Flotsam Logs

What is FLOTSAM? Those fish seem to be in on something.

David answers. (mp3 file/2m54s)
"FLOTSAM started as an idea with many, many permutations before it ended up in the form that it's in. There was always the idea that it would begin with something found on the beach. In a bigger sense the idea that I was playing with was some kind of secret, some kind of bond that stretched between kids through time and across distance. . . ." (listen to the rest)

What sparked the idea for FLOTSAM?

David answers. (mp3 file/1m28s)
"I went to the New Jersey shore every summer with my family, and there's just some incredible pull to the ocean, to staring out at the waves. . . . I often get letters from people saying 'I know what the fish are all about.'" (listen to the rest)

How did you choose the pictures in FLOTSAM?

David answers. (mp3 file/2m08s)
"I went through a lot of different ideas for what those pictures could be. Some I discarded, and some were, well, too strange. I came around to realising this would probably be the kind of camera that took eight shots to a roll of film . . . and so as I went along and I had seven, I was thinking about what that eighth one would be." (listen to the rest)

How long does it take to make a picture book?

David answers. (mp3 file/2m44s)
"After I finished The Three Pigs I relatively quickly brought in a dummy for a book called Greetings, about a spaceship full of little aliens. That kinda went 'round and around and around until I realised it wasn't going to happen. . . . So I began to play around with some other ideas. I'm sure I spent over a year working on Greetings and then I kind of jumped around between a variety, several other ideas working with fish." (listen to the rest)

What are the challenges of telling a story without words? How does working with text change the way you illustrate, if at all?

David answers. (mp3 file/1m15s)

Was there anything else, other than an illustrator and storyteller, you wanted to be when you grew up?

David answers. (mp3 file/2m23s)

How old were you when you first made a work of art that made you proud and happy to be an artist?

David answers. (mp3 file/2m36s)

Surrealism is a type of art that plays with the sense of scale and reality. Can you say a bit more about what makes an illustration "surreal"?

David answers. (mp3 file/40s)

What artists inspire you?

David answers. (mp3 file/1m11s)

What times of day do you work?

David answers. (mp3 file/1m11s)

Does being a dad give you a different way of looking at childhood and creating stories for kids? (And kids as in-house quality control.)

David answers. (mp3 file/1m11s)
"The stories I come up with are stories I would want to hear. . . . They're coming out of places that I thought about or dreamed about when I was a kid." (listen to the rest)

Do you hear from readers by regular mail and e-mail? What are some of the more interesting letters or gifts you've received?

David answers. (mp3 file/49s)
"Recently I got an amazing big package of stuff. . . ." (listen to the rest)

What can we look forward to after FLOTSAM?

David answers. (mp3 file/43s)
"I think I only have one book that the contract I signed up, that the story that I have a contract for is actually the story that came out at the end of that time. These things have a way of changing." (listen to the rest)