As Ash the Brush’s Journey is my first ever published book, friends have had heaps of questions about it – Have you always had a story in your head? What prompted you to write a book? How did you know exactly what to draw?
First off, I’d like to thank all my friends who have already purchased the book, both in New Zealand and in the Philippines. Really appreciate all your support!
So back to my process…
The idea of writing a book has always been a dream of mine so when my mentor asked me what type of project I wish to do, I instantly said I wanted to illustrate one!
After the phone conversation with my mentor, Leigh Mitchell-Anyon, my mind quickly went into overdrive thinking for a topic. I didn’t have one then – all I knew was I wanted to reach children and introduce them to the beauty of art. Couple of minutes after, I went to the literal thinking throne…
And a storyline quickly popped up! I wanted to share that whatever pains we go through will always have a purpose. Then I thought of how I can creatively illustrate that point and thought of how we use paint brushes! Perfect!
I started working on it straight after that!
On the left hand side is how I conceptualized Ash’s features and colours used so all the illustrations are consistent. The top right photo is the final colour palette I’ve chosen for the entire book. The middle photo on the right are my art materials that inspired my book characters. I’ve especially included a Mongol pencil, a brand I’ve used from childhood. The bottom photo on the right is also an inspiration for one of Ash’s journey scenes.
I did a storyboard so I’d have a concrete direction…
Then researched for the appropriate facial expressions for the character…
Did test paintings of all the pages in watercolour, ink, and coloured pencils…
…And made the final paintings.
The most difficult task for me was not the painting part but the scanning, editing, and layout! I have been doing graphic arts for years now thus I was confident to do these tasks but it was way different to my typical editing and layout work!
Good thing I have a good relationship with my printing supplier, they helped heaps in my book layout! Shoutout to the PrintCraft guys Dave and Gary! Inputs about printing and layout from one of the artists I met in class, Michelle Mainwaring, helped heaps as well!
It was an exciting project and I am encouraged to create more. If anyone is wanting to also do their dream projects, I encourage you to do so! Start small, and take those small, wobbly steps haha, you’ll get there!
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