Octopus Ink

When an old friend asked me if I were interested in illustrating Chinese children's books for his mom, I jumped for the opportunity. Apparently it's very difficult to break into the children's book illustrating business, because so many people want to do it and so many people are already doing it. I've had some kid's activity books published, printed in black and white on a photocopier. These books would be in color, with a glossy card stock cover!

I have 7 books to illustrate, each with three stories based on animal characters. The books are to be published in Hong Kong, and used to teach Chinese to kids. With each book, a few new Chinese characters are added to the kids' repertoire.

It's a little tricky working internationally; I've met with the author and publisher once, and have since only communicated via email. There's a slight language barrier, my first language being English and theirs, Chinese. Unlike my aquarium and natural history museum work, where I serve as my own art director, I have less aesthetic and compositional control with these children's book illustrations.

But, I Do get to draw cute animals, and that is my specialty. I drew this in pencil, scanned it, then outlined and colored in photoshop.