We asked Delphine Renon to take us behind her colourful illustrations for the musical picture book Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town! Renon is a French illustrator, ceramicist, and graphic designer. After graduating from École de Communication visuelle de Paris, she joined Éditions Nathan jeunesse where she became artistic director in 1998. Since 2014, she has illustrated over 30 picture books including The Quiet Crocodile and Emmett and Caleb, which was nominated for the 2020 Kate Greenaway Medal.
What is your studio setup like?
I work in a dedicated space inside my apartment, with all my tools, materials, and notebooks close at hand.
How do you start a project like Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town?
There are several stages. When I receive a text, if time allows, I like to give myself a moment for studious reflection and note-taking before I start to work. It’s a phase that can last for several days, which I think of as “infusion:” The story infuses inside my mind, and I begin to search for all sorts of images and ideas, colours, moods, and other details that might serve the text. During this process, I fill my notebooks with notes and ideas.
Then comes the pencil sketching, character research, defining the visual rhythms and colour moods, setting the scenes, working out the text-to-image ratio, making corrections… Then finally, the time comes to execute the colour illustrations.
What kind of art tools do you use?
I work on paper and use mixed techniques, including coloured pencils, felt pens, and watercolours. I also use my computer as a complementary tool.
What inspired the style, colour palette and textures you chose for Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town?
The tone of the story is humorous and upbeat, as is the music, which guided my choice of colours. As the story is set in a natural environment, I opted for a dominant shade of green in the backgrounds. For the characters, I chose a fairly broad palette, using lots of different patterns for the clothes.
What was your favourite scene to illustrate?
I think it’s the one where Grand Chief Salamoo Cook first appears.
What is your favourite song on the album?
I can’t choose a favourite, I like them all. They’re all so happy and lively.
Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town!
Once upon a magical time, a rabbit named Weeskits hurried home to Kisoos—a town known as the Earth’s belly button—to deliver some thrilling news: Grand Chief Salamoo Cook is coming to town to host a contest! The prize? A year’s supply of all-healing waaskee-choos juice! Would Weeskits be able to win the juice and rid his brother’s wide of the dreadful manchoos?
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay informed about our new releases and events and for a chance to win our subscriber giveaway. To order books for your library or bookstore, please contact Hornblower Books/University of Toronto Press (Canada, United States) and MMS/BookSource (United Kingdom). For additional information, email info@thesecretmountain.com.
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Behind Grand Chief Salamoo Cook’s Art with Delphine Renon
We asked Delphine Renon to take us behind her colourful illustrations for the musical picture book Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town! Renon is a French illustrator, ceramicist, and graphic designer. After graduating from École de Communication visuelle de Paris, she joined Éditions Nathan jeunesse where she became artistic director in 1998. Since 2014, she has illustrated over 30 picture books including The Quiet Crocodile and Emmett and Caleb, which was nominated for the 2020 Kate Greenaway Medal.
I work in a dedicated space inside my apartment, with all my tools, materials, and notebooks close at hand.
How do you start a project like Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town?
There are several stages. When I receive a text, if time allows, I like to give myself a moment for studious reflection and note-taking before I start to work. It’s a phase that can last for several days, which I think of as “infusion:” The story infuses inside my mind, and I begin to search for all sorts of images and ideas, colours, moods, and other details that might serve the text. During this process, I fill my notebooks with notes and ideas.
Then comes the pencil sketching, character research, defining the visual rhythms and colour moods, setting the scenes, working out the text-to-image ratio, making corrections… Then finally, the time comes to execute the colour illustrations.
What kind of art tools do you use?
I work on paper and use mixed techniques, including coloured pencils, felt pens, and watercolours. I also use my computer as a complementary tool.
What inspired the style, colour palette and textures you chose for Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town?
The tone of the story is humorous and upbeat, as is the music, which guided my choice of colours. As the story is set in a natural environment, I opted for a dominant shade of green in the backgrounds. For the characters, I chose a fairly broad palette, using lots of different patterns for the clothes.
I think it’s the one where Grand Chief Salamoo Cook first appears.
What is your favourite song on the album?
I can’t choose a favourite, I like them all. They’re all so happy and lively.
Grand Chief Salamoo Cook Is Coming to Town!
Once upon a magical time, a rabbit named Weeskits hurried home to Kisoos—a town known as the Earth’s belly button—to deliver some thrilling news: Grand Chief Salamoo Cook is coming to town to host a contest! The prize? A year’s supply of all-healing waaskee-choos juice! Would Weeskits be able to win the juice and rid his brother’s wide of the dreadful manchoos?
Find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Shop Local (Canada), Indigo, Edelweiss, and Goodreads.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay informed about our new releases and events and for a chance to win our subscriber giveaway. To order books for your library or bookstore, please contact Hornblower Books/University of Toronto Press (Canada, United States) and MMS/BookSource (United Kingdom). For additional information, email info@thesecretmountain.com.