Time for another studio tour! To celebrate the release of Words Matter by Anita Fitch Pazner, we chatted with illustrator Sophie Casson about how she brought the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, student activists who protested the Nazis in Germany during World War II, to life. 

What are your ideal working conditions?  Do you listen to music, or do you need silence to work? Do you work in daylight, or are you a night owl?

I’ve always been a day person. I work in a shared studio with eight to ten other artists, with some proximity but some walls as well. We all agree on having a relatively quiet space to work in, which is what I need. During the sketching period, I particularly need silence. During the final art period, I have to decide on what is going to be in the oil transfer and what is going to be in pencil — in silence. I can listen to music and podcasts only when all important decisions are made and when I am actively applying colour. I’m easily overstimulated so I try to balance how much sound I can have in my ears in a day!

Describe your creative process. How do you begin? What tools do you use?

I usually read the manuscript at least once before accepting the project. I reread it a few times, and just let it sit with me without thinking too much about it, so it makes its way inside of me. For this story about Hans and Sophie Scholl, I watched a couple of excellent films as well. Weeks go by, and when it’s time to start drawing, I work on 2" x 3" thumbnails where I draw all possible ideas that come to mind with the suggested layout. In a historical story like this one, I do a lot of research online for portraits, photos, uniforms. I try to be precise and find specific information, like habits people had at the time and cultural customs, to create an accurate atmosphere. Groundwood and Anita Fitch Pazner also sent visual research material.

I’ll work on the first sketches for a few weeks, and then select the ones I feel work well, enlarge them about 200%, and will then create a pdf with comments explaining my choices and vision to send along to the editor. The feedback process then starts: some layouts move around, I create new images, rethink certain things until everyone (editor, author and I) feel we’ve reached the stage where I can move to the colour art.

Working on the colour art is like a new adventure every time. I want to find just the right medium or palette that works for the story. The illustrations for Words Matter are monotypes created with oil pastel (Sennelier) transfers to which I added colour pencil (Prismacolor and Caran d’Ache). I worked the colour pencil in layers using Fabriano drawing paper which has a light texture. I liked how the contrast between the oil pastel and colour pencil created a focus on the central action of the page, the softness of the colour pencil working well for a blurry background effect. I sent a couple images of colour art to show  the editor, Emma Sakamoto, the visual direction I was taking. Thankfully, the team responded enthusiastically. I then launched into four months of colour art. I sometimes need two or three tries for the oil pastel transfer because the result varies depending on how I apply the oil pastel, and the colours have different textures that affect how it transfers. It’s that accidental effect with this technique that I feel creates the charm of this work. In my process I look for the less controllable approach that keeps me surprised as I’m creating, which is what I love about all analog printing techniques, like etching or linocut for example.

For the final art that will go to print, I scan and clean the images in Photoshop, and sometimes combine two monotypes if, for example, I don’t have the time — or energy anymore! — to recreate a new version. Sometimes some elements work so well on one print that I combine two elements that work well on a second print, like for the cover of the book.

What are your favourite things in your workspace?

I’ve been sharing a studio in a renovated industrial building for about two years. The space is mostly practical and set up with only a few knickknacks. I don’t enjoy too much clutter as my space tends to get covered in paper which is enough to keep up with!

My inspirational books

I only keep a few at the studio, most are at home. The one in the front is La cage de tiredelleby Benedicte Guettier published by Casterman — a brilliant French author-illustrator. I love it because the story is so simple and universal: a bird finds the door to its cage is open, but is scared of what possibilities this gives it. It takes the risk of flying off anyway.

A tiny little ceramic monkey face — my zodiac animal — that I recently brought back as a souvenir from Japan, bought in a temple.

My understanding is that I could have tied it up (it had a little string attached to it) on the temple grounds with many others, accompanied with a prayer, as an offering. I just liked its great graphic simplicity.

My printing trolley.

Last year I started a new printing adventure that I’m really excited about. In the trolley, I’ve got everything I need to scoot over to the press I rent from my neighbouring bookbinder and print!

My pastel box 

Mostly Sennelier because of the wonderful buttery texture, but also some cheap brands in the dry pastels. I love adding new colours in there … very addictive. The box is cheap, but delights me anyways.

My “beast” of drawers

I bought these last year because printing materials were taking over my studio. The move was epic and it was a organizing mini-revolution to have these in my life. 

A wood fire truck

I found this toy at the Salvation Army twenty years ago and have kept it as a box for bits of desk tools. I just love that it made children happy and has traces of its past life. A retired toy of sorts.

The little man

I love outsider art. This little guy was created by a charming, retired neighbour from the chalet we go to, who occasionally sells his stuff on the side of the road in the country. I love how the colour is just approximately applied … and the tiny feather! It reminds me about how loose you need or can be inside your creative world.

Learn more about Words Matter.