There has recently been interest in how I use the computer in the process of creating art. It is a new tool that I am just learning to use. The computer I use is a Mac G3 with 384 mbyte of memory and 18 gbyte of disc.

How extensively do you use computers in your art?

I use many tools in creating my artwork: pencils, color pencils, watercolor, collage, and the computer. Each tool has specific uses. I estimate the computer is used for about 40% of the work on a typical page. I do not do "digital art". I mix digital and traditional techniques to achieve something that I could not get with either approach alone.

What parts do you do on the computer and what do you do more traditionally?

I tend to use the computer more during the middle stages of the art. Sketches are done on tracing paper and scanned into the Mac. Then I arrange the sketches and design the page in Photoshop. I have also used digital textures that are created by scanning in a cheese grater, potatoes, doritos, strawberries, fabric, brush strokes, and just about anything else that has the look I am trying to achieve. I also use digital photographs of objects from my house that make their way into the book. After the page is arranged, I print it out and start the final stage with traditional media.

Did you originally use more traditional media? When and why did you change to digital?

I have always been interested in different ways of making art. I became interested in collage while I was working on "To Market, To Market". I scanned photographs into the computer, changed their size and shape, printed them out, and collaged them into the paintings by hand. My husband then convinced me to try the cutting and pasting in the computer. I started doing that in "My Big Dog" and did much more of it in "Cook-a-Doddle-Do". That book includes digital photos of kitchen objects on almost every page.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the computer?

The major advantage of the computer is flexibility and the capability to experiment with positioning various elements, changing their size, order (foreground and background), and color. The computer also makes it possible to retain the spontaneity of the original sketches. That aspect is often lost if I reworking the same sketch by hand through the experimentation period. The computer allows me to experiment without redrawing. This flexibility is also a disadvantage. When I am using traditional media, my options are limited because major changes require starting over or re-doing a part of the picture which can take a lot of time. On the computer, the options are limitless and they can all be undone. This changes the decision-making process. I want to try more and more ideas, and it is hard to finally decide that the design for a page is finished.

Do you find it has a distinctive look as a medium and what would that look be?

There are looks and textures that the computer can create that I can not create using traditional media. Understanding those possibilities interests me more that using the computer to recreate what I can do with traditional media. I couldn't paint the cheese grater texture that I wanted on Iguana in "Cook-a-Doddle-Do" with traditional media. That's what excites me about the computer.

Which of your books were illustrated using the computer?

"To Market, To Market", "My Big Dog" , "Cook-a-Doddle-Do", "The Dish Ran Away With the Spoon" (spring 2001).

Do you like the terms computer art, digital art, computer generated art? Do you particularly dislike any of these terms? Why?

These terms describe art produced using only a computer. I prefer the term "art with digital elements". As I explained above, I use the computer as one of my art making tools. It is like a pencil, or a brush. Looking at my art it is difficult to tell that I used a computer in the process, just like you may not be able to tell what part of the page was made using a colored pencil or watercolor paint.

Have you found any resistance among editors, or any prejudice among reviewers, readers, or other artists against using computers in your illustrations? In what way?

The editors that I work with have been encouraging me to explore new computer or non-computer ideas in my art. New ideas keep the books interesting and fresh. There has been a small amount of friction from other illustrators. Is it or is it not art? In my opinion, it is collage a very well established artistic technique. Is it still writing if you write with a word processor? I think so.

Do you find it more or less time consuming than using traditional media? Why?

I spent quite a bit of time learning how to use Photoshop. I was lucky to have a Photoshop expert work with me for about a year while I was working on "Cook-a-Doddle-Do". He helped me become aware of some of the more subtle techniques that were available in the software. Now I am familiar with the tool and it goes faster, sometimes…

Are there any problems or surprises when the art is transferred from the computer monitor to the printed page?

My art is created on paper by printing pages out onto paper and then painting on them. I send paper to the publisher, not discs. My art is, therefore, not controlled by what the computer can print. Even so, printing things out so that they look like what is on the screen is always difficult.

Are there any technical changes that can be seen in the books, or have the changes only affected the process of making them?

I think it is very difficult for most people to see "computer" in my artwork. Of course, if they see photographic elements in the art, they might guess that they were scanned. I would be very surprised if anyone looked at the Iguana and said, "Oh look, that was done by combining a scanned sponge with a scanned cheese grater and painting on top of it". They see my Iguana and say, "That looks like a Janet Stevens Iguana!"

Some general thoughts:

My overall opinion on using the computer in illustrating is mixed. The computer brings a different set of intuitive rules to making illustration. I am still confused as to how to trust this new medium. The process is just different. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with my computer. It is so different than the relationship of me to the sheet of paper with brush in hand. The computer is a middlewoman with endless opportunities - seductive with its tools and filters. The art sometimes feels like it "got away" from me. At times I have the feeling that I want to go back to the old way, where it is safe. At the end of my last book I swore I would never use the computer again. NEVER! Now I am starting my next book and I find myself looking forward to discovering more about this exciting new tool.