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Levey Day School
A Community Jewish Day School
Kevin Hawkes’s Life as an Artist
By Charlotte Simpson Eisenberg
Kevin Hawkes is a well-known illustrator of children’s
books. You might have seen his illustrations in The
Library Lion, By the Light of the Halloween Moon, My Sister
Ate One Hare, Weslandia, and other titles that are all
available in libraries and bookstores. I recently had
a chance to speak with him and he told me about his
job as an illustrator. Some of the things I learned from him
follow:
Mr. Hawkes told me that he was interested in art through his childhood,
especially when he could get his hands involved in things such as
sculpture, paper maché, and woodcarving. Mr. Hawkes said that when
he was 10 his mother arranged private oil painting lessons for him, but
other than that his art instruction took place at school.
Mr. Hawkes said he got his start as an illustrator at a time he was
working in a bookstore in Boston. A sales representative for a
publisher came to sell books and discovered his artwork. He took it
and showed it around and an editor invited Mr. Hawkes to a meeting in
New York. She was intrigued by his artwork, but couldn’t find a book to
suit it. While he was in New York, Mr. Hawkes took advantage of it and
showed his artwork around to other publishers. Soon after one of the
other publishers called Mr. Hawkes and asked him to come back to
New York. He agreed and Susan Pierce, an editor at Lothrop, Lee and
Shepherd, offered to be his publisher, and he agreed.
Once Mr. Hawkes gets a book to illustrate, first he reads the book very
carefully, and then he starts doing some sketches. Then he does
pictures for the whole book and sends them to the editor for
comments. Once he has received comments from the editor and
author, he does more sketches and tries to incorporate what they said.
Then he starts painting. When he has painted all the pictures, he
sends them back to the editor, and a few months later he gets a book.
Before he sends the paintings to the editor, Mr. Hawkes has Art Review
Day for his family, which comes when he thinks he is done with the
book, and his family tells him what they think needs more work. It puts
him in a grumpy mood, but he says that after he thinks about it he
usually agrees that they are right.
Most often Mr. Hawkes doesn’t get to talk to the author he is illustrating
for. Usually the editor carries messages between them to make sure
they don’t get into a fight. Sometimes he will talk to them once the book
is done, and he says that now he is friends with some of the authors.
Mr. Hawkes said that he always has good experiences with authors,
but he’s had art directors and editors who don’t understand what he is
doing. A couple of times he’s had a book that he was asked to
illustrate that he didn’t want to illustrate, so he just politely said no.
When he does say yes, Mr. Hawkes said that he picks the scenes that
he imagines most in his head and illustrates them, but if the editor has
a scene that he or she thinks could really use an illustration, the editor
might ask him to illustrate it. Mr. Hawkes said that illustrating a book
can take about three months for pen and ink drawings and about six
months for complex paintings.
Mr. Hawkes doesn’t like to use models, but sometimes he thinks of
people he knows when he is drawing. When he draws he distorts
faces and he thinks that people would be offended if he used them as
a model. The only time he used a model was for By the Light of the
Halloween Moon. The feet dangling down over the dock happen to be
modeled after his next door neighbor at the time: Kip Quimby’s feet
dangling over his porch.
Mr. Hawkes said that by now he is a pretty well-known children’s book
illustrator, and if an editor wanted to contact him to illustrate a book,
they could do it through his website, by mail, or literally send him the
book in the mail.
Mr. Hawkes has many favorite artists, such as Robert Lawson, who did
black and white illustrations, Windsor McKay, who did a comic strip
called Little Nemo in the early 1900s, and modern illustrators William
Joyce and P.J. Lynch.
His advice for kids who want to be artists is to try a lot of new things
and don’t get stuck drawing the same picture over and over, to try to find
someone who can teach you about art and pick their brain, and to look
at a lot of art. He said that looking at other art has always inspired him
and made him want to draw more and better.
By Charlotte Simpson Eisenberg
Kevin Hawkes is a well-known illustrator of children’s
books. You might have seen his illustrations in The
Library Lion, By the Light of the Halloween Moon, My Sister
Ate One Hare, Weslandia, and other titles that are all
available in libraries and bookstores. I recently had
a chance to speak with him and he told me about his
job as an illustrator. Some of the things I learned from him
follow:
Mr. Hawkes told me that he was interested in art through his childhood,
especially when he could get his hands involved in things such as
sculpture, paper maché, and woodcarving. Mr. Hawkes said that when
he was 10 his mother arranged private oil painting lessons for him, but
other than that his art instruction took place at school.
Mr. Hawkes said he got his start as an illustrator at a time he was
working in a bookstore in Boston. A sales representative for a
publisher came to sell books and discovered his artwork. He took it
and showed it around and an editor invited Mr. Hawkes to a meeting in
New York. She was intrigued by his artwork, but couldn’t find a book to
suit it. While he was in New York, Mr. Hawkes took advantage of it and
showed his artwork around to other publishers. Soon after one of the
other publishers called Mr. Hawkes and asked him to come back to
New York. He agreed and Susan Pierce, an editor at Lothrop, Lee and
Shepherd, offered to be his publisher, and he agreed.
Once Mr. Hawkes gets a book to illustrate, first he reads the book very
carefully, and then he starts doing some sketches. Then he does
pictures for the whole book and sends them to the editor for
comments. Once he has received comments from the editor and
author, he does more sketches and tries to incorporate what they said.
Then he starts painting. When he has painted all the pictures, he
sends them back to the editor, and a few months later he gets a book.
Before he sends the paintings to the editor, Mr. Hawkes has Art Review
Day for his family, which comes when he thinks he is done with the
book, and his family tells him what they think needs more work. It puts
him in a grumpy mood, but he says that after he thinks about it he
usually agrees that they are right.
Most often Mr. Hawkes doesn’t get to talk to the author he is illustrating
for. Usually the editor carries messages between them to make sure
they don’t get into a fight. Sometimes he will talk to them once the book
is done, and he says that now he is friends with some of the authors.
Mr. Hawkes said that he always has good experiences with authors,
but he’s had art directors and editors who don’t understand what he is
doing. A couple of times he’s had a book that he was asked to
illustrate that he didn’t want to illustrate, so he just politely said no.
When he does say yes, Mr. Hawkes said that he picks the scenes that
he imagines most in his head and illustrates them, but if the editor has
a scene that he or she thinks could really use an illustration, the editor
might ask him to illustrate it. Mr. Hawkes said that illustrating a book
can take about three months for pen and ink drawings and about six
months for complex paintings.
Mr. Hawkes doesn’t like to use models, but sometimes he thinks of
people he knows when he is drawing. When he draws he distorts
faces and he thinks that people would be offended if he used them as
a model. The only time he used a model was for By the Light of the
Halloween Moon. The feet dangling down over the dock happen to be
modeled after his next door neighbor at the time: Kip Quimby’s feet
dangling over his porch.
Mr. Hawkes said that by now he is a pretty well-known children’s book
illustrator, and if an editor wanted to contact him to illustrate a book,
they could do it through his website, by mail, or literally send him the
book in the mail.
Mr. Hawkes has many favorite artists, such as Robert Lawson, who did
black and white illustrations, Windsor McKay, who did a comic strip
called Little Nemo in the early 1900s, and modern illustrators William
Joyce and P.J. Lynch.
His advice for kids who want to be artists is to try a lot of new things
and don’t get stuck drawing the same picture over and over, to try to find
someone who can teach you about art and pick their brain, and to look
at a lot of art. He said that looking at other art has always inspired him
and made him want to draw more and better.
Kevin Hawkes
