Caroline Magerl

What's this illustration for?



This illustration is titled 'Fiona and Minou'. It is part of my pile of ideas and drawings for stories I have yet to finish writing.



Do you have to wait for a flash of inspiration - how do you start?



Can't wait! Initial enthusiasm carries you through most times, and also a good lie down on the couch.



How did you get your start as an illustrator?



I started out as a cartoonist, something I still enjoy doing. There was work in educational publishing, but eventually I got the job of illustrating Libby Hathorn's picture book, Grandma's Shoes.



Who or what has influenced your work?



The books my Gran sent from East Germany when I was small had a great effect on me. The illustrators were German or Russian, and the mood evoked in the books were unlike anything else I had seen. I still have those books, and still buy picture books now.



What's your favourite media for creating pictures?



I love to fool around with different things, but watercolour and pen and ink are still my favourite.



Do you experience illustrator's block - if so, what do you do about it?



Again, enthusiasm, finding a way to relate is my rescue if I experience doubt or trouble of any sort. I have had times when the work seems not to flow, but it isn't the work, it is peripheral anxiety. Life, basically.



What's the worst thing about being a freelancer?



The worst thing about doing this work has been financial uncertainty, but as I have survived thus far, I probably should not gripe about that anymore. No other gripes.



And the best?



The best thing is the fun of doing the work, the people you meet and the life it gives you. I have travelled to the UK and the States all on the pretext that it is for work. As soon as I get an email from Somewhere Else I get a bubble over my head with a picture of me in a plane.



What are you working on at the moment?



I am working on a picture for the ABC Book of Christmas at the moment, among other things. I have enjoyed the process of learning printmaking recently, and paint most of the year.



Where can we see more of your work?



More work can be seen on www.cmagerl.com.au as well as in the galleries listed on the site.