With Dom and Keunhee LeeIllustrators of Journey Home
LEE & LOW BOOKS published Journey Home, written by Lawrence McKay, Jr., and illustrated by Dom and Keunhee Lee in the spring of 1998. Dom Lee (no relation to L&L publisher, Philip Lee) is the illustrator of the award-winning titles Baseball Saved Us, Heroes, and Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story. Journey Home marks the U.S. debut of Dom and Keunhee's work as collaborating artists; their  previous books were published in their native Korea.In addition to illustrating books for children, both Dom and Keunhee have careers as fine artists. Dom's medium is the same one he uses in his books: a combination of encaustic beeswax and oil paint. Keunhee works primarily in watercolor. In Journey Home, the artists used all of these materials. Your book, Journey Home, is your first U.S. picture book as collaborating illustrators. Please explain your process of working together. Dom Lee: First, we discuss our ideas and references. Together, we can combine our ideas and come up with better ones more efficiently than if we were to work alone. Second, we make sketches using our ideas and references, and then submit them to the publisher. When our sketches are approved, we start the original art. The watercolor is used first, [by Keunhee] because it can't be applied over the wax. After Keunhee is done using the watercolor, Dom applies the wax to the painting. The wax is then scraped off using various tools, until the image shows through. Sometimes, after the wax is applied, the watercolor beneath it might fade away. If the image isn't strong enough, we add oil paint. What role did books and reading play in each of your childhoods? Keunhee: Books were my best friends. I read and read and read. The first book that I ever read was Little Women. DL: I didn't read books often. I went to the movies instead. The many movies that I saw during my childhood helped me with my illustrations today. You both teach art to children. How do you encourage young people to express themselves through art? We try to give them confidence in their own artistic activities. It is important for young children to realize that they have no boundaries when it comes to art. It is also good for students to be able to concentrate on their thoughts and talk with their minds. We encourage our students to keep journals of their artwork. What do your students say about your books? Ooh! Ahh! Cool! Did you do that? Is it hard? Neato! Learn more about Journey Home Also illustrated by Dom Lee: Baseball Saved Us Be Water, My Friend Heroes Passage to Freedom Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds  BookTalk with author Ken Mochizuki on Be Water, My Friend BookTalk with author Ken Mochizuki on Passage to Freedom BookTalk with author Paula Yoo on Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds Video interview with author Paula Yoo on Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds
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