Toronto features as a character in Kara Stanley’s Ghost Warning:we explore its underbelly of urban crime, the vibrancy of its streets and communities, and the eccentricities of life in the city along with the novel’s main character, Lou James. It’s no wonder publisher Caitlin Press chose a Toronto-centric image for its cover licensed from Tom Chitty, an illustrator, cartoonist, and animator whom we chatted with about inspiration, illustration, and Toronto.
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ALU: Iconic Toronto landmarks and streets feature in many of your illustrations. Besides being from Toronto, are there any other reasons you draw the city? What’s your relationship to the city?TC: Toronto has been my home for eight years, but I’m originally from the UK. The experience of moving my life over the Atlantic was an inspiration at the start, the drawings were like a diary of the places I’d come to know. Now this is my home, and it’s much more familiar, but it doesn’t get old. I know I’m lucky to live here and I hope that shows up in the drawings. ALU: Toronto is almost a character in Ghost Warning so it’s fitting that Caitlin Press licensed your artwork, and specifically this piece, for the cover. How does seeing your art on a book cover differ from seeing it in a magazine or on a website?TC: There is something special about the cover of a book. To be asked to help make that first impression is a privilege. In general, though, I try not to focus on the differences between print and online. There is still a romance, for me, in seeing my work in on paper – becoming an object – but it’s matched by the ability of a digital image to find countless eyeballs in an instant. I’m just happy to see a drawing find a good home when it leaves my sketchbook. ALU: Can you take us through your process for illustrating a piece?TC: The Toronto drawings are somewhat drawn from memory, but only after I’ve spent a lot of time looking at, and thinking about, the location. If you close your eyes and imagine a place you know well, it’s not a photo that swims into view; it’s looser than that. It’s a bunch of images and feelings, all at once. I try to capture some of that brain soup by editing buildings, looking through walls, playing with perspective. Anything I can do to simplify what can sometimes start out as a complicated idea. ALU: You also make cartoons (The New Yorker!) and animations, but do you prefer one medium to another, or do they all have a special place?TC: I have drawn cartoons since I can remember, so that would be the sentimental answer. It’s also the hardest to do well, in my experience. I know what I think is funny, but it’s not always easy to convince other people. All my work starts life the same way though: as a scribble in my sketchbook. That’s my favourite part of the process, coming up with ideas. ALU: What do you read?TC: I read the news everyday, and I always have graphic novels by my bed. Otherwise I mostly consume non-fiction. On the go right now is Michael Maslin’s book about legendary New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno. Lately, though, I find I listen to more words than I read. It’s a more functional way to absorb information on my commute between coffee shops.* * *Thanks so much to Tom Chitty for sharing with us, and to Michael at Caitlin Press for making the connection! Ghost Warning is available September 14, but you can pre-order your copy today.Â
