*Answers are summarized, not necessarily verbatim.
1) Why do you want to be a children’s book illustrator?
D: I always liked drawing as a kid. I guess children’s books have so much imagination compared to adult books. Adults don’t care as much for illustrations.
2) Do you have any favorite authors or books that inspire you? What did you read when you were younger? What were your favorites?
D: I love Harry Potter like a lot of people. I like reading myths and fairytales, so the Grimm Brothers for sure. I read a lot of graphic novels, like Flight and the AllStar series. And of course Tolkien, there’s so much imagination in his work.
3) Favorite genre?
D: I don’t think I have a favorite genre to read. But to illustrate I would say fantasy. That’s the most fun for me. So maybe it’s fantasy.
4) What do you think about young adult literature? Why is it important?
D: I’m not really sure what makes a book YA, but I want to illustrate youth books because I feel like there is so much more room to get crazy. But I don’t mean that I want my illustrations to be only for kids. I want everyone to be able to appreciate them.
5) Should certain books be censored from young adults? Which ones? Why?
D: No I don’t think so, I think readers should have the choice to read what they want. If something is inappropriate for their age, that’s their parents’ job to censor it from them, not an institution.
6) What if your work was censored? How would that make you feel?
D: I don’t think anyone will censor me. I don’t dumb down my work for kids because I think their imaginations need some high quality vivid work to feed on, but I also don’t do anything inappropriate just to be provocative.
7) How do you feel about e-books and blogs?
D: I don’t think it’s the same thing as a book. It’s a totally different experience reading and looking at images online instead of a book. I’d prefer my work was in a book.
8) Is there a specific age range you want to illustrate for?
D: Not really, I like doing a lot of fantasy work. But that’s not just for kids. Lots of kids like it but it’s for adults too. I guess I just want to do really good work that anyone can appreciate. Like Tolkien, his books aren’t just for kids, anyone can read them. They’re just really good books.
