is it insane that I illustrated a book in 2 weeks?

I had a new book come out this week called A HUG FOR PUNCH.

I have worked on many books projects in my career, but none have been quite as interesting as this. Normally, a picture book will be developed over YEARS, and I typically spend 6-12 months working on the illustrations. A single spread can take me up to a week to illustrate. Then you get another year for the production before it hits the shelves.

Because the subject matter of the book is a Hot Topic, I worked on this book in April of this year, and it was published a mere 4 months later. I have heard of a handful of other timelines as insane as this (the Kamala Harris book by Mirchandani and Kelkar comes to mind) but I think this might be a record haha.

Funny enough, I wrote/illustrate another picture book a FULL YEAR before working on Punch, and it is releasing three weeks after this crash book.

With the final art being illustrated in only two weeks, I took this as an opportunity to record my process.

I filmed all my time management, problem solving, and chaos, and turned it into a chunky 1hr15min video you can watch here:

But if you want the sparknotes version, here is what the process was like! (part 1)

Subscribe now

For some context, here is how I got the gig!

Back in February, instead of working on client projects, I was scrolling on Instagram and came across photos of Punch the Monkey. I fell in love, being reminded of my toddler, and drew some fanart. It became viral, and eventually caught the attention of Penguin Random House who had already started working on a picture book.

As a side note, I have gotten SO many gigs through fan art, and if you’d like to see a post about that, let me know!

I was initially reluctant to take on the project because of the tight turn-around; my art style can be quite intensive and detailed, but the publisher was specifically interested in the sketchy digital style I did for the fan art, which would be a lot easier to recreate so I decided to accept.

Although the fan art was digital, I really wanted to get back into traditional media. Most of my books in recent years have been traditionally illustrated with gouache and collage, but I switched to digital after having my baby.

So not only was I working under a tough deadline, I also decided to attempt a whole new medium I have never used before: watercolor and ink.

Although I could done it digitally, I realized that it would actually faster to do it traditionally. In digital art, my goal is to recreate a traditional style. I’ll use things like special brushes, textured paper, overlays, and intentionally create artificial ‘mistakes’ to make it look analog. Whereas if I worked traditionally… I could just create all of that organically in one go.

The publisher was wary at first, and I tested out my medium with a few color and ink options:

It was a success! We decided to go this route:

Share

I spent two weeks working on the sketch interiors (roughs, revisions, cleans) and once that was approved, I had twenty days to illustrated the final art. A portion of those days needed to be set aside for digitizing.

I did my sketches on the iPad, printed and stitched them together.

I really like using a hybrid approach, even when working traditionally, and alternate between the two techniques. There are no rules!

Using my lightbox, I traced my sketches with nibbed dip pen and FW Ink. I usually like to work larger than the trim size, usually at 120% so I can easily add as much detail as I want. However, I decided to work to scale (100%) for this book, and a few pages in I switched gears at worked at 80% of the book size. This would save me time in the painting process, and I also felt like my inked lineart looked way too thin when working at a larger size.

I did have to redraw a few pages, but it was a necessary redirection. I had a lot of trial and error going on for this new medium.

I’m very much a ‘form’ artist instead of ‘line’, so it was really interesting to adapt to this different way of thinking creatively. Definitely an adjustment!

This is getting long so I’ll speak more in PART 2 about the actual painting process.

I hope you enjoy my vlog, and let me know if you have any questions!

I’m going on tour! Come see me at these fun events:

✸ NEIGHBOR BOOKS: Mckinney, TX Aug 20

Reading of HUG FOR PUNCH hosted by The Mom Walk Collective. 10:30am

✸ TALKING ANIMALS: Garland, TX Aug 30

Reading and drawing demo of HUG FOR PUNCH. Event Link

✸ WHOSE BOOKS: Dallas, TX Sept 5

Reading + Signing. First 20 families to join will receive a free copy of the book. Event Link

✸ NUTS & SHELLS: Toronto, Canada Sept 19

Launch event! 2pm-4pm

✸ SCBWI CONFERENCE: Austin, TX Sept 26

Picture book presentation and portfolio reviews

✸ BIG FOOT KIDS BOOK FESTIVAL: Redmond, WA Oct 10

Reading/Signing Event Link

✸ LIGHTBOX EXPO: Pasadena, CA. Oct 23-25

I haven’t attended since 2022 so I’m really excited for this one! I’ll be tabling, doing a presentation and bringing plenty of books and merch

✸ VROMAN’S: Pasadena, CA. Date TBD (LBX weekend)

I’ll have a bookstore event during Lightbox!

✸ BOOKPEOPLE: Austin, TX. Dec 5

Bookstore reading - 10:30am

✸ VARTA STORYTELLING FESTIVAL: Austin, TX. Dec 5

Featured Author at this awesome South Asian Literary Festival! Event Link