Brian Biggs

Brian Biggs is an author, illustrator, and designer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He has written or illustrated more than sixty books, some of them being New York Times Bestsellers. The books he has written and illustrated have been read by many imaginative adults and clever children all around the world.

Clients include (but are not limited to) : MoMA, Ritchey Bikes, The New York Times, Knopf, Hyperion/Disney, Harpercollins, Adobe Systems, Random House, The Princeton Public Library, Bill Graham Presents, Rodeo Labs, Penguin, The Washington Post, Warner Bros, Workman, Simon & Schuster, Rubio’s Coastal Grill, The Yellow Pages, The Philadelphia Book Festival.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am an artist and illustrator living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’ve illustrated more than 70 children’s books, but i’ve worked in animation and design and illustrated for many not-publishing clients over the years as well.

What is the main medium, content, and/or themes that are frequently present in your work?

I’d suppose that humor is the one thing that finds its way into almost everything I make. Not necessarily humor like a joke. But just something unexpected, exaggerated, behind that wall, hiding a little bit.

I use all sorts of mediums: I draw, I paint, I collage, and I work digitally. I’ve been really using my iPad a lot this year, making three children’s books with it and drawing dozens of illustrations as well.

What have been some critical moments or challenges in your career/work that have shifted your perspective creatively?

Publishing ground to a halt during the pandemic, and really forced a lot of us, me for sure, to sort of think about what it is we’re doing, why we’re doing it, how we’re doing it. In my case, it coincided with my two kids growing up and moving out and my desire to shift gears a little. I had been making work exclusively for children’s publishing for more than a decade, and I missed drawing for a grown-up audience. So, figuring how to put all those pieces together has been motivating.

Keeping a balance with social media can be challenging for artists. What is your approach to social media, online community, and promoting your work?

I embrace social media to a point, but there are things I’m not interested in doing. I had to be talked into having an account specifically for my work just a few years ago. And I’m not interested in being a performer, or creating “content” in promoting my work. There is so much of it in children’s publishing especially, and I find it kind of gross. I’m probably missing out in some way, but I just can’t.

Tell us about your artistic process.

It’s probably not much different from anyone else’s. I show up every single day, and I draw and make, and I work; and while at the time I rarely feel like great “ideas” are landing, or that eagerly-awaited inspiration is hitting, at the end of the day I’ve usually made something I’m happy about, whether just a sketch, or a small collage, or even just writing a sentence that stays with me.

What are your hobbies and interests outside of creating art? How do these affect you creatively?

I ride bikes, a lot. I love the cycling community and I love events and races, and I try to do a lot of work in that community.

I also enjoy making stuff out of wood, like carving and building. And, while I don’t do it as much as I’d like, I enjoy playing and recording music.

How do you find inspiration and what are those inspirations?

I find inspiration everywhere. Overheard conversations, a paragraph in a novel, funny things my kids might say, just putting things together and seeing what happens. Inspiration is a direct result of work. You can’t just sit around and wait for it.

“Inspiration is a direct result of work. You can’t just sit around and wait for it.”

How do you get motivated or inspired to push past creative blocks?

Well, simply, I have nothing to fall back on, so I have to keep it up. I can’t do anything else but draw and write. I have creative blocks, sure. But I have no choice but to sit down and keep making stuff. I trust the process – I know that as long as I keep doing my part, the ideas will work their way into and out of my head.

Who are artists or people who have influenced you?

So many. So so many. Books I read, pictures on the internet, conversations with my wife or friends. All of these are important and daily influences. Different artists have inspired and influenced me in different ways from cartoonists and movie-makers I saw as a kid, to clever graphic designers I learned about in college, to illustrators I found in bookstores over the years, to children’s book artists who are now colleagues and friends of mine.

Do you have any advice for students or other artists who are looking to start sell their work?

I don’t sell much, so, no. I’m interested in learning and getting some advice myself.

What’s next for you?
I have five children’s books lined up to work on over the next 17 months, I’m writing two in addition, and also poking around on a middle-grade novel about the end of the world.

I also keep busy making the collages – it’s a really important way to see things differently than drawing.