In Conversation with Katrin Dreiling

In the second in my series of conversations with authors and illustrators, I am pleased to welcome illustrator, Katrin Dreiling.   
 
Megan: Hi, Katrin. I just wanted to say that I am so pleased to have found you on social media. I think I first saw your illustrations on Facebook. I love your quirky, fun style. And I am rapt to have met you in person at KidLitVic2017 this year too.

Katrin: Oh, wow thank you Megan  I'm very happy I have met you personally and online, too. It's always fantastic to meet the people behind their profile pics in real life...
 
Megan: So true. So, maybe we should start at the beginning, as that is always a good place to start.
Has art always been an influence in your life? If so, in what way?

Katrin: ​It certainly has. Since I was really little I would always draw or craft things. I have always been very interested in music, too. Not so much making music myself but listening to it and trying to understand the musician's mind and his/her work.
 
Megan: I have been reading your blog. In your first post, Eins, you shared briefly about your childhood and teen years. Would you share just a little bit with me, and what has helped you overcome your fears of following your dreams?

Momo by Katrin Dreiling

​Katrin: My teens and even twenties were marked by emotional and some physical abuse by my parents and sibling and they pretty much had planned out what was accepted for me to do and what not. Even regarding my job choice. I broke free from most of that when I moved out, and later on moved to South Africa for three months to help teaching English at an orphanage.

The wounds of such abuse last for a life time, though. To various degrees. I also stepped away from that past in a big way when I met my husband who helped me become 'myself' again. But it still took me a long time to come back to art because in my mind I still listened to what my parents wanted.

Megan: I can understand that, especially the emotional and psychological abuse. It can take a lifetime to change your thinking, and is certainly a work in progress. What would you say was the catalyst, the reason that you turned to art again as an adult?
 
Katrin: So, it was always there but very much in the background. My children then brought me back to it and my husband encouraged me to keep going.
​
Megan: It is wonderful that you have had the support of your husband. It is so important to have a cheer squad cheering you on and encouraging you. I read on your blog that you were a teacher. What made you give up teaching and go into illustration?

Cemetery Parade by Katrin Dreiling

Katrin: It's really tricky to pinpoint a moment when that happened. I think I stopped putting more effort into building up my teaching career and increased working on my art simultaneously. It was a gradual process. I guess I could feel how much illustrating fulfilled me and that my work steadily improved... it was going somewhere and that encouraged me to keep going. At some point, I actually had three jobs - mum, teacher and illustrator and one thing had to go.
 
Megan: Woah! That sounds full on.
 
Katrin: Interestingly enough the money that I earned as a teacher versus the complete lack thereof in illustrating didn't stop me. It's an import message to my children, too, I think. My husband had the same idea unfortunately. Just around the same time when I stopped working actively as a teacher, he quit his job as a university professor and founded a tech startup. It's going well and somewhere, but in the middle of it all we sometimes look at each other and think we are completely nuts—with three children, a dog and a mortgage.
​
Megan: Wow!
 
Katrin: We still like to think that we inspire our children… even if finances are tight sometimes.
 
Megan: I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. In fact, it might teach them something about what it takes to follow your dreams, do what you are good at, and what fulfills you.
​
So, at some point you decided to go into illustration. What was the first thing you did?

Katrin: Do you mean career step wise or the kind of illustration I focused on first?
 
Megan: Good point. They are both different. Let's take your second question as I was going to ask you about the style of illustration you do. I love it. How did that come about? And did it come about before you decided to make illustration your career?

Anton downhill by Katrin Dreiling

Katrin:  I'm glad you like it Megan, thank you.

So, I've always had this thing that I would 'outline' things I drew first with a black pen. It's still how I work mostly. I use ink fine liners for outlining and then I fill it with any kind of paint or even (digitally) with paper collages.

When I was young, art teachers at school, or especially an 'artsy' friend of mine back then tried to convince me it looked 'wrong' and that in reality things are not outlined like that.
They only made me more stubborn I think.
​
I admire everyone who can draw things realistically so that it looks like a copy. But it's not for me. If I wanted that I would use a camera. I'm interested in the things one cannot see and that tickle a child's imagination. The results are often wonky and quirky but I'm working on this idea and hope that it will be obvious to see and get better every day.
 
Megan:  I'm with you on that point. Realism is amazing, and I also admire people who can do that. But, I'm the same mind when it comes to illustration. I like how you say that you are, 'Interested in the things one cannot see, and that tickle a child's imagination.' Beautiful. Okay, I've said this a few times, but I do like your style. It makes me feel like I don't have to be perfect and realistic in developing my own style. I can make things a little wonky, a bit different. You have inspired me.
 
Katrin: Yay! (Cheering Minion)
 
Megan: So, what was the first step you took in making illustration your career?

Katrin: ​First, I've created a picture book 'on the side' while still teaching. It's called 'How to get a fat fairy flying' and I self-published it. I think the 'true' moment of making it a career, though, was stepping into the 'public' with my work - posting it on Facebook and joining the Brisbane Illustrators Group. Both set a machinery of things into motion. You meet people and hear and learn things and everything just 'grows'.
 
Megan: That's true. It's not something you can do alone.
​

'I'm interested in the things one cannot see and that tickle a child's imagination.' Katrin Dreiling

​Katrin: Then I started going to conferences. I did the CYA competition and won second place in 2015....I think? (I'm so bad with dates and numbers).
 
Megan: Wow! Congrats on the win. Conferences are great for connecting with others. You have illustrated a book written by Michelle Worthington, The World's Worst Pirate. Can you tell me how that came about?
 
Katrin: I met Kathy Creamer and later on her husband Peter on Facebook. They run Little Pink Dog Books and Kathy approached me about submissions for their brand new publishing business. They were also my first ever clients who bought an original art piece from me and I really appreciate all their support and that they believed in my work from an early stage on.
 
Megan: That is so wonderful. Your experience really shows the importance of getting to know others in the industry and getting your work out there.
Is there anything else that you'd like to add? What advice do you have for an emerging illustrator, such as myself?
 
Katrin: I think the most important thing is that your illustrations 'tell' something that goes beyond just the visual. Have a message. The rest will follow
(I hope this made sense...)
 
Megan: Can you elaborate? Do you mean that each illustration tells a story?
 
Katrin:  Ideally illustrations in a picture book don't just show what's in the text but tell their own little tale. They also carry an emotion and atmosphere that adds to the story told. At least that's the kind of illustrations I always go back to when I look at picture books.

Megan:That is what I have learnt too. Thank you so much for your time today, Katrin. I think that about wraps it up.
 
Katrin: It was a pleasure Megan Thank you for the opportunity to talk about my work!
 
Three Fun Facts about Katrin:
 
1. I'm scared of birds. If they swoop me or come too close to my head it sets off a ridiculous presentation of running, screaming, and arm-waving...
2. I can't get enough of watching Golden Retriever puppy videos.
3. I love to recycle art supplies and use the tiniest scrap of leftover paper for my work.
 
If you want to find out more about Katrin, or would like to follow her on social media, head over to her website. www,katrindreiling.com

World's Worst Pirate Cover Page by Katrin Dreiling

If you enjoyed this post feel free to like and share.