From the smallest change in an expression to the personal stories behind the illustrations, discover how I bring characters to life; and why Nelly, the little narwhal from my children’s book, Nelly and the Night Sky, will always hold a special place in my heart.
What makes you fall in love with an illustrated character?
Sometimes, it's their expressive eyes, a playful pose, or a little quirk that makes you smile.
Other times, it's something harder to explain.
You simply look at a character and feel like you know them.
For me, that's the magic of character illustration.
I want to create characters who feel like someone you could know, someone you'd want to spend time with, or someone who reminds you a little of yourself.
They don't have to be perfect or even particularly beautiful. In fact, I think it's often the little imperfections, emotions, and unexpected details that make them feel real.
And my favorite characters? They're the ones who can tell you something without saying a single word.
It All Starts With Personality
When I begin developing a character, I usually start by thinking about who they are and what role they play in the story.
Are they
adventurous,
shy,
curious,
nurturing,
or maybe a little mischievous?
What makes them different from the other characters?
How do they see the world, and how might they react to the things happening around them?
These questions help guide my initial sketches.
From there, I begin exploring shapes, proportions, expressions, and poses. I might sketch several different versions, exaggerate certain features, or try a completely different approach until something starts to feel right.
With Nelly and the Night Sky, I was working with several different sea creatures, so it was important that each character had a distinct personality while still belonging in the same illustrated world.
I wanted each one to feel recognizable and unique, with their own way of expressing themselves.
In a way, developing a character is a little like getting to know a new person. You start with an idea of who they might be, but the more time you spend with them, the more their personality begins to emerge.
When a Drawing Becomes a Character
I usually have an idea of a character's personality before I begin, especially when I'm illustrating a story. But that personality often becomes much more developed as I draw.
Sometimes a particular expression or pose changes the way I see a character.
They might turn out to be a little more playful, more sensitive, or much more expressive than I originally imagined.
A small adjustment can make a surprising difference.
Maybe I tilt the head slightly, change the direction of the eyes, or adjust the way the body is positioned. Suddenly, the character seems curious instead of uncertain, or confident instead of hesitant.
There's a point in the process when the character starts to feel like more than a collection of sketches. They begin to feel like little personalities of their own.
That's one of my favorite parts of illustrating characters. I love watching those personalities emerge through the drawing process.
The Little Details That Say So Much
One of the things I love most about character illustration is how much emotion you can communicate through the smallest details.
The tilt of a head, the direction of the eyes, a raised eyebrow, or the way a character holds their body can completely change what they're communicating.
I think the eyes are especially important. With just a small adjustment, you can change the feeling of an entire illustration.
But expression isn't always about what a character's face is doing.
Sometimes, it's about their body language or the way they interact with someone else.
A little hesitation, leaning toward a friend, or turning away can communicate just as much as a smile or a frown.
These quiet details are important because they allow the illustration to tell part of the story without needing words. A reader might not consciously notice every little adjustment, but they can still feel what the character is expressing.
And that's exactly what I hope for: characters who communicate naturally, simply through the way they look, move, and respond to the world around them.
Color, Shape, and Body Language
A character's personality isn't communicated through facial expressions alone. I think of posture, color, shapes, and proportions as parts of a visual language that all work together.
Posture and body language can suggest whether a character is confident, curious, nervous, or excited. Facial expressions help communicate what they're feeling in a particular moment, while shapes and proportions can give us an immediate impression of their overall personality.
Color is another element I love exploring. It can create a feeling before the reader even begins to understand what's happening in the story.
I try to consider how all these elements work together rather than treating them separately. A character's personality should come through in the way they move, react, and interact with their surroundings.
When those elements come together, the character begins to feel believable within their illustrated world.
Nelly and the Night Sky: Characters Close to My Heart
Of all the characters I've created, Nelly, the little narwhal from my children's book Nelly and the Night Sky, is without a doubt the closest to my heart.
Nelly's story is deeply personal because it grew out of my experience of losing my mother. The book explores grief, love, friendship, and the idea that the people we love are never truly gone from our lives.
But there's another layer that makes these characters especially meaningful to me: each of the characters surrounding Nelly was inspired by someone in my own family.
Willy, the whale shark, represents my husband, John.
Opal, the octopus, represents my son, JP.
Luna, the sea turtle, represents my daughter, Lauren,
and Tilly, the seahorse, represents my youngest daughter, Kathryn.
And Nelly represents me.
When I think about these characters, I see more than the illustrations on the pages of a book. I see pieces of the people I love, woven into a story that means so much to my heart.
Knowing the personal meaning behind them makes the process of illustrating these characters especially emotional.
Their personalities aren't just ideas I developed for a story. They're connected to the people and relationships that have shaped my life.
It's a reminder that sometimes our most meaningful creative work comes from the things we carry with us: our experiences, our memories, and the people who matter most.
Creating Characters That Help Children Feel Understood
When I create characters, I hope readers feel something when they meet them.
That feeling might be joy, curiosity, comfort, excitement, or even a little sadness.
Whatever the emotion, I want there to be a connection between the character and the person reading the story.
With Nelly and the Night Sky, I especially hope children who have experienced loss or are navigating difficult emotions can see a little of themselves in Nelly.
I want them to know it's okay to miss someone, to ask questions, and to find comfort in the people and the world around them.
At the same time, I want children to experience the wonder and magic of the story. I love the idea that an illustrated character can help a child see something familiar in an entirely new way.
A character can offer a little comfort, spark a question, or help a child understand a feeling they might not yet have the words to describe.
If a child closes one of my books feeling understood, comforted, or inspired to look at the world a little differently, then I've accomplished something truly meaningful.
The Work Behind Those Seemingly Simple Faces
Something people might not realize about character illustration is just how much thought goes into making a character look simple.
You can spend hours adjusting the smallest details.
Moving an eye,
changing the curve of a mouth,
experimenting with proportions,
or shifting a pose just slightly can make all the difference in capturing the right expression or feeling.
And the work doesn't stop once you've created one beautiful illustration.
A character needs to work in many different situations. They have to remain recognizable whether they're happy, sad, surprised, swimming, sitting, or looking in a completely different direction.
Their personality needs to come through consistently, even as their expressions and poses change throughout a story.
That takes a lot of experimenting, revising, and problem-solving. A character that looks wonderful in one pose might need adjustments to work in another.
The goal isn't simply to create a single appealing image. It's to develop a character who can carry a story, express a range of emotions, and remain recognizable from one page to the next.
Those seemingly simple little faces have a lot of thought behind them!
More Than Just a Drawing
For me, bringing characters to life is about finding the little details that make them feel real.
It's about exploring personality through expression, posture, color, and shape, and allowing those elements to work together to tell a story.
Sometimes, the most memorable characters are the ones who feel a little imperfect, a little unexpected, or wonderfully familiar.
And sometimes, as with Nelly and the other sea creatures in Nelly and the Night Sky, they become something even more personal: a way to share our experiences, honor the people we love, and help others feel a little less alone.
That's what I love most about character illustration.
A drawing can become so much more than an image. It can become a personality, a story, a source of comfort, or a connection between the person who created it and the person who discovers it.
And sometimes, all it takes is a little tilt of the head or a look in the eyes to say everything that needs to be said.
I'd Love to Hear From You!
And if you'd like to learn more about Nelly and her story, you can explore my children's book, Nelly and the Night Sky.
Thank you for taking a little time to step behind the scenes and explore the art of bringing characters to life with me.
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