Illustration creation keeps Kensington mom on track

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007

New motherhood can push some women off their career track. But for Kensington illustrator Vanessa Richardson, having her first child two and a half years ago helped refocus her attention on her lifelong passion for art.

One result is her illustration work for the new children’s book ‘‘The Mouse and the Grouse,” written by Gregory Franklin Huyette.

‘‘When I had my son, I realized my whole life was changing,” Richardson says. ‘‘I wanted to be happy for him, to have time for him, and to have some flexibility for him.”

Before her son was born, Richardson worked in television — which, she says, ‘‘was not flexible.”

She feels fortunate that her renewed focus on her art has worked out.

‘‘I worked day and night,” she adds. ‘‘There has been lots of lost sleep.”

The native of Colombia, South America, developed a passion for art when she was very young. She says she would draw ‘‘everywhere: on the cupboards in my Dad’s kitchen, on any wall I could find.”

Richardson says art was a constant for her after her parents separated and her family moved every year as she grew up. They came to the U.S. when she was in the first grade.

Some people told Richardson not to bother pursuing a career in art, but both her parents, as well as a few teachers along the way, encouraged her to keep at it.

Richardson studied illustration at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where she also interned with an illustrator’s agent. (She does not yet have her own agent, but plans to pursue that this year.)

Richardson and her husband, who she met in college, moved first to Miami, then to Maryland to be closer to family. Now she has lived in Montgomery County longer than anywhere else.

Although she has lived in this country most of her life, Richardson says her Colombian background plays a role in her art. She admires Colombian artist Fernando Botero for the round, warm figures he paints and the rich colors he uses.

Similarly, Richardson says she likes to ‘‘punch up the color” in her children’s illustrations to help capture children’s attention.

‘‘Books have a lot of competition from television,” she observes. ‘‘It’s important to keep kids interested in books.”

To help make her work more approachable for youngsters, Richardson says the artwork must be something children can connect with, something that evokes emotion.

‘‘I like focusing on the characters’ eyes,” she says. ‘‘They’re very important.”

‘‘The Mouse and the Grouse” is the first in a series of 10 books geared toward very young readers. The author has already written all of them, with titles including ‘‘The Cow and the Sow,” ‘‘The Snail and the Quail” and ‘‘The Calf and the Giraffe.”

Richardson has done character sketches for all the books and started illustrating the second. She admits the success of ‘‘The Mouse and the Grouse” will determine how the series moves forward.

How closely an author and illustrator collaborate ‘‘depends on the project,” Richardson explains. ‘‘A lot of times, with big projects, the writers and illustrators don’t even talk.” She adds that self-published writers tend to be very hands-on.

‘‘I like to have my own vision, but it’s also fun to interpret other people’s visions and put my own spin on it,” Richardson says.

While she prefers the work of illustrating children’s books, Richardson pursues other creative endeavors as well. She recently unveiled a line of children’s clothing that features her artwork on onesies and other garments. They are sold at craft fairs, on her Web site and Alchemy, a shop in Silver Spring. She also paints wall murals — those early days of painting on walls at home may have been a foreshadowing of things to come — and portraits of children.

Voiceover work for television keeps the artist busy, too. She studied theater in New York when she was young and continues to take voice training.

Having a family ‘‘definitely” influences her art, Richardson says. Her love for her son helped inspire the 40 illustrations she recently completed for a book on premature babies, she says, adding, ‘‘It’s interesting how things change when you become a mom.”

‘‘The Mouse and the Grouse” (Happy Books Press, Cal., $14.99) is available at www.vrillustration.com.