My process of children's book illustration
From conceptual drawing to watercolor painting
Research and drawing
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Research can be a very long, in-depth process. If you want to do the best job for your new children's book, you need to understand the story and the characters inside out.
For "Finding Joy", I did extensive research. I visited web sites that documented the adoption journey with pictures; interviewed people who had similar experiences as the characters in the story. I tried to understand every detail and collect as much visual material as possible. I even went to China to trace the journey in the story. I took a plane to China, and visited an orphanage in a southern city. I met the caregivers and the children in the orphanage. This experience gave me the final confirmation and the emotional connection to the story and the characters that I needed.
Meanwhile, I searched for the perfect models for the characters in the book. Once I found them, I gave them directions about what they should be thinking and how they should be acting at the moment. I used a digital camera so that I didn't need to worry about how many shots I had to take. Photos of my models only serve as my reference materials along with other photos I had collected, like houses, trees and locations.
