I can never pinpoint the exact origin of an idea for an illustration. As someone who consumes a lot of media, specifically animated movies, a small trinket in the background, for example, might catch my eye. Flipping through a photo album and a particular colour combination or a facial expression stands out. It could be from observing the incessant chirping squirrel that lives on the tree outside my window, serving as inspiration for the main character of my debut work-in-progress children’s picture book (but that’s a story for another day).

These ideas are usually a few phrases that form an incomplete sentence or a scribble in the closest scrap of paper I can find.

My process fairly remains the same across all illustrations but let’s take a closer look at my character illustration titled "A harvest mouse finds a drop of water"

I wanted this illustration to be a combination of cottage core and whimsical. This is a little mouse who comes across a leaking tap near a cherry shrub and decides to take a quick shower after a long day's work.

Once the initial idea is on paper, I sketch a concept illustration. It's rarely ever pretty and is only to give the idea bones.

Next, I develop it further by sketching a revised illustration that is closer to the size I want the final painting to be. I used cold pressed water colour paper (20x20 cm) for this illustration.

I love incorporating green in my illustrations, pairing it with other earthy tones. After choosing where I wanted the light source to be, I started my favourite part of the process, allowed myself to be spontaneous in choosing colours for smaller details and painting as many bubbles as my heart desired. I completed the traditional side of the process by adding textures using coloured pencils.

After scanning the painting into my laptop, I used Adobe Photoshop to colour correct and add highlights.

Thank you for reading!