Meet Brooklyn-based Illustrator Doug Salati
We were so lucky to collaborate with Brooklyn-based illustrator Doug Salati in 2019 for our butterfly life cycle mini zine, which accompanied our Butterfly Lifecycle Kit. We first met Doug when he bought some of our ornaments in the Union Square holiday market way back maybe in 2014?!, and we’ve been friends ever since. His book In a Small Kingdom by Tomie DePaola is one of my kids’ favorites.
Doug making the first sketches for our life cycle booklet.
This time-consuming technique gives his illustrations a depth and texture reminiscent of stone lithography. The Life Cycle downloads feature his pencil sketches.
Doug scans his pencil drawing into his computer, and then adds digital plates of colors and light.
Doug grew up in central New York and studied art and illustration at Skidmore College and RIT. He received his MFA at the School of Visual Arts and was a 2015 Sendak Fellow. His second book, Lawrence in the Fall by Matthew Farina, was a 2020 Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Award Honoree, a Society of Illustrators Original Art Show selection and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. He lives and works in Brooklyn, and is currently working on a new book, Hot Dog, to be released in 2022. More of his illustration work can be seen here. (UPDATE! Doug's Book Hot Dog was a New York Times bestseller and recipient of the 2023 Randolph Caldecott Medal and Ezra Jack Keats Award. What an achievement!!! Couldn't have gone to a better human. Bravo! Bravo!)
Purchasing Doug’s Books: Lawrence in the Fall, written by Matthew Farina, and In a Small Kingdom, by Tomie dePaola, are available for purchase everywhere. Independent bookstores work hard to support authors and illustrators. Please consider buying in person or online from your local indie! Find them here. If you are looking for a quick amazon link, please find In a Small Kingdom here, and Lawrence in the Fall here. They are amazing books, and so worth it.
We were so thrilled to partner with Doug again in 2021 for our Maple Tree and Oak Tree Growth Cycle Kits - he designed a postcard, sticker, and a beautiful poster for each kit.
