Janice, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re excited to hear more about your background, the inspiration behind your children’s books, and your experiences in bringing these wonderful books to life.

Can you share with us what inspired you to start writing and illustrating children’s books?

I am very inspired by Johnny Enlow. He wrote a book about the 7 Mountains of influence and how, as an Artist, I could be an influencer on my mountain of Arts and Entertainment. There is so much evil in our world today and I wanted to do my part by creating something positive on my little mountain of Arts. I also love children. I am a retired teacher of children with special needs, but prior to teaching, I was a freelance Commercial Artist for many years.

How has your Christian faith influenced your decision to create these books?

I love God, I love kids, and I have a passion for painting wildlife. It seemed like a good fit to illustrate and author a children’s book about God’s creation and the animal world.

Are there any particular Bible stories or teachings that have inspired the themes in your books?

No, nothing in particular, but my book has an appropriate and encouraging scripture reference on the opposite pages of each featured animal. I do especially love the Psalms though, and may use them more in my next book.

What was your experience like illustrating your own book? Do you have any formal training in art or illustration?

I have a degree in Commercial Art from 1976. I have been painting, studying, and improving my painting for over 50 years. I studied under a few well known artists when I was young also.

Can you walk us through your creative process when you begin illustrating a new book?

I research each animal I want to feature in my books. Right now I am working on animals of the desert which will be featured in the second book in my series of “In God’s Creation, Animals of the…”. I start by doing tons of research on the animals I want to feature.

I use a variety of references: on site observation, my own photos, photos from various sites and photos from several photographers who allow me to use their photos. I use several reference photos of the animal to catch different poses and features. My style is to use colorful creative backgrounds and then use a lot of detail in the featured animal. I love to paint fur with very, very tiny brushes of different kinds.

How do you decide on the visual style and color palette for each of your books?

It depends on the landscape in the scene. For my forest animals book, I used a variety of greens. Right now, with my desert animals, I am using different hues of brown and tan, with rich desert sky colors. I use a high quality acrylic paint and use many colors in my studio, often mixing bright, pure colors to their desired color and hue.

I love to create texture in my work as well. I have a few techniques under my belt that I have learned from much trial and error.

What tools or mediums do you prefer to use when creating your illustrations?

I use a loose pencil sketch on the canvas to draw the scene, then I usually use a light wash in either watercolor or acrylic paint for the background colors and then I use a heavier acrylic paint blend for the featured animal. I absolutely love to paint skies. I study the sky. I love everything about the sky. I take many, many sky photos for reference. Arizona is known for its amazing sunrises and sets.

What messages or lessons do you hope children take away from reading your books?

It’s all about our Creator and His awesome majesty. I want all people to know how much God loves all of His creation and the animals within it. The love for His animals pales in comparison to how much He loves humankind because we were created in His image.

Do you have a favorite character or story among the books you’ve written? If so, why?

I love animals all the same. They are all my favorites. They are so much fun to learn about and all so beautiful in their own way. I find it so interesting that everytime I paint an animal and study interesting facts about them, I am always in awe of God’s Creation! He is the best artist ever!!!

How do you balance the storytelling with the illustrations to create a cohesive narrative?

I learn as much as I can about the animal and then create the story from fun facts that I feel kids will laugh at. I then use a bit of rhyming for fun and interest for my audience.

How do you get your books printed and shipped to customers?

I don’t have a lot of space and I also don’t have the time to ship books out. So I use a print-on-demand company. It’s the best choice for me, at least for now. I’m sure I could make more money on each copy of my books if I chose a traditional printing company, but I just don’t have the time or the physical ability to do all that would be involved in the storing, packing, lifting boxes, shipping etc.

Can you share some of the challenges you faced during the self-publishing process?

The learning curve was so steep I thought I’d never get it! But I persisted and got it done. I made a lot of stupid errors with the first book and I resubmitted it 8 times because I am a perfectionist and if I found one single little error, I had to get it corrected.

My second book is due (my own self-imposed deadline) by August 30, 2024. I generally meet my own deadlines, but then, waiting for the proof book to return is out of my hands and sometimes can delay the process. It is going so much more smoothly! I am so happy I have a background in Commercial Art because I knew firsthand what the printing company needed in my files so the printing would be perfect (trim lines, cut marks, DPI, file format etc).

What advice would you give to other aspiring self-published authors, especially those looking to write and illustrate their own children’s books?

Try to do something different. I see so many children’s books out on the market that are too similar. The illustrations to me look AI generated or too much use of clip art characters. Hire a good illustrator even if it costs a little bit more. I believe people like good art, especially in children’s character books.

Are you currently working on any new books or projects that we can look forward to?

“In God’s Creation” will be a series of 6 books. I already assigned the titles to the ISBN numbers, so I am committed to this entire project. “In God’s Creation, Animals of the Forest” was released in April 2024. “In God’s Creation, Animals of the Desert” I hope to release by or before August 30, 2024.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about you or your work?

I am very dedicated to my art. I have created hundreds of paintings. I have work in our local gallery and I sell original paintings and prints from my website: janicemillanewasmer.com.

Another thing I love to do is create Pet Portraits of people’s beloved fur babies. I have many of those featured on my website: Pet Portrait Collection.

I especially love to help people cope with the loss of a beloved pet by presenting them with a painting that they can cherish for a very, very long time. I do some of my own framing as well. I use all museum quality materials in everything I do. Down to the glue, tapes, dust covers…everything is archival quality.

My youngest brother (Paul) is a professional framer and has given me many tips on the framing part. My daughters do the editing for me. Both are long time teachers. They are a perfect editing duo. One will find any grammatical errors, and the other will find any typographical ones. It is too funny how much they are both alike and very different at the same time.

I hope my work is an inspiration to many and my biggest goal is to be an encouragement and to bring God’s love and hope to the masses. Our world sure needs it!

Where can readers find your books and follow your journey?

Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Readers can follow me through my art website, especially if you sign up for my newsletters with your email address.

You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram or X (twitter) (at janicemillanewasmer @janicemill37916). I have accounts on all of these social media platforms. I also have a gallery page on Facebook: Wildartamerica Janice Millane Wasmer Gallery. But it is probably best to go to my website and sign up for my newsletters. They won’t miss downloads of my newest work if they want to see the latest I am creating through my newsletters.

Wrapping It Up

Thank you, Janice, for sharing your inspiring story and insights with us. We look forward to seeing more of your wonderful work in the future!

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You can check out Janice’s book here:

Inside the Book: