Illustrated Books
A variety of my styles are illustrated in the projects below.
From Bob Tales, Land of the Woody Warbles to Cody's Whisper, I have enjoyed working with clients with different needs and conceptual stages when they've come to me with their stories.
I have worked on book layout, illustrations,
cover designs and printing production.
Detective Dimple and the Colourless Coral Mystery
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Written by UK author Peter Woolrich, this story was born from the serendipity of life and the random chance at strangers meeting at a cafe. The joy this book has brought me in its creative process, the vibrant color palette, and the research that went into learning about all these ocean creatures was an adventure to be sure.
Detective Dimple Book 2 - coming soon
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Coming back to the tale of Dimple and Yeehaw, I was able to expand this delightful tale with a range of beach scenes, and shallow waters this time around. The colors and lighting follow the rhythm of the story as Dimple the crab faces a scary experience, and then comes out of it by making new friends and once again finding teamwork to better the world around her. Scenes of the rock pool and the beach captured earthy tones with a beachy twist in this book.
Weepy: Beyond a Willow Tree Collection
Through serendipity and a love of nature, Georgi Ana and I connected over the beauty of old trees to bring her stories to life. I carefully considered the home of Weepy the Willow Tree to create visual artwork that reflected her poetic vision. Using lots of resources and reference material, I aimed to capture the magic of the San Joaquin River life with flowing, soft illustrations and lots of little details.
Cody's Whisper
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Written by Malia Grace, this story focuses on teaching of natural centering and finding calming techniques by experiencing the natural world. When she approached me, she described her imagery wanting to be full of magic, vivid color, and capturing the beauty of nature. I focused my color choices around this as our central design elements pop with deep, saturated hues and bold details that draw your eye across each page. Aimed at "early readers" and young families, this picture book was illustrated to captivate the imagination and inspire families looking for some magic and joy. several full spreads were included to illuminate the scenes with color details that you could follow across the entire page.
Bob Tales: Land of the Woody Warbles
Susan approached me with a finished story that she was looking to have illustrated. We worked closely together to conceive of character designs, book and cover layouts, as well as extra marketing materials including a full spread map of the story.
Percy Goes Camping... Maybe
This story was based on a real-life service dog named Percy. His unbounded energy and love was the soul of this book and we aimed to capture his playful spirit in the easy reading and vibrant colors. Inspired by the Ladybug trailer that he interacts with in this book, I included a little "look and find" lady bug on each page throughout the story. Suited for young children, the illustrations were simple and bright and expressed Percy's story in a unique manifestation.
Percy Does Yoga... Not!
This story was based on a real-life service dog named Percy. His energy continues to perpetuate in this book, filled with vibrant colors and deep, expressive body language. While we wanted to include elements of yoga, the core of the story was focused on his emotive responses which I wanted to be highly expressive. Following color focal points and carrying his little praying mantis along the story, this book is bright and energetic, perfect for younger readers.
Andy in the Attic: Finding a Home
I was approached by Raven's Lantern Publishing to illustrate a children's fantasy book that would reach young readers ages 6-10 years. I had an outline story which was then fleshed out by their editor, and given direction for book size/layout. I created over 50 full color illustrations and designed the characters for the story, including the environments and lighting of each drawing.
Hero of Snow Valley
I had the pleasure of bringing this story to life with soft, heart-warming illustrations that captured the learning process while also having a gentle, naturally magical essence to it. The story takes place during a historic blizzard of its time, and a telling of village of people who were rescued by a creative, willing young man during a similar snow storm.
