Story Sculpting by Jeff Jantz

Growing up I always loved to draw and build things. I would sculpt dinosaurs and monsters from clay and cut apart my toys, carve, glue, and paint them until they became creations of my own. Elaborate backstories and characteristics would evolve from my creations. I would tell these stories to whomever would listen.

Now, I create my illustrations for my books using a technique I call Illustrative Sculpture. This is very similar to the techniques used in stop motion animation, just without the animation. As one might imagine, it is very time consuming and labor intensive. This may not be the most efficient way to create an illustration. For me, it beats sitting in front of a computer or a drawing table for days on-end..

A big part of the reason I started using the Illustrative Sculpture technique was something I heard at an SCBWI workshop I attended years ago. The great Matt Faulkner shared briefly with us how he often used sculpting as a form of character development. He said it was not only a great way to come up with fresh new characters but it also served as a great reference for drawing your characters from different angles. He mentioned it also helps with continuity from one page to the next.

I was still unpublished at this time and searching for my unique illustration style. I implemented that idea and began sculpting more and more as part of my process. Sometimes, it would be simple things; like a snake I wanted to draw for a dummy book I was working on. You would think a snake would be fairly simple to draw but I was going for a dramatic angle and the snake needed to appear to be close to the viewer on one part of the page and far away in another.  After several attempts and several wasted sheets of paper, I pulled out the modeling clay, rolled out a snake, arranged it the way I imagined it and snapped a photo. CLICK! With a reference, I was easily able to draw the illustration I could see in my imagination but couldn't seem to get on paper.

I also find sculpting as a form of character development to be very helpful. Most illustrators have had the experience of laying down dozens of sketches trying figure out what a character that's sneaking around in their imagination would look like. I still use a good old fashioned pencil and paper to sketch out initial ideas but I often find myself in a rut or with just a vague two dimensional understanding of the character. When I “sketch” with clay, the character starts to literally jump off the page. The funny thing is, during this process the character becomes more three dimensional in the figurative sense as well. As I’m sculpting, backstories, character traits, motivations and even feelings start to feel visceral as I forge an imaginary being in my hands.

I met with Matt Faulkner again a year or so after that workshop for a portfolio critique. I shared with him a couple of sculptures I had created.
“Maybe THESE are your illustrations,” Matt said.

At the time I brushed the idea off, but it stuck with me. Eventually it led me to where I am now in my artistic journey. I take the sculpting aspect of my illustration process to the extreme and create my work using not only clay, but wire, foil, metal, wood, repurposed objects, and even the occasional custom 3D printed items.

I don't recommend this process for everyone, but I do think other illustrators and perhaps even writers could benefit from pinching and pulling a lump of clay in an effort to see a story from a new perspective and develop a character that is trying to emerge from the depths of the imagination.



Learn more about the illustrations Jeff builds:

• Jantzer Studios website

• Jantzer Studios Facebook page

• The Jantzer Studios YouTube channel

Coming up on the Mitten blog: Nina Goebel has been busy coordinating with our new Featured Illustrator. Come back on Friday to read the Illustrator Interview and see our new summer blog banner!

Did you see our first Book Birthday celebration? PAL Coordinator Jodi McKay is organizing this new, ongoing section of our blog. Please email Jodi if you have a new book coming out this year.

And it's almost time for another round of Hugs and Hurrahs! We want to trumpet your success. Please send your writing/illustrating/publishing good news to Patti Richards by July 10th to be included.

Cheers!
Kristin Lenz