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Watercolor Worlds
Michaela Goade talks about illustrating children’s books
Courtesy of Michaela Goade
An illustration for the picture book titled We Are Water Protectors
Scholastic Art: What is your job?
Michaela Goade: I am a picture book maker and illustrator. I have the honor of illustrating stories by Indigenous authors. I’m beginning to write and illustrate my own stories as well, which has been a really fun, new experience. Additionally, I’m a graphic designer, so I also do smaller design and illustration jobs.
SA: How did you become a children’s book illustrator?
Michaela Goade
MG: I was always trying to find a job where I get to build worlds. Everything I was drawn to was essentially trying to explore that idea. When I was a kid, I was making picture books and filling sketchbooks. In college, I studied graphic design and dabbled in painting, printmaking, and other 2-D visual arts. After school, I was an art director and graphic designer at a small advertising agency in Alaska when my tribe put out a call for proposals for a grant-funded picture book program. I started working on stories about Native people for Native people. One of those books went on to win an award—the American Indian Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book—and that got on the radar of an editor for a large publishing house. It all fell into place after that.
How does Goade invite viewers to consider their relationship to the environment in the illustration above?
SA: What inspires your illustrations?
MG: When I’m illustrating someone else’s story, I start with the text and the author’s background for inspiration. Their story puts a box around me in a good way. Then it’s up to me to find my own story within their story. I often take on stories that deal with a love for land on some level. It’s enriching and affirming to play a small role in bringing these much-needed stories to the world. In my own stories, I love to explore the idea of home and our relationship to the natural world. I’m a member of the Tlingit (KLING-kuht) Nation here in southeast Alaska, our ancestral homelands. This environment is incredibly inspiring, and I couldn’t really imagine working or living anywhere else.
Goade creates color studies to develop the mood.
SA: What is your working process?
MG: My literary agent fields requests from publishers who have stories they would like me to illustrate. We decide if I’m a good fit. Then it’s up to me to come up with the visual narrative. I go through a long sketching process, working with the editor and art director, and with feedback from the author. Then I’m given the green light to paint, which usually takes three to four months. Watercolor is my primary medium. I love how it captures southeast Alaska, which is a rainforest. Using a waterbased medium is really appropriate for the ocean, the mist, the trees, and everything here. Then I scan the illustrations into Photoshop and finish things up digitally.
The artist sketches before designing her final illustrations.
SA: What is the most challenging part of your work and career?
MG: Sometimes having to be creative on demand can be a challenge, so I think rising above that and finding little systems—like having a clean workspace—is huge for me. Also, finding music that transports me to the environment I’m trying to portray. For me, that means a lot of animated-movie soundtracks.
Why is Goade’s medium important to the stories she illustrates?
SA: Do you have any advice for young artists interested in a career in illustration?
MG: I’m a huge supporter of starting small: those attainable goals that allow you to build your skill set and build connections with your community.
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