Q&A with Lala Watkins

  

 

 

Lala Watkins is the illustrator of the new children's picture book Go Bananas!. Her other books include Hello, Sun!. She lives in Florida.

 

Q: How did you end up illustrating Go Bananas!?

 

A: I had a few books I was working on and then in 2022, I was asked to work on this project. They thought my bold, playful style and fun kid-driven humor would give the book a unique voice that is goofy yet brimming with heart. I love working on silly books so to have the opportunity to make one with bananas was something I couldn’t deny!

 

Q: The School Library Journal review of the book says, “This cheerily colorful riff on the infectious camp song will have little ones joining in....Pull this one out when the classroom or story hour needs a reset and some giggles.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think it's perfect! Kids need a silly break, to make mistakes, and understand you’re not alone so call out to your friends. We can do this together!

 

Q: Can you tell us about your illustrating process?

 

A: I did a lot of sketching ideas for how these bananas would look like. Are they people in banana suits? Are they silly bananas? After sketching on procreate and on paper, I decided to move to procreate and create bold bananas. It was so much fun to do and I really wanted to make the silliness ooze off the pages.

 

I did use both traditional media and digital. I made the textures overlaid on some of the art, especially the bananas. I scanned textures of pencils, paints, and crayons, etc., that I made on loose paper.

 

I saved them in a folder on my desktop and when I finished drawing the illustrations digitally, I would add the textures in photoshop and see what looked best. I looked at ‘60s & ‘70s retro bold art as references, which you can see throughout even in the lettering.

 

Q: What got you interested in illustrating children’s picture books?

 

A: I had the opportunity to intern at Cartoon Network my junior year of college, that really opened my eyes to the fact that I wanted to create for kids and the kid at heart. It found what made my heart go “!”  but I didn’t know what that would look like for me.

 

When I returned for senior year of school, I ended up taking up two children’s book electives: writing for picture books and drawing for children’s books. I didn’t know anything about children’s picture books beyond that.

 

My path went in a different direction once I graduated. I got a job at Sanrio, Inc. as a product designer and worked at some pretty cool places as an illustrator, designer, and developer.

 

I posted my work on my Instagram and that was how my agent, Erica Rand Silverman found me through a client of hers, Mika Song. Mika played matchmaker and now I’m part of the wonderful Stimola Literary Studio.

 

I started creating art professionally as a children’s book illustrator in 2021, six years ago and I’m so grateful that I get to do that because it really feels like I found the thing I was meant to do. I’ve learned so much about picture books since then, and continue to learn.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on a few projects right now that are a little hush hush that I can’t wait to share with you all in the future.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: My favorite color is blue–all the blues, including cerulean blue (a fave). If I had to pick a vegetable to fight it would be jicama. I love looking at the sky.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb