Portfolio peeks with Lucy and Rosemary

Lucy Ruth Cummins is the Art Director with Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers and Paula Wiseman Books.

Rosemary Stimola is the founder of Stimola Literary Studio, representing award-winning authors and illustrators such as Suzanne Collins, Jodi Lynn Anderson , and LIsa Papademetriou.

I tend to look for PB art that has a less “animated” feel (ie Disney). With more individual personality. - Rosemary

Great characters are important, but make sure your pieces have a narrative side. - Lucy

I always try to tell people: the more dogs the merrier. - Lucy

For whatever reason, anytime we try to put panels in a picture book, it’s hard to sell. - Lucy

Watch digital techniques so they don’t look so digital. - Lucy

The expressions here are worth a million bucks. - Rosemary

I love hand lettering. - Lucy

If the text is crummy, I might get distracted by it. Don’t include it if you think it takes away from your work. - Lucy

My go-to people have drafting that is untouchably good and they get things done on time. - Lucy

Timely delivery on the art is everything, without that, we can’t go anywhere. - Rosemary

Articulate where you’re stuck when working on a project. It happens to everyone. You have to find your confidence because we hired you for a reason. - Rosemary.

For me, my first response to a piece of art is does it touch me emotionally and what is the story there? - Rosemary

We do look for that one piece in a portfolio that tells a whole story. - Lucy