(Newswire.net — May 12, 2015) Singapore, Singapore — Eric Rohmann has a knack for understanding and relating to kids. He writes books that he wants to read but that haven’t yet been created for his audience, who he describes as, “the best” given their curiosity, enthusiasm, impulsiveness, generosity, and pleasure in simple things. Rohmann finds inspiration from his own childhood and his love for art.
As a child Rohmann admits he wasn’t a big reader, but he loved to draw, and at some point he began to make pictures “that told stories.” According to him, drawing encourages you to, “look deliberately and carefully… that’s what drawing is, deep, careful, attentive seeing.” His love of drawing encouraged his imagination and curiosity about what was around him and he describes drawing as, “a better way of understanding the world around me.” Drawing gave him a reason to notice details he might have otherwise looked past.
Rohmann used his surroundings for inspiration — his family, pets, and dinosaurs. His early drawings weren’t simply pictures, they told stories. As Rohmann got older he developed his talent for drawing by copying other artists. Comic books were a favorite source of inspiration. He lists Peanuts, Krazy Kats, and DC Comics among his favorites, with his love for comics eventually leading him to explore fantasy novels and chapter books.
The author credits these books with showing him how powerful the combination of pictures and words can be, opening up another world of inspiration. Among his favorite authors Rohmann lists; Edgar Rice Burroughs(he’s read all 24 Tarzan novels), Robert Howard, Susan Cooper, and Jules Verne. In high school he began to write stories with pictures and “long illustrated letters” to his friends. He continued to pursue this into college where he created an illustrated newsletter.
After college graduation, Rohmann had the opportunity to teach kids at a summer arts school. This was his first encounter with what would become the audience for his books and he enjoyed their interest and enjoyment for stories and pictures. It was this experience that inspired his first book, Time Flies, which received a Caldecott honor award. Rohmann’s vision and experiences as he grew have been a key influence in his work, and he thinks that most kids see stories the way he did as a child, a sequence of images. His creative process still begins with a drawing that eventually becomes a completed book.
Says Rohmann of his approach, “My favorite part of the bookmaking process is the beginning: exploring, doodling, daydreaming, and discovering. This is when ideas come alive, when thoughts are put to paper and made tangible.” Starting with drawings, Rohmann goes between adding words and more images until the story starts to take shape. From there he will see the project through to completion as a finished book with his publisher Simon and Schuster.
Rohmann is an example of how looking at the world around you and noticing the details in the simplest of things can be the best source of inspiration. Drawing from his own experiences growing up has led him to create award-winning books that his audience loves. Rohmann’s successful career is proof that sometimes the best things in life are those we take for granted on a daily basis; we just have to take time to notice the details.
Eric Rohmann was a presenter at the iCreate Conference hosted at Singapore American School and worked with K-5 students in art classes as part of the school’s Illustrator-In-Residence program. If you would like to learn more about Rohmann and his work, visit his website.
Image & quotes from Ericrohmann.com
About Singapore American School
Singapore American School (SAS) is an independent, non-profit, coeducational, college preparatory day school offering an American curriculum with an international perspective for students in preschool through grade 12. SAS has the largest Advanced Placement program outside of the United States, is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in the U.S., and offers the American High School Diploma at the senior level. Established in 1956, the school primarily serves the American and international expatriate communities of Singapore.