{"id":130,"date":"2008-09-26T21:58:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-27T01:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oliverands.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/interview-with-dan-andreasen-the-oliver-s-paper-doll-illustrator\/"},"modified":"2018-11-28T10:26:22","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T15:26:22","slug":"interview-with-dan-andreasen-oliver-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2008\/09\/interview-with-dan-andreasen-oliver-s.html","title":{"rendered":"interview with dan andreasen, the oliver + s paper doll illustrator"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DanDan Andreasen, creator of the Oliver + S paper dolls, began his career as a sculptor and illustrator for American Greetings Corp. Over the past 25 years, he has illustrated more than 35 picture books. His illustrations have also been used to advertise iconic American products ranging from Orville Redenbacher to Harley Davidson.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is something that our customers wouldn\u2019t necessarily know, but your original illustrations for Oliver + S are really small in scale. How are you able to achieve so much detail in such a small space? <\/em>
Good glasses, I guess! I usually work to size. When I illustrate a season for Oliver + S, the whole thing (a paper doll and five outfits) fits on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper.<\/p>\n

My first job was working for American Greetings as an in-house illustrator and in their studio. I just got used to working small like that. It\u2019s the way we did things. If I\u2019m doing a book jacket, I\u2019ll sometimes do that at 150 to 200 % of the reproduction size. But for most of my illustrations I work to size.<\/p>\n

How did you get your start as an illustrator?<\/em>
I was 19 years old when I was hired at American Greetings Corp. Back in 1980, I was at Kent State working on a fine art major. I decided to go look for a job, and I went to American Greetings with my portfolio.<\/p>\n

When I was waiting for my turn to go in to interview, the receptionist took a phone call, and I heard her say she was sorry but there were no artist positions available\u2014unless you can sculpt. Of course, my portfolio was filled with all two-dimensional work. When my turn came, I went in and showed my portfolio. The interviewer asked me what deep in my heart I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to sculpt. So they sent me home with a block of clay and told me to make something. I did. And I got the job.<\/p>\n

I spent my first few years there using dental tools to sculpt figurine and picture frame prototypes. They would be shipped overseas to be mass produced. After a couple years of that I moved into the conventional design department.<\/p>\n

Did you learn anything interesting from working in three dimensions?
<\/em>I learned that I really wanted to paint, not sculpt!<\/p>\n

I worked through the 1980s at American Greetings, and at the end of the 1980s I hooked up with an agent in New York who started giving me publishing work. So I started working for myself. I did two American Girl series\u2014first the Felicity then the Samantha books.<\/p>\n

When you illustrated the American Girl books, you based some of your work on your own children, didn\u2019t you? What did they think about that at the time? <\/em>
\"Felicity\"<\/a>Anybody who hangs around my studio long enough ends up in one of my books.<\/p>\n

My kids grew up with that. My oldest daughter is 22 now. Felicity\u2019s younger sister and brother were my kids. Later when I did the Samantha books, I used my daughter as the model for Samantha and her best friend for Nellie. My youngest is five now, and she\u2019s my new model.<\/p>\n

I work with professional and neighborhood models too. When I hire someone to model for me, I pay them. So when my kids would pose for me, I would give them a few dollars. It was a real job for them, and they\u2019ve always been good sports about it. When my oldest was in kindergarten, her teacher asked her what kind of work her dad did, and she said, \u201cHe colors.\u201d As far back as their memories go, I was always working in my home studio.<\/p>\n

Next: Dan discusses his favorite recent project.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dan Andreasen, creator of the Oliver + S paper dolls, began his career as a sculptor and illustrator for American Greetings Corp. Over the past 25 years, he has illustrated more than 35 picture books. His illustrations have also been …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[9,25,16],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-behind-the-scenes","tag-paperdolls","tag-people"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Andreasen-731162.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-26","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2145,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2011\/01\/oliver-s-little-things-to-sew-the-trailer.html","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":0},"title":"oliver + s little things to sew: the trailer","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"January 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't tell you how excited I am to finally be able to share this. Enjoy! Credits Animation: Holly Klein Photographs: Laurie Frankel Paper Doll Illustrations: Dan Andreasen Music: \"Quixote Dreams of Dulcinea,\" by Ergo Phizmiz This video is also available for viewing on YouTube and Vimeo.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/09\/meet-pearl.html","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":1},"title":"meet pearl","author":"Todd Gibson","date":"September 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Every kid needs a pet, right? Even paper doll kids need a pet. So this season the Oliver + S paper dolls have adopted a new friend. Here's Pearl.Pearl is a dachshund. We're not sure if Pearl is a boy dog or a girl dog, but that doesn't matter much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Pearl-723898.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":112,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2009\/03\/book-giveaway.html","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":2},"title":"book giveaway","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"March 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"About six months ago, we published an interview with Dan Andreasen--the illustrator who does the Oliver + S paper dolls.This week at the studio we came across a brand new copy of Dan's recent book, The Giant of Seville, and thought that we would give it away to one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/GiantCover-759276.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1858,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2010\/11\/oliver-s-the-book.html","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":3},"title":"oliver + s, the book","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"November 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm pleased to announce that our first book, \"Oliver\u00a0+\u00a0S Little Things to Sew\" will be published by STC Craft\u00a0-\u00a0Melanie Falick Books in March, 2011. I loved writing this book, and I know you're going to enjoy reading and sewing from it. Featuring 20 full-length sewing projects, the book brings the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/BookCover.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":129,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2008\/09\/interview-with-dan-andreasen-continued.html","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":4},"title":"interview with dan andreasen, continued","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"September 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Dan Andreasen illustrates the Oliver + S paper dolls. We were able to speak with him recently about his background and some of his most enjoyable recent projects. (Part 1 of the interview can be found here.) What do you like to illustrate most? Right now I\u2019m getting a kick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/GiantCover-7592761.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":153,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2008\/03\/in-miniature.html","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":5},"title":"in miniature","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"March 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember that paper doll we were handing out at Quilt Market last October?Well, how cute are these? Miniature versions of the paper doll, in postcard form! We're sending these to shops who book our trunk shows as a promotional tool; they can send the postcards to customers or keep them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/postcard-733102.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}