What if "Sam I Am" kept kosher? A David Hillman interview

As a fan, I was fortunate to meet David Hillman earlier this year in New York City where we connected over children’s books and art.

David is multi-talented, and while his picture book, Berkley, A Nose Tale, held front and center space on my home library shelf, I also realized very quickly that this author/illustrator was passionate and successful in many other artistic areas. David’s had success with comic books, creating illustrations for games, licensing and toy products, as well as setting up storyboards. Plus, he’s happy to accommodate author/illustrator visits.

I’ve found that regarding school visits a popular question students ask is, what comes first? Do you write the story or work on the illustrations first?

David: “The story comes first. I think about the plot, beginning, middle and end. Then I’ll start roughing out the beats on note cards. Once I’ve fleshed out the story, I’ll start writing dialogue and then thumbnail the illustrations.”

What would be your writing/illustrating vulnerability? “The internet - waaayyy too distracting! When I want to get any writing done, I usually go to a coffee shop or the library. And I like to keep a 9-5 work schedule, unless I’ve got a deadline.”

In your picture book the dog has a memorable name –Berkley, one that’s fun, unique and easy for kids to pronounce. How did you come up with it?

“Well, Berkley had another name that I had in my head for years, but when I started to go forward with the book, I did some research, and discovered that the name I considered originally was in use in a few other dog-themed picture books, so I had to come up with another name. It took a while, but in the end the name Berkley was the only one that worked for me!”

Have a favorite breed of dog?
“I love Bulldogs, and Basset hounds are number two.”

What's Berkley's favorite picture book? What's yours? “Berkley likes Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Graham. My fave is The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by Bill Joyce.”

As an artist, what would you say is the hardest scene to illustrate? “Big crowds! Hate doing them! You have to be carful, too much detail and it looks like mud, not enough detail and it just dots on paper.”

If you were stranded on a desert island for a year with only two art-oriented tools and no computer or computer use, you would choose…? “Paper and a pencil. You can’t really make a drawing without them.”

So, on this island, given the choice of creating drawings in the sand or whittling with wood, which would you do? “Whittle wood! It lasts longer.”

What's your most successful project to date? “Monetarily, when I was creating art assets for a company that manufactured slot machines for casinos worldwide. But personally, my debut picture book, Berkley, a Nose Tail.”

From your point of view, what makes a good picture book? “For me it’s the illustrations first, that’s the first thing that catches my eye.”

If I asked you to sketch up either the Mad Hatter or the Hooka Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, which would you do? “The Mad Hatter, ‘cause come on - it’s the Mad Hatter!” Ha, so true!

If Dr. Seuss were alive today and you met him, what would you ask? “What if Sam I Am kept kosher, would you have written Green Eggs and Tomatoes?”

If technology could bring just about anything to us in the world of art and illustration in the coming years, what would you love to see or imagine would be cool if it were invented? “I’d love to see a 16 inch I-Pad that works like a Macbook, so I can use my Adobe creative suite.”

Speaking of the coming years, please tell us about your present and future projects. “Well, currently I’m working on my second book in the Berkley series, as well as developing concepts for other books and series. Once they’re ready I’ll either send them out to agents and publishers or create an imprint of my own and publish them myself. I haven’t decided which yet.”

Ah, great decisions and wonderful opportunities coming up.

David is available for commission work and his website is: https://davidhillmanill.com

Can’t wait to see what trouble Berkley gets himself into next time!