Digging into digital illustration

The guy who has been illustrating books for kids for years is set to teach the kids themselves how to do it themselves.

“I’ve done workshops from kindergarten and play school all the way up to college,” explained Edmonton area digital illustrator Mike Boldt, in advance of hosting his special Teen Tech Week Event at the St. Albert Public Library.

“I tailor my presentation to the audience. I mean little kids aren’t as interested in the digital side of it. They think it’s neat but they’re also a lot more accustomed to it. It doesn’t seem so ‘out there.’ ”

For more than 15 years, Boldt has been illustrating almost exclusively for kids, from speech therapy products, flashcards, and jigsaw puzzles, to an extended career of illustrating children’s books, including popup books for a local publisher.

Eight years ago, he struck out on his own to pursue his own career in publishing, with his first title, The Gophers in Farmer Burrows’ Field, appearing in 2009.

“In all that time, I’ve been able to do some other stuff too but my primary medium is digital, even right from the beginning, it was. It’s neat! Some people still frown on it but nowadays, it’s probably 50/50 in picture books.”

He’s worked for some of the biggest companies in the book biz. There are names like HarperCollins, Random House, Bloomsbury, Scholastic Canada, Fisher-Price/Mattel, Owl Magazine, Design+ Communication, and numerous others on his rĂ©sumĂ©. People can even check out a few titles that he has illustrated and some that he has written himself within the library’s own catalogue.

Recently, he’s sold some books to Simon and Schuster, something he’s rather excited about. Look for new Boldt coming out next summer, he announced, with another set to follow the year after.

While he has done these presentations many times before, this will be his first stop ever at the St. Albert Public Library, although he did have some art on the wall last year. Interestingly, he should be a familiar face to patrons of the St. Albert Farmers’ Market, however, as he has previously sold his wares in booths here in years past.

“You guys have a really great farmers’ market,” he said. “Back when I self-published, that was a good place for me to come and sell, especially a farming book at the farmers’ market.”

Mostly, he visits schools to do these talks. He’s well prepared to talk, maybe even show some videos from his YouTube or Vimeo channels to really power through some condensed info before getting into some nitty-gritty details of what the work is like. He’s prepared to talk to novices through to more advanced illustrators in the audience.

“Some of them might have already a lot of the tools … maybe some of the software programs available to them. That way, I can show them a bit how to use them. If they bring them, that’s fine. I’ll try to walk them through using them right there on the spot. The library can’t provide the same tools that I use for everyone.”

His presentation will feature a bit of a demonstration of some of the different types of digital art that exists, including vector-base and bitmap-based illustrations and the programs that are used for each.

“Mike's work is dynamic and fun, and I was surprised to learn that digital tools play an important role in his creative process. I think teens (and adults) who are interested in drawing will be amazed at the ways in which today's artists can express their creativity using illustration software. Some teens may even find inspiration for becoming a professional illustrator or graphic designer,” suggested Alison Watson, teen services co-ordinator at the library.

People can find the link and more information about him on his website at www.mikeboldt.ca.