MONTICELLO, Ga. - Piedmont Academy elementary students had a special visitor, Author and Illustrator Jonathan Miller.  Miller is the creator of  "The Adventures of Sammy the Wonder Dachshund."  Miller started writing children’s books because he wanted to illustrate them.

He met with the elementary student’s sharing his book and explaining his illustration process.  The process starts with a sketch.  But unlike typical pen and ink or watercolor illustrations, Miller puts his sketches under carbon paper, traces them, then cuts away the excess. Using card stock, layering, and X-ACTO knives, the end product is a more detailed and dimensional illustration. 

“It creates depth, a cool effect for the kids,” Miller said. “Children grow up learning art through tearing up pieces of paper and gluing it all down, so it’s something they relate well to."

Each illustration takes 30 to 50 hours to finish; kind of like a really tedious and precise collage.