A Hei Mi

　　Q Zhao Yixue

　　Q Your picture book Braid has won the 25th BIB Golden Apple Prize. It is an award that plays an indisputable role in both art and children illustration fields. Does this book reflect any of your life?

　　A I pondered for a long time before starting the work, and I have had the idea of drawing a childhood life since I was in high school. I followed my grandmother around in the village and ran into all kinds of peculiar things. They were all so mysteriously attractive to me, making me want to present them through pictures.

　　Sometimes I would become obsessed with trivial matters from a pile of junk, or the numerous hollows of an old aluminum basin. Sometimes I would be reminded of perfunctory moments that remain eternally in my memory. I like following them around, and those scattered pieces of memory lead me along so that I am able to accomplish the picture book Braid .

　　I lived with grandmother in a black old bungalow when I was little. It was dim inside, and the wall of the broken house was surrounded by earthenware jar pile. But I did feel cozy every time I went home and every time I finished taking shower. Grandma, in my memory, has always been grumpy, but she has always been my warmest support. Cooper plate etching is used to make the illustration, because the damp, black-andwhite effect, as well as the mottled trace after etching happens to connect to the image of my memory and the scenes inside my heart. The most difficult part during illustrating is to outline the story structure through a hazy impression and scattered records of characters.

　　Q What plan have you got for illustration works in the future?

　　A I am on a illustration work which is almost completed. The story takes place in the distant place called Qinghai. It is a new thing for me, for I carry out discussions and adaption work with different teachers. This book differs from the first story I created, for that story plot and images of Braid come directly from my innermost heart, whilst this new story is a distant myth, and takes time for me to connect myself with it. The presentation of the illustration is done with various methods, and will be made with woodcut colour, which bears the natural air that caters to our imagination about ancient stories.

　　Hei Mi

　　Chinese illustrator