Posts by Eliza Wheeler
Making the ‘ROSA’ Art: Colors
Another ‘Behind-the-scenes’ peak into the art-making process for ‘What Rosa Brought’, and one of my favorite stages of book design – creating the color palette. I could spend a year painting nothing but color swatches! The first step to inspiring the colors was to draw from historic photos, 1930’s art, photos of Vienna, and other book…
Read MoreMaking the ‘ROSA’ Art: Character Design
Some ‘Behind-the-scenes’ art-making for ‘What Rosa Brought’ (releasing in UK bookstores March 2024)… In the earliest stages of making art for books I tend to focus on characters first (especially in the case of non-fiction books). Rosa is based on author Jacob Sager Weinstein’s mother as a child, and her parents and grandma are 3 other…
Read MoreShepherd’s Book List: Top 3 of 2023
I was invited back by Shepherd to share a list of 3 books that I read and loved in 2023 (not necessarily published in 2023). I chose: To read my summaries of and why I loved these books, visit: Eliza Wheeler’s 3 favorite reads in 2023(I was thrilled to learn of Vashti Harrison’s Caldecott win…
Read MoreA Special Book Dedication
Dedicating a book to someone is usually meant to be an honor for that person, but in the case of ‘What Rosa Brought’, it felt more like the reverse – I was the one who was honored to be able to make the dedication. “For my bookmaking ally, Jen Rofé–and for the memory of hers…
Read MoreWHAT ROSA BROUGHT
I’m thrilled to be able to share this beautiful story written by Jacob Sager Weinstein about his mother’s childhood and which I had the honor to illustrate. This is a picture book about family, identity, immigration, and love. It can also serve as a gentle introduction to the Holocaust for readers aged 4-8. About the…
Read MoreBreak Cards – Free Download
Over on my newsletter Creativi-Tea Time and on the In Kinship Podcast, I shared about my work routine and about the break cards that I use during workdays. Here’s a copy you can download and print – with some blank cards to fill in your own custom break activities. (These are for individual, personal use…
Read MoreCozyDreams – Winter Acorn
Podcast Interview – Writers With Wrinkles
I had fun chatting about writing and illustrating picture books with Beth and Lisa on their podcast ‘Writers With Wrinkles’ (episode 8), and also getting to respond to a hilarious story that Lisa told in episode 4 about her crying at me at a conference. To listen, visit: https://writerswithwrinkles.buzzsprout.com/1992165/11804730-writers-with-wrinkles-ep-8-author-illustrator-eliza-wheeler
Read MoreStoryland Podcast Interview
I had the loveliest conversation with Gina on the Storyland Podcast, a Chinese podcast of conversations with children’s book authors and illustrators around the world. I so appreciated the thoughtful questions she posed about all the details of creating my book, HOME IN THE WOODS. APPLE PODCASTS LINK: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eliza-wheeler-1000578242396 PLAYER FM LINK: https://player.fm/series/3394128/341112052 NEWS ARTICLE…
Read MoreFor Picture Book Art Creation, Writing is the First Action
When I create art for a book that’s written by another author, I don’t jump into sketching and drawing right away. Even for stories I haven’t written, the process still begins, for me, with writing. When I’ve taken on a manuscript to illustrate, the first thing I do is print it out, get in a…
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