In April 2020 I was getting used to the new world reality and beginning to realize that the pandemic shut down was going to last a lot longer than I thought. As a precautionary measure, my workplace at the time reduce our hours so I was only working 4 days per week. Shortly thereafter I was contacted by Bayard Press and commissioned to do an editorial piece for their back to school edition of Chirp Magazine. Elated, I began working on my first public piece. It was the perfect project to keep me occupied when the world was full of chaos and uncertainty.
In September 2020 I received my copy of the magazine featuring the story “Finley Keeps His Cool” written by Adrienne Brown and illustrated by me!
A key part of my process was defining the character, Finley. It was important that his character design be striking. I researched fish that lived on the coral reef and decided that the Bluehead Wrasse would be a suitable fish (that didn’t anything like some well-known Disney fish characters)
Once the character designs were started, I began thumbnail sketches to define the composition on the page. I was provided the manuscript and a sample layout to work with. Once I figured out the flow, I drew larger pencil sketches that I composited digitally to show the overall look of the drawings.
I submitted a few sample variations to the client to receive any feedback before proceeding to the full colour illustrations.
“Finley Keeps His Cool” tells the story of a little fish who learns how to manage his big feelings when things don’t go his way at school. The story aims to inspire readers aged 3 to 6 to explore how to regulate their own emotions.
In the first part of the story, Finley is bumped and pushed and begins to feel overwhelmed waiting in line to get to school. His friend, Sally the Seal, tries to help by showing him how to take deep breaths. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for Finley and he becomes even more agitated than before.
While at the Library, Finley encounters a Pufferfish who is feeling upset. The Pufferfish puffs up and explains to Finley that this helps them feel better. Finley feels discouraged about his quest to feel better. If puffing out and taking deep breaths doesn’t work for him, what will?
After speaking to an octopus family, Finley learns the key to regulating emotions: figure out what makes you happy and do it! For Finley, that’s swimming in loop de loops. Finley solved his problem, felt better about his day, and now has the tools to help him when things feel tough.
It was surreal to see my work in print, knowing that thousands of families would read the story and see the character come to life through my illustrations.
I learned a lot from going through the process of working on this editorial piece. I look forward to future opportunities to work on similar projects and apply the lessons I’ve learned.