Behind the Illustration of Ten Little Yoga Frogs with Mandy Stanley
March 24th, 2021 This one is for the yoga fans out there! We got to ask the the hugely talented illustrator, Mandy Stanley, five questions all about her newest book Ten Little Yoga Frogs!
What drew you to Ten Little Yoga Frogs?
Since being a young teenager, I’ve practiced yoga as a hobby so the idea of combining a subject I pursue in my leisure time with my professional working life as a designer and illustrator, was very appealing.
And of course, it almost goes without saying, but the very idea of a band of ten, merry little frogs enjoying yoga together, was irresistible to my imagination.
What do you enjoy most about working with author of the book, Hilary Robinson?
Since being a young teenager, I’ve practiced yoga as a hobby so the idea of combining a subject I pursue in my leisure time with my professional working life as a designer and illustrator, was very appealing.
And of course, it almost goes without saying, but the very idea of a band of ten, merry little frogs enjoying yoga together, was irresistible to my imagination.
What do you enjoy most about working with author of the book, Hilary Robinson?
Every project I work on with Hilary is a pleasure. It’s hard to pick out what I enjoy most but high up on the list is that I think we are equally balanced in our enthusiasm to create new projects, work hard and see our ideas to come to fruition in the form of a children’s book. We were introduced by a publisher several years ago now and have continued to work together on many titles and have become best of friends.
What was the most challenging part of illustrating Ten Little Yoga Frogs?
The challenge I face with every book I work on, is that I do a good job and that my illustrations compliment the text and are appealing to a young audience and their grown-ups. With this book, referencing the yoga poses correctly was a challenge and a responsibility especially as we wanted to encourage people to join in.
As well as this, I set myself the task to be inventive with each little froggy character.
I knew right from the start that I didn’t want to see the pages filled with lots of iconic green frogs so I spent time researching different species from all over the world. I wanted to breathe life and individuality into each valuable little member of this amphibian group.
Having a degree in fashion certainly helped me design their froggy, yoga suits or skins! It was enormous fun adding all their spots, stripes and unique markings.
Do you do yoga yourself? Did you have to do a little research on yoga for the book?
Yes, I’ve practiced yoga since I was a teenager and I love it.
I did research the poses because it’s one thing to put my body into a particular pose but to draw a frog doing a yoga pose is a whole other challenge! The good thing is that frogs have quite pronounced muscles and are similar to humans in their general form so once I’d figured that, it wasn’t such a task.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself!
In real life, I’m scared of frogs!
But I’m not scared of the Ten Little Yoga Frogs!
Thank you Mandy!
You can find Mandy on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on her website.
What was the most challenging part of illustrating Ten Little Yoga Frogs?
The challenge I face with every book I work on, is that I do a good job and that my illustrations compliment the text and are appealing to a young audience and their grown-ups. With this book, referencing the yoga poses correctly was a challenge and a responsibility especially as we wanted to encourage people to join in.
As well as this, I set myself the task to be inventive with each little froggy character.
I knew right from the start that I didn’t want to see the pages filled with lots of iconic green frogs so I spent time researching different species from all over the world. I wanted to breathe life and individuality into each valuable little member of this amphibian group.
Having a degree in fashion certainly helped me design their froggy, yoga suits or skins! It was enormous fun adding all their spots, stripes and unique markings.
Do you do yoga yourself? Did you have to do a little research on yoga for the book?
Yes, I’ve practiced yoga since I was a teenager and I love it.
I did research the poses because it’s one thing to put my body into a particular pose but to draw a frog doing a yoga pose is a whole other challenge! The good thing is that frogs have quite pronounced muscles and are similar to humans in their general form so once I’d figured that, it wasn’t such a task.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself!
In real life, I’m scared of frogs!
But I’m not scared of the Ten Little Yoga Frogs!
Thank you Mandy!
You can find Mandy on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on her website.
Ten Little Yoga Frogs
Yoga Frogs love to have fun trying all the different yoga poses. Can you count the different yoga frogs, and try out all the yoga poses?Purchase Here
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