Interview with Nan Hickam Hunt, Illustrator

Nan Hickam Hunt is illustrating The House the Fool Built in beautiful watercolors!

Preliminary watercolor sketch for The House the Fool Built, Nan Hickam HuntPreliminary watercolor sketch for The House the Fool Built, Nan Hickam Hunt

Q: What made you decide to learn to paint, and what drew you to watercolor as your medium? What kept you going when you were still learning?

I was not a visual artist before, but the time of the covid lockdowns made me anxious, and I remembered that my father had used watercolor to help with his anxiety after my mom died. I had wanted to learn watercolor for twenty years and I thought lockdown was the perfect time! I was drawn to watercolor because it was easy to clean up and it was a transparent medium.

Starting with the lockdowns, for two years I spent eight hours a day painting. I love to connect to others and found a very warm connection to others when I shared my art online.

Q: Who are your strongest influences in painting?

Grandma Moses, Grandma Layton. Look them up, they’re amazing!

Q: Your illustrations combine loose, sketchy ink lines with watercolor. What do you like about combining ink and watercolor that you don’t get from either one alone?

My style is emotional and loose. Ink gives the picture some definition so that I can paint loose outside the lines. I often paint with no sketch.

Q: What projects have you done that are nearest to your heart?

I have been married for thirty-five years. For our thirtieth anniversary, shortly after I had begun painting, I did a book of my watercolor paintings of thirty plants, trees, and bushes in our yard—including the poison ivy. Each painting had a quotation attached. The entire project was by hand and held the story of our thirty years together through the view of nature in our wooded lot.

Q: Where do you find inspiration for your paintings?

Becoming a painter has helped me discover that I love observing nature, especially trees. I am always chasing the light in painting. I observe nature daily and connect with others weekly over art.

I also found a way to challenge myself to walk more with an app called The Conquerer, which lets you choose a path to walk in a real location somewhere in the world. The app shows you where you are on the path in real time as you log your miles and sends you virtual postcards showing what you walked through—it’s very motivating! I selected a walk through the Cotswolds, a beautiful rural area in the UK where a lot of cozy mysterys are filmed. Although it was a virtual walk for me, I was inspired to study YouTube videos of places on my path. I then did watercolors based on those locations. It was very popular when I shared my paintings with my virtual walking group.

Q: What would you say to someone who thinks she is too old to start learning something completely new?

You will be just fine! Everyone gains energy from art. I did a local art show with paintings of many buildings in our hometown, and it really brought everyone together.

Q: What’s next for you in painting and in children’s books?

I’m taking a class on gouache—that’s a water-based paint similar to watercolor, but opaque instead of transparent. And I am working on my own children’s book called The Listening Tree.

Q: Why do you continue to paint?

Painting is magical because it can take you anywhere. It makes me feel ageless. It provides energy for my life. I’m curious and I’m always chasing something!

The Sea of Galilee preliminary watercolor sketch by Nan, for The House the Fool Built.

Nan and Jon, her husband of 35 years.

Q: What made The House the Fool Built appeal to you as your first book project? What did you like about it and what felt intimidating?

I was thrilled to be invited into the project by my friend CJ Penland, who wrote the story. I knew deep down I could do it and that it would push me further in my understanding of my journey into watercolor, but I was intimidated at first because I thought I would need to look more professional in a realism sense. I have since learned it is the looseness of my paintings that people value. CJ says perhaps it is the spontaneity and sense of movement that comes from the sketchy ink.

Q: Did you have to learn any new skills for this book or for book illustration in general, as opposed to individual paintings?

The book is challenging me to unify a color palette for a whole series, and I have had to learn much more about perspective. It made me look through a child’s eyes because it is a book for children, and I have to think about what moves the story forward in order to decide which part to illustrate.

Nan Hickam Hunt and Jon, her husband of 35 years.Nan Hickam Hunt and Jon, her husband of 35 years.

From the Stacks

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, Word in Hand Press may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.