Interview: Carla Martell talks about Slow Mo
Carla Martell is an illustrator and designer from Auckland, New Zealand. She specialises in whimsical illustration featuring children, animals and curious characters, as well as hand lettering and surface pattern design.
Carla has illustrated a number of books including the much-acclaimed Tulip and Doug, Duck Goes Meow (Winner 2024 NZ Picture Book Award), How to Be a Cat, Granny’s Undies, Christmas in Summer, Santa’s Fireproof Knickers and Why Won’t You Sleep?! Carla talks to NZ Booklovers.
Can you tell us about how you did the illustrations for this book?
I started with exploring and developing the characters to fit the names that Mark gave them - I ended up with an entire backstory created around each of the sloths! My personal challenge with illustration style was to try new things - e.g experiment with different drawing line widths, texture and colour. The way I work usually involves a many-layered mix of digital and handmade techniques - for this book I used crayon, pen and ink, pencil, print textures and hand lettering. We decided to keep the background colours muted with minimal detail, so that the focus could remain on the sloths themselves.
What did you enjoy the most about working on this picture book for children?
I enjoyed creating each character and finding out a whole lot of facts about sloths that I never knew. A surprising number of people (including my Mum) told me their personal sloth encounter stories complete with photos!
What do you think children will enjoy about the story?
Clever Mo’s kindness and the surprise story twist towards the end!
What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?
After many weeks of drawing a LOT of sloth fur in little strokes I was keen to lie down slothfully for a while, but unfortunately that didn’t transpire as I was onto a new book almost straight away (another picture book filled with animals of a different kind).
What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?
This book is a favourite revisit of mine: ‘The Creative Habit’ by choreographer Twyla Tharp. It’s not specifically about dance, but about the habit of working hard at something you care about, and what it means to live a creative life. I come back to this book when I find myself creatively stuck and/or feeling uninspired.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
Another picture book is on the near horizon, but before that happens I’m keen to get back into some of the things I haven’t done for ages, like painting and printmaking.
Scholastic NZ
