Illustrator Spotlight: Steph Laberis

Three Troupe 21 members are authors and illustrators - Anne Appert, Leah Hong and Neesha Hudson. You’ve seen their incredible art on our website and social accounts, including this graphic for new picture book T. REXES CAN’T TIE THEIR SHOES!

We also want to introduce you to the illustrators of the books by our other Troupe authors, through our Illustrator Spotlight feature!

This week, we’re featuring Steph Laberis, illustrator of T. REXES CAN’T TIE THEIR SHOES, the debut picture book of Troupe member Anna Lazowski (Doubleday Books for Young Readers), which published June 29, 2021.

Steph Laberis is a character designer and illustrator specializing in animation and children’s publishing. Her work is known for its sense of whimsy, humor and expressive (usually animal!) characters.

Steph’s animation highlights include character and prop designer on Disney’s Puppy Dog Pals (Seasons 4 & 5), visual development with DreamWorksTV on the Netflix animated series Rhyme Time Town, and character designer on Mass Animation’s feature animation Blazing Samurai. Other clients include Nick Jr, Sesame Workshop, Spin Master and Hasbro on various animated TV pilots and series. Her publishing highlights include illustrator of the Grumpy Cat Little Golden Book series, as well as more than 40 picture books to date. Publishers include Penguin Random House, Simon and Schuster, Henry Holt and HarperCollins.

Want to know more about Steph and how she approached illustrating T. REXES CAN’T TIE THEIR SHOES? You’re in luck! Steph has stopped by the Troupe Tales blog for an interview to share exactly that. Before you dance down to the interview below, give a big round of applause to fantastic illustrator Steph Laberis!

Illustrator Spotlight

STEPH LABERIS

What drew you to this manuscript?

Anna’s sense of humor! I loved that her writing was so witty & concise; the short statements for each animal & their task at hand were enough to give me a solid foundation for my illustrations, while allowing me a lot of freedom to interpret. I could feel a chemistry in our respective writing & drawing styles from the very beginning.

What qualities of character and/or concept did you want to convey in the cover?

I wanted the cover to be bright, eye-catching but also funny! The book is about the absurdity & futility of animals trying to complete tasks that they are not physically built for (while having fun doing it of course!) , so I thought the T-rex, with his stubby little arms, would be a great example of that.

How did the text/story influence your color choices when creating the illustrations?

Other than the story defining the species of animals I would be working with, I didn’t rely on the text for color selection. I tried to choose colors that complimented the subject of each page, to make them pop. I had a lot of freedom with this particular book, so I mostly just went with my gut & enjoyed the ride!

What was the hardest part to illustrate?

The final spread in the book featuring literally every single animal for sure. Not just to compose from an artistic standpoint, but I had to really think about how these animals would interact with one another & how some animals might be able to do some of the other animal’s tasks. I wanted everyone to sort of innovate & work together to get at least a few things accomplished!

Do you have a favorite spread or illustration?

I have two! The bee on the bicycle & the narwhal with their nachos. There’s something very funny to me about both scenarios, & also in the simplicity of those illustrations. The narwhal in particular was fun because I had to really sit & think how a narwhal would even attempt to eat nachos, given their anatomy. It made sense to make the tusk the focus of the joke, because that’s a defining feature of narwhals, so I just went from there.

What was the process like for illustrating this book? What medium did you use to create the illustrations?

I do everything digitally, using Photoshop & drawing directly onto my Cintiq (which is a digital display). I’m very comfortable & speedy with the process, & working digitally also makes revisions & adjustments so much easier than working with traditional paints. Typically I do a sketch, which is more like a painting in grayscale, then once the roughs are approved I move straight into color. Sometimes I do color keys for a book, which is where I decide how the palette shifts throughout the story, but in this case I did not, since there wasn’t exactly a story arc.