Author Spotlight: Roger De Muth

One of the best things about working at Blurb is how often we meet incredibly talented and creative people. The depth and breadth of their work reminds us that art is a living, breathing, growing thing, and the opportunity to share it is only a click or a page-turn away.

Not only do we get to be inspired by people making beautiful work—the kind of art that we connect to in a very personal way—but we get to be part of telling their story.

Roger De Muth is an award winning designer, illustrator, photographer and gardener. He lives in Cazenovia, NY with his wife Naomi who is a ceramic artist and weaver. During his 40 year career, Roger worked with a number of companies, including Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network, and won awards from The Philadelphia Sketch Club, Publisher’s Weekly, and an Oppenheim Toy Book Award.

Not only is Roger an artist, but he was also a Professor of Illustration at Syracuse University. He has been a longtime customer of Blurb and produced 6 books with us—most recently a captivating 134 page watercolor collection called Have Watercolors, Will Travel. Roger was nice enough to take some time to answer our questions about life, work, and the creative process.

Your favorite color: Compost

Your idea of happiness: Working in my studio.

Your favorite painter:

“James Gurney is a current favorite. He did the book Dinotopia, and I am currently watching a couple of his DVD’s on Plein Air painting. Creatively and technically, he’s amazing. I’m also a fan of Edvard Munch, because he was so prolific. There were 14,000 works of art in his house when he passed away. I like artists who are driven by a need to create. I feel like I’m in good company with them. It’s important to have a life along with being an artist, but living that life in a creative way has made all the difference to me. Everything I do has my signature look to it.”

Your favorite motto:

“I believe that man and fish can coexist peacefully”, George W. Bush. I wrote a book about this quote and the Gulf oil spill, but haven’t published it yet.

You are an all around artist, illustrator, painter, ceramist, which type of art is your favorite and how did you get into it?

“I always wanted to be an artist, and I found out along the way that making the art was the best part. It still doesn’t matter to me which direction I choose. I can be just as happy working with watercolors as I am painting with oil paints or working in clay or digging holes in the gardens. I get up early in the morning & go right to work in the studio. I always start out with a sketch, revise it, do more idea sketches and think about the object from every angle before I begin making anything.”

How do you incorporate technology into your art?

“To me, the secret of being an artist is always being a student. Finding directions that are new, challenging yourself in different directions, learning new technology, and applying it to your newest work.

I use the Adobe Creative Suite nearly every day. I edit photos compositionally for my paintings, color correct the images for reproduction, and print them out on an amazing Epson printer. I place my images into InDesign for Blurb Books and MagCloud. I am an early adopter of any program or technology that will help me with my artwork. I work on the computer every day.

I taught Illustration at Syracuse University and loved every minute working with the students. I learned more from them than they did from me sometimes. The students always kept me up to date with the newest web sites, technology, and I could see it on their faces when they really loved something new.”

You have had the opportunity to go both the self publishing and traditional publishing route. Tell us about your experience with both, which you prefer and why?

“I’ve done three Children’s books with Blue Apple Books in Maplewood, New Jersey. Harriet Ziefert the publisher, is also a writer and has written over 300 children’s books and knows how to work with creative artists. She’s able to help take a simple idea and bring it to life as a children’s book. It’s all about the finished book and how to make the story and artwork the best it can be. Each of her children’s books have won awards.

When you produce a book on your own you have total creative freedom to do exactly what you want. I’m actually a bigger critic of my own work than anyone else can ever be. I know the book is not going to be right for quite awhile, but I keep at it until it tells the story and looks beautiful on every page.”

You have used Blurb to create a number of different types of books. Which one has been your favorite and why?

“The book I like the best so far is my newest, Have Watercolors, Will Travel. It’s a large format book printed on beautiful textured Mohawk paper. It even looks like watercolor paper. The book tells the story of my travels while sketching and drawing throughout the US and Europe. There are 134 pages of ink and watercolor paintings and the colors look just like the original paintings. I’m very pleased with the results.”

Are squirrels just for breakfast?
“Squirrels are NOT just for Breakfast anymore!”

“My mother was having problems with squirrels just before she passed away. The neighbor was feeding the birds and it brought lots of squirrels to my Mom’s deck. I considered buying her a shotgun to shoot them from her easy chair, but instead made this poster in her memory. The poster won a Gold Medal this past year in the Society of Illustrator’s/ Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Exhibition in New York. Thanks Mom!”

To see the books Roger has made using Blurb, look at his bookstore.
To learn more about Roger’s work, please visit his website.