Artist Interview: Nancy Miller

Written by Isa Krocheski 

Nancy Miller is a 3D illustrator who photographs paper cut outs, often teaching and doing school visits to show off her work. She takes aspects from her Korean hertiage and mixes it with bright colors, fun textures, and cute character desgisn to make playful, kind looking compositions which she records the process of and poses on her Youtube channel. I recently reached out to Nancy and asked her a couple of questions about her work, to which she gave thoughtful, passionate answers to:

The industry puts a lot of pressure on knowing certain digital programs. For an artist that wants to continue to work traditionally, how would you suggest go about promoting work?

Promoting your traditional work is one of those things that social media has definitely helped me with. I think my work tends to stand out because it just looks different. I got my past two agents from #kidlitartpostcards posts I made on Twitter/X. I also did some Twitter PB pitch events.

 I decided I liked doing interviews and meeting people, so I started a podcast. I enjoyed watching my high school students have a blast doing it, and I decided I should give it a try. Speaking with people in the kid-lit industry and sharing what I do is helpful. I also like meeting people in person. I teach and do school visits. I enjoy connecting with other book creators at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conferences and volunteering. I’m fairly comfortable speaking to people, but I’ve had 13 years of experience teaching. I also applied for various scholarships from SCBWI and the Highlights Foundation.

You might not feel comfortable sharing your work in that way. I would take a good look at what you enjoy doing in relation to publicity and marketing. The more you like it, the better you will probably be at being consistent in putting it out there. If you aren’t sure try different things and see what sticks with you. I think consistency is the key. They say it takes like 6 to 8 points of contact in marketing for people to remember you.

I also do a physical postcard mailer two times a year. The SCBWI has their book, which is like a directory of people in the industry to send to. Some people like postcards, but some don’t. Since the pandemic, some publishers have gone remote.  I also do emails 2x a year. Some people buy lists, but I do the SCBWI book and conferences. If you attend a conference, the faculty (art directors, editors, agents) usually have a window submission policy for those who attend. They will also do paid portfolio reviews. I got one from a scholarship I was awarded through the SCBWI. My agent also sends out a quarterly e-newsletter with my work.

What sort of resources do you use when doing research for projects?

I’m working on my debut picture book for Holiday House. The story is set in South Korea during the Joseon era. I look at museums online, love academic textbooks, and tend to look at the arts and crafts of the time period. I like reading about the symbolism behind the motifs and artwork of the time period. One of the characters is a tiger stylistically based on a Korean folk painting (manhwa). 

I also take alot of photo references of myself and act out scenes from my book to get me in the minds set of the characters. As the author, I often have people I’ve known in my life that the characters are somewhat based on. They aren’t exact copies of the person, but they may be little details like a hairstyle or something they like to wear. I also like looking and watching people in general when they don’t notice you. You get some nice references of moments, and I can use them later in a picture book dummy.

How do you go about trying out new materials and techniques and still keeping it consistent in previous work?

I think about what works best for the story. That technique might only be used for that one story. I’m in the process of writing a picture manuscript and the story feels like a 2D collage. It’s pushing me to try something new. I am required to have two finished samples to include in my book dummy for my agent to pitch. With that will come many test pieces to see how it works. I’m excited by the experimenting. 

The hardest part for me is keeping the color consistent. If I do dimensional work, I prefer painting by hand. Some illustrators do the color digitally over the collage to keep things consistent, but that doesn’t appeal to me for picture books. I don’t mind it for MG or YA cover art. For paint color mixing I create swatch sheets. It’s time-consuming in the beginning, but it’s worth it for future reference. I will write down the name of the manufacturer’s paint codes and paint a swatch.

If it’s painted paper I’m making, I make a lot of it. It’s a bummer at times you’ll make something beautiful one time and then you realize you don’t have enough. It’s hard to replicate, so I tend to make more than I need. I also keep a box of scraps. For handmade paper I’ve purchased I keep the scan tag off the paper so I can reference the code. In case I have to buy more. 

Check out Miller’s podcast, instagram, and website for more!

https://www.instagram.com/nmillerillustration

https://www.nmillerillustration.com

The HoneyDripper is the Savannah College of Art and Design’s juried comics and illustration blog, dedicated to publishing, promoting, and showcasing the finest in student work.​