Erick Ingraham

Interview

by Mary Clare Heffernan

An interview with Erick Ingraham as it appeared in an article in the New Hampshire Times, February 1986

Q............. How do you connect with the child in yourself when you're working on a children's book?
There has to be a natural flow that pours out after I read a manuscript. I can tell right away on the second reading if it's going to work. I can't force that excitement. Once I find a manuscript I like, I look at it as a child would. I don't use adult skills to start the book. I get my ideas in very, very sketchy form, much like doodles. [See the School Talk Sketchbooks] After I get that on paper, I start looking more to the technical aspects. The more time I spend on it, the less childlike perspective I put on it. But I never lose that early aspect because I've already thought it all out in a childlike way.
Q.......... You have a degree in Fine Arts. Do you think formal training is necessary for an artist?
I think schooling is definitely the way to go. You're required to fill assignments you'd never think of on your own. There's a lot of technical as well as aesthetic experiences you have to brush up against. And you're always excited by the different kinds of artwork the other students are doing. You're not locked into your own world. It's very necessary to become well founded before you become specific.
Q......... Do you emulate any other artists?
I feel influenced by some, like Arthur Rackham and Maxfield Parrish. I like the moods Wyeth sets and the techniques he uses, but I'm not crazy about his subjects. I take bits and pieces from everything I see, whether it's an oil painting in a restaurant or a poster on the subway. I take what I like and reject the rest.
Q .......What do you think is the most important element in a piece of art?
I don't think any art work is worth its salt unless it's significant in meaning. There usually has to be some sort of story going on within the illustration. There should be enough going on so the viewer can get their own story if they don't know the true one. It should give them enough to think about for five minutes. The hidden or not so obvious things will bring you back to look at a work over and over again. A sort of sub-plot.
Detail is important. I use essential detail first, to give the structure, and then if it doesn't clutter the composition, I'll add to support the theme. The best illustrations have just enough detail. They give the illusion.
Q...... Does it matter where you work?
I feel a bit isolated in New Hampshire. Yet if I were living in Boston or New York, I might feel like one of the masses. When I'm doing children's books, I'm glad I'm isolated. I share a studio with two other artists which is nice. I do need contact with other artists to know there's someone else out there.
As far as setting goes, a nice atmosphere helps but it's not necessary. I've worked in my bedroom and I did Hot-Air Henry , a wonderfully expansive work - in my grandmother's basement.
Q...... Why do some people survive at the pursuit of art when most do not?
The people who really make a lot of money in art are so few that you wonder if it's a certain amount of luck or just good promotion that makes the success. Then there are people like myself who get by. In the 13 years I've been illustrating, I've never had to have another type of job, never had to sweep floors. Possibly because I have a diversified style and can fill various commercial as well as fine art projects.
It really comes down to two things. You're either the kind of person who knows how to make money or you're not. You could be someone who paints walls really well but can't make a living at it.
I hear often that the ultimate job is getting paid for what you love doing. You have to decide ahead of time, before it gets critical, that it's far and above all other jobs. Otherwise it's going to be drudgery. You put up with little pay for a while and eventually you'll be paid the proper amount.
Q...........How did you break into the field of book illustration? Did you walk cold into publishing companies in New York?
It wasn't too cold. I'd shown my portfolio to an editor at Scribners right after I graduated from Kutztown State University in Pennsylvania. He didn't use me then, but I snagged a job with Organic Gardening magazine's book division in Pennsylvania and got some real books under my belt. I went back to New York two years later and the editor from Scribners had moved to MacMillan. He remembered my portfolio and offered me an adolescent textbook. It was a great stepping stone.
Q.......Do you do much commercial work?
I have to in order to survive while I'm doing a children's book. I've done covers and illustrations for some Peterborough-based computer magazines and some interior work for Yankee magazine. I'm working on the fourth menu cover for the Bedford Village Inn. I actually prefer local work because it's easier getting roughs approved and work delivered. But I call commercial art working. Doing my children's book is my art.