James Foley on Bigfoot vs Yeti

James Foley sitting alongside his desk and wacom. Photo by Jessica Wyld Photography.

The cover of a picture book: Bigfoot vs Yeti by James Foley

James Foley makes picture books, novels and graphic novels for kids. He creates with pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, and watercolour and also uses digital tools for his work. Today we’re excited to be chatting with James about his latest picture book: Bigfoot vs Yeti.

The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of Bigfoot vs Yeti.

From the publisher:

The Bigfoots say it started when a Yeti threw a snowball across the rift. The Yetis say it started when a Bigfoot threw some fruit across the rift. Who could say for sure? One night, a young Bigfoot and a young Yeti decide to find the end of the rift so they can finish the feud – once and for all. Things are about to get hairy …

You used a digital linocut technique for the illustrations – can you tell us a bit about how you created them?

At first I tried real linocut, which is a printmaking technique – you basically take a piece of lino (flat rubbery plastic) and you carve little bits out of it to make the picture. Then you add ink to it, and then you press it on paper. You’re basically making a giant stamp! But I quickly realised it would take a lot more time than I had, and I would need a lot of supplies (and practice) to do it properly. I also wouldn’t have the luxury of an undo key if things went wrong; I would just have to start a picture again.

So rather than doing proper linocut, I used the same techniques digitally: I opened Procreate on my Ipad, downloaded some ‘linocut’ brushes that some much cleverer people had designed, and I created my images that way: digitally ‘carving’ out the images bit by bit.

It was still a challenge, because linocut is the opposite way of thinking to normal drawing. If I want to draw a black line on white paper, then I just get a black pen and draw the line. But if I want to make a black line using linocut, then I need to start with black and add the white around the space where I want the black line to be. I’m carving out all the spaces around where I want the lines to go. It takes a bit of getting used to!

Bigfoot vs Yeti has a touch of Romeo and Juliet (spoiler: with a happier ending). How did you come to choose bigfoots and yetis for the characters in this feud-busting love story?

I didn’t set out to make a story about the ancient feud between Bigfoots and Yetis; that was a surprise! It all started with a character idea. Without giving away too much about the book, there’s a character at the very end that was the first thing I came up with. Then I worked backwards – where would this character come from? And how could I make their backstory full of drama and conflict? That’s where the story came from.

The rift is a metaphor as well as a physical presence in the story. Were the rift illustrations inspired by a place you’ve visited?

The rift wasn’t inspired by an actual place, but I found photos of forests and snowy mountains and lakes, sometimes all together – particularly around the Pacific Northwest of North America. I’d love to visit in person one day.

The story is fun to read aloud, how do you go about drafting a tale like this?

This picture book took a while to marinate – just like Stellarphant did. Both stories are very important to me and I wanted them to be the best they could be. So I wrote many, many versions. Early versions of this didn’t work, so I left it for a long while, brainstormed lots of possibilities, and let the best ideas rise to the top. Then when it came to writing the story, I often read it aloud as I went. I always want to make sure that when the book is bought and taken home, that it’s going to be pleasing for the person who’s reading it as well as the child who’s listening.

Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?

I’m working on four books this year – a capybara sequel, a funny picture book about onomatopoeia, a junior fiction novel written by Nathan Luff, and [drum roll] a non-fiction follow-up to Stellarphant. I can’t wait to share these with everyone! The capybara sequel should be out later this year and the others will be 2026-ish.

Also out this year are the colour editions of Dungzilla (April) and Chickensaurus (June). Exciting times!

Bigfoot vs Yeti is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.