PALABRAS: Award-Winning Illustrator and Author Joe Cepeda Took Serpentine Route to Art

Joe Cepeda, the Los Angeles-born illustrator of awarding-winning picture books, is also an author, a former engineer and a masterful pictorial storyteller.

Before Cepeda penned and illustrated his own book, "The Swing," and designed pictures to be paired with stories like "Penny Butter Fudge" by Tony & Slade Morrison; "Juan Bobo Busca Trabajo: A Puerto Rican Folk Tale" by Marisa Montes; "Mice and Beans" by Pam Munoz Ryan; and "Nappy Hair" by Carolivia Herron, Cepeda was a young boy with a fondness for drawing.

Conscious of his budding ability, the young artist's mother enrolled him in the Los Angeles Music and Art School, located in East Los Angeles, an institution dedicated to the under-served but vibrant community of greater East Los Angeles. There he grew his understanding of art, but the connection with art was temporarily splintered when went on to attend his all-male parochial high school, which didn't offer a single art class.

"When I was in high school, I kind of forgot about art, and ended up studying engineering, which is what I went to college for. Then, after a while, I knew that engineering probably wasn't going to be my thing," Cepeda told Latin Post. "I took the serpentine route through school to find my way back to art. I realized this was something I could do, and wanted to do. Once I realized I wanted to be an image maker, I found that illustration was something that was a good fit. Then, I found that I wanted to be an editorial cartoonist, specifically, right off the back."

With the brush in his hand, he knew that he loved the craft of editorial cartoon work, as well as the painterliness aspect of it and the editorial part of it. He was introduced to children's book illustration when showing his portfolio around New York City. During his first meeting with an editor, he'd secured a contract.

"In my first meeting with an editor, I ended up with a book contract, which is sort of atypical of how it works. Then, I showed my portfolio to magazines, and things like that. ... I was already older after this long route through school, so I just wanted to work, I was pretty determined," said Cepeda.

The California State University graduate explained that being an editorial artist is all about responding to and corresponding with a manuscript to make it a beautiful thing. Different kinds of books and characters come into his door, and he postures to be "authentically responsive so that we end up with a great book.

"There's a lot of writing that goes in illustrating, visually, because authors don't always mention what the character looks like, what the character wears, whether the characters is a little selfish or juvenile. Not every story has its characters completely fleshed out," Cepeda stated. "There's a lot you can do from an illustrator standpoint to make it a fuller story. A great picture book manuscript allows for writing on the illustrator's part. Some of greatest picture books do that very well, so that the editors can fulfill the other half of what's going to be a really great story."

When it came to his own story, "The Swing," Cepeda had to do both sides of creation, which was exciting but also nerve-wracking because he had to "invent from the ground up." He sat down to write a manuscript, but chose to develop the visuals first, and let the text find him in an intuitive way.

The solo creation of a project allows for freedom, control and an opportunity to create in an expansive way, which can be addicting, said Cepeda. Even though he isn't necessary trained in creative writing, he hopes to continue to grow in that direction.

When communicating with young people at speaking engagement, Cepeda has spoken quite a bit about his years dedicated to math and science and how it has affected his work from a production standpoint. His engineering background has influenced how he creates his art in terms of space, time and materials. There's an overlap when it comes to all of his learned and honed skills, pushing him to always be intentional and forward moving with his art. It's also encouraged him to always pick different materials, different subject matters or challenge himself with alternative languages.

"Some of the work you do, you do it because you just need the therapy, and some of you do to develop mastery or virtuosity in the way you make marks. But, the great thing about this profession, is that you can be in charge of yourself, and you can always find a way to tell a story," said Cepeda. "If you continue to be a great storyteller, chances are you will find levels of success, which hopefully are in line with what you're seeking."

Cepeda is currently working on a picture book, which has been described as the "third picture book a child will read by themselves." "Pup" is a very simple, colorful story that will be designed and delivered digitally.