Today I'm proudly sharing Matthew Forsythe's insights into his process for creating the funny and moving book Aggie and the Ghost. I hope you enjoy learning about this book as much as I did!
About the book:
Aggie is very excited to live on her own—until she finds out her new house is haunted. But no fear, the situation is nothing that can’t be fixed with a carefully considered list of rules: No haunting after dark. No stealing socks. No eating all the food.
But the ghost doesn’t like playing by the rules and challenges Aggie to an epic game of tic-tac-toe—winner gets the house.
But the ghost doesn’t like playing by the rules and challenges Aggie to an epic game of tic-tac-toe—winner gets the house.
Check out the endpapers:
Let's talk Matthew Forsythe!
LTPB: Where did the idea for Aggie and the Ghost come from? Did you always envision it as a longer picture book?
MF: I think I meant for this book to be shorter. But once I got into the page breaks and the rhythm of the book It stretched out to over 70 pages again. Sigh. Maybe next time…
LTPB: Can you talk a little bit about the visual evolution of book? How did your illustrations evolve as you flushed out your story?
MF: Well, the characters came from my sketch book, so they were already fully fleshed out. But I did have to throw out many paintings and start again. I’ve come to accept that that’s just part of my process.
LTPB: What did you find most difficult in creating this book? What did you find most rewarding?
MF: The ending of the book was the most challenging and rewarding. At first it was too simple and it felt wrong. I had to take it apart and put it back together again to make it work. Now I love the ending.
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?
MF: My process for all three books has been the same. I use watercolour, gouache and coloured pencil to make the images. I love working traditionally. The act of painting is very calming and meditative.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
MF: Right now I’m working on a goodnight book with Matthew Burgess. It’s called If the Moon. I’m also working on a new season of Adventure Time - called “Side Quests.” It’s a super fun year for work.
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?
MF: I think my books are already a kind of picture book autobiography. Anything you may want to learn about me, you can probably learn from my books.
MF: I think I meant for this book to be shorter. But once I got into the page breaks and the rhythm of the book It stretched out to over 70 pages again. Sigh. Maybe next time…
MF: Well, the characters came from my sketch book, so they were already fully fleshed out. But I did have to throw out many paintings and start again. I’ve come to accept that that’s just part of my process.
MF: The ending of the book was the most challenging and rewarding. At first it was too simple and it felt wrong. I had to take it apart and put it back together again to make it work. Now I love the ending.
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?
MF: My process for all three books has been the same. I use watercolour, gouache and coloured pencil to make the images. I love working traditionally. The act of painting is very calming and meditative.
MF: Right now I’m working on a goodnight book with Matthew Burgess. It’s called If the Moon. I’m also working on a new season of Adventure Time - called “Side Quests.” It’s a super fun year for work.
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?
MF: I think my books are already a kind of picture book autobiography. Anything you may want to learn about me, you can probably learn from my books.
A ghostly thank you to Matthew for taking time to answer some questions about his process! Aggie and the Ghost published in August from Paula Wiseman Books!
Special thanks to Matthew and PWB for use of these images!
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