His Hands Are Full These Days

Once upon a time, there was a boy who liked to draw.

Steve Bjorkman drew pictures of funny-looking people and animals all day long. Even when he was supposed to be listening to his teachers, he drew pictures in his notebook. His teachers did not appreciate his talent.

“I would look a lot and draw a lot, but I never thought I would make a career of it. It was something I did so much, I never thought about it actually becoming a job,” said Bjorkman, 46, a mostly self-taught illustrator of 32 children’s books who lives and works in Irvine.

Bjorkman spent the first 14 years of his career creating graphic designs and illustrations for advertisements and promotional materials. He also created greeting cards in partnership with his younger brother, Carl Bjorkman. Recycled Paper Greetings has sold about 60 million of their cards since 1985, they estimate.

During the last decade, Steve Bjorkman has kept his inner child fully engaged with children’s book illustration. His first book, “Aliens for Breakfast,” was published by Random House in 1988. But he says “Germs, Germs, Germs,” (Scholastic, 1996), is his breakthrough book, artistically speaking.

“This was really great fun, being free to create whatever kind of creatures I could dream up,” he said, pointing to a watercolor-and-ink rendering of assorted fiendish-looking germs he created for the book. The garishly colored creatures are shown writhing in a whirlpool as they are sucked down the drain.

He recently finished illustrations for the forthcoming book, “Lots of Lice,” to be published by Scholastic later this year.

“I take the head lice creatures and draw them in a way that looks fun and approachable enough so the kids aren’t scared off, but evil enough so nobody will mind when they get killed. I ended up drawing this creature that has a kind of beakish look to it, and he’s got these little antennas that look like eyebrows making a frown. They’ve got six legs and I put little speckles of dirty stuff around them.

“The whole time I was illustrating the book my head itched. I was sitting here scratching my head the whole time. I didn’t wind up dedicating the book to anybody, because who would want this kind of book dedicated to them? But I tried to make it fun.”

Even before his first book illustration, Bjorkman was immersed in children’s literature, reading to his son, David, nearly every night. An art director with Random House who had seen his work asked if he’d like to illustrate a children’s book called “Aliens for Breakfast.” He jumped at the chance.

“I made a foolish mistake. I took a flat fee instead of a royalty. The book won an award and they made a TV movie of it. I learned a lesson on that one.”

Bjorkman now has three children, and he reads to all of them.

“My wife and I both read to the kids. There’s a good bonding thing that comes from reading together. I’m reading in three different places in three different books right now to all three of my kids.”

His career as a book illustrator is steadily growing, but he still spends about two-thirds of his time on advertising art and greeting cards. He created a 1998 calendar for Whisk detergent that features 12 of his illustrations.

Even when he’s not working, he’s drawing. He illustrated fliers protesting a proposed 2,500-home development in Irvine, north of Turtle Rock.

“We’ve been trying to get the Irvine Co. to mitigate their plan. So I’ve been able to use my drawings in fliers that go out to residents,” said Bjorkman, who is near the end of his two-year term as co-president of the Assn. for the Highlands Development homeowner group in the city.

“On one of the fliers, a man says, ‘Gee, those hills used to be beautiful before they built all these homes.’ And his son says, ‘Dad, what’s a hill?’ On another one, there’s a mom who says, ‘I’ve never seen this much traffic on Turtle Rock Drive before.’ And her kid says, ‘It’s OK mom, I think I can make it if I run real fast.’ ”

He also employs his drawing skills as a Sunday school teacher at Voyagers Bible Church in Irvine, and once illustrated the Christmas story for the congregation during Christmas Day services. He wants his artwork to inspire.

“Children’s literature can be very inspiring. In a simple way, it often talks about the real issues of life. Some of these books really are timeless, like ‘The Giving Tree’ [by Shel Silverstein]. It’s an adult story as much as it’s a kid’s story.

“I have to admit, some of the books I’ve done, like ‘This Is the Way We Eat Our Lunch,’ are not really very spiritually uplifting books. And that’s probably what my next step will be: to write and illustrate these kinds of books, the kind of books that will inspire children.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Profile: Steve Bjorkman

Age: 46

Hometown: Monterey Park

Residence: Irvine

Family: Wife, Diane; three school-age children

Education: Bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education, Trinity College (Deerfield, Ill.)

Background: Art director for Trinity College development office, 1974-77; manager of Salt Graphics (Irvine), 1977-78; freelance illustrator since 1978; began Bjorkman Bros. with younger brother, Carl, in 1979 to create and market greeting cards and products featuring his illustrations

Illustrations: Promotional and advertising materials for clients ranging from Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau to Lands’ End; newspapers and magazines from The Times to Better Homes and Gardens; greeting cards for Recycled Paper Greetings since 1985; 32 children’s books since 1988

Last book: “We’re Off to See the Lizard,” (HarperCollins, 1998)

Next book: “Lots of Lice,” (Scholastic, planned for 1998)

Words and pictures: “It’s usually the publisher, not the writer, that chooses the illustrator for a children’s book. Publishers pretty much keep the writers and the illustrators separate. That way, I’m able to approach the work on my own, with my own vision.”

Source: Steve Bjorkman; Researched by RUSS LOAR / For The Times