Children’s Book Illustrations

Double Page Spread

For this this project, I was asked to create a double page spread illustration that featured a young shy girl on her first day of school. Recalling my days as an Assistant Teacher for the Kindergarten classroom. I greatly enjoyed designing the classroom with all the little nick-nacks teacher use, and the STUFF that just begins to fill the shelves over the year. For my little girl, I recalled the first day of class when all the students came in with worried faces and how over the day they brighten as we played games, sang songs, and learned fun lessons. I strove to capture the feeling of standing in front of a group of people, to scared to speak. That worries, scared feeling, while trying to be brave. I loved working on this piece and hope to create more projects similar to it in the future.

Wish

Wish was a fun illustration I was inspired to create when I came across a ring of mushrooms. When I was a girl, my mother told me a superstition, that if you stand in a ring of mushrooms, close your eyes, then you can make a wish. The story goes that the mushroom ring is a portal to the fairy world, and stepping inside means the fairies that live their must grant your wish. With this fantastical tale in mind, I created the cover for Wish.

Princess Maleen

Princess Maleen is an illustration project I am currently working on. Taking the beloved Maid Maleen fairytale, I am retelling the story for a 32 page children’s book. The images you see above is the current mock-up of the cover design I have along with a working design for one of the double page spreads. The image to the left, is a full page spread for one of darkest part of the story. As this book will be for children, I didn’t want to over exaggerate the main tragedy, but relay the raw emotion we all feel, being trapped and alone. By using on grey tones for the image, I strove to focus the emphasize the feelings of the character. To the right, I have illustrated the happiest moment in the story, when the two lovers are reunited in a happily ever after moment. I used bright colors and strong lighting to highlight the beginning of a better period in the protagonist’s life.