Next Friday, May 11, Anna Trodglen, creator of the online comic strip Biscuits & Bellyrubs, will unveil her translation and illustration of Little Red Riding Hood, the classic children’s story, from the original German. The book celebration is set to be held at the Young Blood Gallery (636 N Highland Ave. Atlanta, GA 30306/404-254-4127), from 6 to 9 PM. As befits a children’s book, kids are encouraged to attend (bring the parents of course) the gathering, where snacks and sodas will be served. As an added bonus, Anna’s musical collaboration with husband Dugan Trodglen and John Armstrong (aka the legendary band, DQE) will perform a set. In anticipation of the event, Anna and the book’s designer/letterer Anthony Owsley allowed me to email interview them. (Eagle eye readers will note this marks the second time I have gotten to interview Anna [the first time being in 2010]) My thanks to Trodglen & Owsley for the interview.
Tim O’Shea: What inspired you to tackle Little Red Riding Hood, rather than translating one of the myriad other German folklore tales?
Anna Trodglen: I wanted to do Little Red Riding Hood because I was really drawn to the Wolf. He seemed very interesting and as a dog relative he was appealing to me. I also liked the limited number of cast in the story and that there were three distinct female characters.
O’Shea: Was there any aspect of the translation that proved more daunting than expected?
Trodglen: For the most part the translation went well but there were a couple sentences that had so many pronouns in them that I couldn’t figure out what was going on, so I just let those sentences go.
O’Shea: In translating the story, were there nuances you learned that you had not heard in previous versions of the tale?
Trodglen: There’s a postlog that’s a little different and surprising.
O’Shea: How did you and designer/letterer Anthony Owsley decide upon a design for the book? Were several fonts considered before you settled on the final one?
Anthony Owsley: When Anna showed me the drawings she was working on, and explained how she wanted a completely traditional approach to the storytelling, I immediately got the idea of an old letterpress edition storybook. Anna and I are both big fans of late 19th Century/early 20th Century storybooks and often give each other old picture books as gifts, so that was an approach we both readily agreed on.
I wanted to color it in a way that would not distract from, or obscure Anna’s line work, which is often uniform width and highly detailed. I decided to use a limited color palette with large areas of broad flat colors which, again, would harken back to turn-of-the-Century letterpress drawings and early comic strips.
Font selection was pretty easy and I got it right the first time. I wanted something that looked antique, traditional and slightly fairytale without looking too Ren-fair. Thomas Paine has always been one of my favorite fonts and it fit the bill perfectly. It’s rustic and earthy, with enough flourish to fit into a fantasy settting. It also looks good in the 12-16 point range needed for young childrens’ storybooks. Anna loved it immediately.
O’Shea: How did getting Anthony involved make the book a stronger project?
Trodglen: Anthony has lots of experience making books and doing design so I knew I wanted to get him on board. Also Anthony is very meticulous and precise, where I am more slapdash; and he’s a lot more laid back than I am, which is an asset in working with a terrier like me. I knew Anthony could do a great job, and he did.
O’Shea: Anthony, what is it about Anna’s work that made you want to be involved in the project?
Owsley: Anna and I have been friends for many years and always wanted to collaborate on something, but nothing suitable ever came up. This was a chance to finally do something together. Also, when I learned that she was going to produce this through CreateSpace, I saw it as an opportunity to learn a few new technological skills that could help me on later freelance jobs.
O’Shea: The book will be officially launched at Young Blood Gallery in Virginia Highlands on May 11, what makes that gallery an ideal place for the launch?
Trodglen: Young Blood is a really classy place and has tons of nice looking, solid art, so it’s exciting to get to work with them. It has a gallery and boutique. The book will be on sale at the gallery at the opening and into the future. I will have greeting cards and prints as well and I think Anthony will have stuff for sale too.
Owsley: I used to have a studio space near Young Blood’s original Grant Park location so I would often drop in and look around. I always liked their DIY attitude. When I finally caught up with them in their new space, I was impressed. They had a nice boutique in the front part to sell artwork, and a huge open space in the back suitable for a live band to play. I thought it was perfect.
O’Shea: Given your many talents, am I correct in assuming there might be some live music at the book launch?
Trodglen: Dugan and John (Armstrong) and I will play a honky tonk acoustic set at 7 pm. The opening is from 6 to 9.
O’Shea: How satisfying was it to get to the finish line with this book, and to hold the finished product in your hands?
Trodglen: It’s a little scary to get to the finish line with a project, because that means it’s over, but I think we’re both pretty happy with it. The fi al stretch with multiple proofs and problems was so stressful too that when it finally got cleared up it was really a relief. All of that last bit of design and proofing fell to Anthony and he was really patient about it, which I appreciate.
Owsley: There were a few frustrating periods in the production of the book. There was a bit of a learning curve with formatting the book to CreateSpace’s template. We had to go through several proofs before getting it the way we both liked it. But the hard work paid off. I think it looks great!