'the blue ball point pen phase' - from my sketch book

'the blue ball point pen phase' - my first children's book

this is the first children's book i've done (apart from the ones i did as a child:) my husband and me spent our first family holiday on 'la gomera', a beautiful island off the coast of africa. lucia, our first born, wasn't even a year old at the time. i only had one of these cool 80's ball point pens with me, which you push down and then ball points in different colours pop up... and here we go: all blue, red and green!

'rosine' - scibble'n'scrawl

this is the story board for my children's book 'rosine - a story about being different'. i find it is actually much like doing a story board for a moving image.

these are sketches of a bauhinia tree, the most famous tree here in hongkong. each money coin has this beautiful blossom moulded onto one side.

from pencil sketch to final picture in watercolour, ink pen, black thread and a little help from photoshop.

a creeper on a rock and rosine's favourite doll. the symmetry of this plant never ceases to fascinate me.

all of the above are trials for the character rosine: in pencil, in water colour and felttip pen with lots of thread for various hairstyles! and last but not least my daughter's interpretation of 'rosine': i so admire the siplicity of a child's drawing and all the happiness it captures! 

'rosine' - mock-up book.

 technique: watercolour, thread, packaging paper, chinese ink and photoshop

 technique: watercolour, pencil and photoshop

these are some pages from the mock-up book i showed at the bologna book fair in march 2011.  the first four of these pages are finalised, the last ones are just sketches. but as it is often the case: things which are not perfected are more lively and interesting than the finished product. so trash perfection! as the hongkong artist lee kit says; 'techinque is related to craftmanship, but it is really more about knowing when to stop.' how true!

'rosine' - the first scetches.

these are the first ideas for my children's book 'rosine - a story about being different'.  the story had been in my head (and heart) for quite a while. it is inspired by my little daughter's everyday experiences. the sketches just flowed out of my hand on a long flight to tokyo. it was one of my first trips without my children and creativity knocked on the door again. such a great feeling! take a walk on the pink side, babe!