’t have bodys that give you much to work with. I mean no legs, hands, ears, eyebrows, fur / hair, practically no nose to work with. Just a small pair of eyes, a long body and a mouth with teeth. This limitation was tricky but at the same time a challenge that gave me inspiration to start working and trying to solve the assignment.
When I start working with a picture book I often make the illustrations in chronological order from the first spread in the book until the last. The publisher always needs the cover of the book really early on in the process for marketing reasons. So that will be the very first picture I make. But then when I continue I start with dividing the text into the different spreads of the book. I place the text in suitable blocks on the spreads in Indesign. Maybe I make a quick story board or then just picture the spreads in my head. But then I always start with the first spread.
Sketches for the cover and the final cover:
The first spread show the family of Freya a sunny summer morning in the archipelago. I wanted to show this lovely summer morning by the sea when the sun makes glittery reflections in the water and you just feel the summer holiday euphoria sensation. I use a lot of reference pictures and models when I illustrate. I either use my family members as models, or take pictures with my mobile phone or just reference pictures I find on the web.
LTPB: Can you talk a little bit about the visual evolution of Freya and the Snake? As you got to know the characters, how did your illustrations evolve? And did you notice any interesting illustration changes in the US edition versus the Scandinavian edition?
JL: It was easy to start with the characters because Freya and the Snake is the sequel of another Freya book - Freya and the baby crow. So I had already created most of the characters for that book. In this book Freya is a little bit older and there is also a new little brother in the book. I also wanted to shift technique from colored pencil to something else. Colored pencil is in many sense a lovely medium to use, easy to control and you can create beautiful illustrations using colored pencils. But it is EXTREMELY time consuming and I got a terrible inflammation in my right hand from the intense drawing. So now I had to come up with another technique that was not hurting my hand but still with an expression not too far from the one in Freya and the baby crow. I settled with a collage technique using line drawing, gouache, watercolor and Photoshop for finish.
Fortunately there were no unexpected surprises in the US edition (compared to the original Scandinavian edition. Sometimes that can happen with foreign editions). But I got a request from the US publisher to make some changes because some pictures could possible shock the US readers. This is interesting. The Scandinavian picture books are known to be bold and progressive. We seldom think that a subject is not fit for a children’s book. In Scandinavia a prevailing opinion is that you can talk about and show almost anything in a children’s book. Also difficult subjects. Because difficult things happen in children’s lives. And what is better to help them cope with these things than reading a book about it?
I am so thrilled that my books are being published in foreign countries and foremost the US. However, for me as a Finnish illustrator from Scandinavia it’s very strange that a society like the US where a lot of violence happens and people carry guns is so sensitive towards all controversial subjects in children’s books. On the other hand - I do understand that the publishers know their market best and they know what will sell and how the readers react to different subjects and types of pictures. So I completely relied on my US editors opinions and decisions in this matter.
In this book the sensitive subject is violence. The violence is not between people but between an adult and a poisonous snake. The conflict is not totally uncomplicated. The father of Freya is trying to protect his children from this snake that shows up a little too close to their summer cottage. His initial aim is to do it without hurting the animal, but since the snake is too quick for his final solution is to kill the snake. His daughter Freya does not like this at all. She represent the view that may be considered somewhat naive. The snake is dangerous and might even kill her or her siblings. It is no surprise that her father end up taking the snakes life.
But at the same time you could argue that even the snake deserves to live. The snake is not evil or vengeful. It merely wants to live in peace. It does not even attack people unless threatened. From a vipers point of view the vipers are not bad animals. But at the same time the plot in this book is not that simple that it is saying, or the sense moral is saying Freya is right and her father is wrong.
Or Freya is good and her father is not. Or Freya is kind but her father knows best. Like in real life people are both good and bad, right and wrong. People are multidimensional.
LTPB: What did you find most difficult in creating this book? What did you find most rewarding?
JL: Actually unlike most other book projects I did not have much difficulties when creating this book. As I remember I had a long creative flow that lasted the whole period. I did not have much time because I had a tight schedule with deadlines coming up. But usually this is a effective way for me to start creating effectively with a discipline that helps me both keep the deadline but also come up with good ideas.
I found it rewarding to illustrate a book with a bit of a challenging subject. It was interesting to contemplate and reflect over how to create a picture book about violence and controversial feelings towards someone you love.
I also found it rewarding to work with a book about nature and animals. I find subjects like nature, peoples attitudes towards nature, climate change, ecology and biological diversity tremendously important and interesting.
LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Is this your preferred medium? How does your process change from book to book?
JL: In this book I used a mix of colored pencils, gouache and water color painting and Photoshop collage. This is usually my preferred medium. However lately I have started using mainly gouache and I have noticed that I enjoy painting exceptionally much. My process changes from book to book depending on what kind of story I am illustrating. What is the age of the target group? And what is the genre? Is is a sad, humorous, poetic, a fantasy or a horror story?
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
JL: At the moment I am working on a illustrated fantasy story about the feminist icon poet Karin Boye. It is a story written by Kristina Sigunsdotter from Sweden. She is an expert of Karin Boye and has read everything there is to read that Boye has written and everything there is to read about Boyes life. This book that we are creating is going to be called Trädet under jorden = The tree under the ground. It is a powerful fantasy story based both on Karin Boyes life and on her texts.
LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?
JL: I must admit I have never ever thought about that haha! But I have a sister that is also an illustrator and animator (Åsa Lucander, very talented!) - she knows me very well and we have quite the same aesthetics. So she would probably be the best alternative. But then again she is always busy so she would probably not have to time.
I also have some very dear and close friends that are also wonderful picture book artists like Linda Bondestam (who is also featured here), Lena Frölander-Ulf and Maija Hurme. Another illustrator and cartoon artist that is a friend of mine and extremely talented is Anna Härmälä (check her out!). And of course I have to mention Marika Maijala - another dear illustrator friend that is the most sensitive and poetic artist you could ever find.
I am also a big fan of Swedish illustrators Eva Lindström and Ida Björs. I just love their expression and style.
So now I notice that it was not difficult at all to find illustrators (women all!) to do the potential job.
A million thanks to Jenny for taking time to chat with me! Freya and the Snake publishes from Kids Can Press in two weeks on June 3!
Special thanks to Jenny and Kids Can Press for use of these images!
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