From a quiet idea to a finished page—this is where the story begins.
Before anything comes to life, there is a moment of emptiness. It starts quietly with a sketch.
A single line appears on the page, searching for its purpose. Another follows, and then another, until the space begins to fill. The lines come together, and shapes emerge before we even understand what is happening: a face, a landscape, a shadow. The world is silent, but it is no longer empty.
Ideas begin colliding, transforming into possibilities. The creator stands between two worlds, the one that is and the one that is yet to be. Thoughts take shape, and imagination starts building something from nothing.
Then color begins to find its way in. It helps sketches discover their expression, working alongside the lines to create a connection with the viewer. Color brings warmth, atmosphere, and feeling, turning ideas into experiences.
What was once a collection of lines on a page becomes a living world. A place that was once silent and empty is now vibrant and full.
Every story can be traced back to the same beginning: a simple thought and a silent sketch.
What Does This Mean to Me?
For me, illustrating a children’s book isn’t just about putting pictures on pages, but it is about creating a moment that a child can step into.
When I began working on Nelly and the Night Sky, I started with emotion. Before anything was finished, I asked myself, “What does this feel like?”
The answer wasn’t found in the final artwork, but it was found in the quiet details woven throughout. Every sketch became a way of exploring those feelings.
Slowly, the world of Nelly and the Night Sky began to take shape, not just as a collection of images, but as an experience. A place where children could imagine, wonder, and discover.
Because at its heart, illustration is more than drawing. It is storytelling. And every story begins with a feeling.
Step 1: The Idea
Every illustration begins long before a pencil touches the page. It begins with understanding the emotional heart of the story and discovering what feeling will guide every creative decision that follows.
For Nelly and the Night Sky, that feeling was a quiet kind of sadness. Not a dramatic sadness, but the kind that often exists beneath the surface; the kind that children experience before they have the language to explain it. It is a feeling of uncertainty, loneliness, and longing, mixed with hope and curiosity about what comes next.
Before thinking about character designs, environments, or color palettes, I spent time reflecting on that emotion and asking myself what it would look like visually. How could I create images that allowed children to recognize that feeling without needing it to be explained to them? How could I create a world that felt both honest and comforting at the same time?
Those questions became the foundation of the entire project. Every artistic choice that followed was guided by the emotional core of the story, ensuring that the illustrations supported not only the narrative but also the feelings hidden between the words.
Step 2: Sketching the Scene
Once I understand the emotional direction of the story, I begin sketching. This stage is often the most exploratory part of the process because it allows ideas to develop freely without the pressure of perfection.
The first sketches are intentionally loose and unfinished. Rather than focusing on details, I focus on composition, movement, atmosphere, and visual storytelling. I experiment with different arrangements of characters and environments, searching for the version of the scene that best captures the emotion I want the reader to experience.
At this stage, I ask myself questions such as: Where is Nelly standing within the world around her? How large should the night sky feel in comparison to her? Should the environment feel comforting, overwhelming, mysterious, or expansive? Where should the light originate, and how might it guide the viewer's eye through the page?
These sketches are rarely seen by anyone else, but they are some of the most important parts of the process. They serve as a visual conversation between imagination and storytelling, helping me discover the emotional rhythm of each illustration before moving forward. Through exploration, revision, and experimentation, the scene slowly begins to reveal itself.
Step 3: Building the Characters
Character development is where emotional connection truly begins to take shape. While environments and compositions help establish mood, it is often the characters who invite readers into the story and encourage them to see themselves within it.
When creating Nelly, I was not simply designing a narwhal. I was creating a character who could embody the emotions at the heart of the story. Nelly represents the experience of carrying something difficult while continuing to move forward with courage and curiosity. She reflects feelings that many children encounter as they grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.
Because of this, every aspect of her design is intentional. The shape of her posture, the softness of her features, the direction of her gaze, and the subtle changes in her expressions all contribute to how readers connect with her emotionally. Even the smallest visual details can influence how a child interprets a moment within the story.
Children are incredibly perceptive readers. They may not analyze a character's design in a technical sense, but they instinctively recognize honesty and authenticity. My goal is always to create characters that feel genuine, relatable, and emotionally accessible so that readers can form a meaningful connection with them throughout the story.
Step 4: Color and Emotion
Once the composition and characters are established, color becomes one of the most powerful storytelling tools available to me. Color has the ability to communicate emotion instantly, often before a reader consciously understands why a scene feels a certain way.
For this reason, I approach color with the same level of intention as every other aspect of the illustration. Each palette is carefully chosen to support the emotional journey of the story and strengthen the atmosphere of the scene.
Soft blues and gentle violets can create a sense of stillness, reflection, and quiet wonder. Warm golden tones can introduce comfort, hope, and connection. Deeper shadows and richer colors can evoke mystery, uncertainty, or the feeling of stepping into the unknown.
Rather than using color simply to make an illustration visually appealing, I use it to deepen the narrative experience. Color helps shape how a reader feels while moving through the story, creating subtle emotional cues that support the themes and emotions unfolding on each page.
When used thoughtfully, color becomes more than decoration—it becomes a language of its own.
Step 5: The Final Illustration
The final illustration is the moment when all of the individual pieces come together. Composition, character design, lighting, color, texture, and storytelling merge into a single image that represents the climax of the creative journey.
However, the true magic of illustration is not found solely in the finished artwork. It exists within the process itself; the countless decisions, revisions, experiments, and discoveries that happen along the way. Every sketch, every adjustment, and every moment spent solving creative challenges contributes to the final result.
The finished piece may be what readers see, but it is built upon hours of reflection, exploration, and refinement. It carries the history of every question asked and every problem solved throughout the creative process.
This is the approach I bring to every project, whether I am illustrating a children's book, developing a collection, or creating licensed artwork. My goal is never simply to create something visually appealing. It is to create work that resonates emotionally, invites connection, and leaves a lasting impression.
Because at the end of the day, illustration is about more than creating images.
It is about creating experiences, emotions, and moments that stay with people long after they have turned the page.
