From my first book to my tenth!
Sharing my process of final artwork for my next published book Grace Builds An Almost-Perfect Dog, written by Curtis Manley
Hello reader friends!
The past year-and-a-half has been A JOURNEY. In my professional life, did countless lovely events in Taipei, led workshops at China Children’s Book Fest, was cultural diplomat for the US Embassy on a trip to Shanghai and Nanjing, wrapped up Mixed-Up Mooncakes and Grace Builds An Almost-Perfect Dog, and worked on some author-illustrated works (to be announced!). In my personal life, gestated a baby, moved back to the Pacific Northwest from Taiwan, bought a house, moved (again) into house, birthed a baby, am recovering my postpartum body, am enjoying sweet baby company, and am getting back to work… allll the things!
New Book Alert!
Grace Builds An <Almost Perfect> Dog, written by Curtis Manley is out TODAY (March 11)! It’s a great book for problem-solvers and to introduce the concept of coding to kids. Booklist says “Grace’s solution-oriented attitude, determination, and grit will inspire other coders and dreamers, and the happy ending will please dog-lovers.” You can purchase it at a bookstore near you, or get it at any library!
The Team <insert dreamy eyes>
It was so much fun to work on as a dog-lover and as someone with an industrial design background! But most of all, I love the team at Roaring Brook Press for this book so much! I have been fortunate to work with executive editor extraordinaire Emily Feinberg twice now - and this time around was able to work with the amazing Emilia Sowersby, Mike Burroughs, and Sharismar Rodriguez too!
Fun fact, Shawn Loves Sharks, written by Curtis Manley, was my first published book, and Grace Builds is my tenth published book!
Final Artwork Process for Grace Builds An Almost-Perfect Dog (and Shawn Loves Sharks too!)
Seven years ago, my friends Zoey Abbott and Alison Farrell interviewed me about my process for Shawn Loves Sharks. Since Grace Builds was with the same author and publisher, I wanted to embody the same style for this book too! You can watch the explanation in the Youtube video below. Ultimately, I used graphite to pencil out the linework and shading and then scanned it in and painted digitally! I kept a color palette of skin tones, clothing colors, background colors to choose from and maintain consistency!
Here is the time lapse of the opening scene from Grace Builds An Almost-Perfect Dog. For Shawn Loves Sharks, I used Photoshop and a Cintiq to paint digitally, whereas for Grace Builds, I used my iPad Pro and Procreate to paint digitally.
Here’s one of my favorite spreads from the book. The emotional crux, if you will!
Nod to the tears of Ghibli Studios, like here in Spirited Away.
Event Alert!
Portland folks! I will do a book reading and activity this Saturday, March 15th, 2pm at Green Bean Books!
Snacks
Please enjoy this robot-dog inspired playlist to welcome you into the spring mood!
Educators and Librarians
I have a Coding Activity, Design Activity, and coloring sheet for Grace Builds up on my website now!