Finding An Illustrator

Finding an illustrator is the current chapter I’m on in my story of creating my first children’s book.

And finding the right person to be my illustrator is such a big hurdle in my mind since I didn’t already know or have someone within reach, so had to go and find him/her. It felt like trying to find a partner for my dream project!

I have a vision for this children’s book. I see the characters a certain way in my mind and want the illustrations to engage the next generation (and adults who will read them). To me, it is very important to find the right person who shares my vision and who can bring the words to life!

I thought it would be interesting to share how I went about this since you may be wondering, “How do I start finding my person?” “Where do I begin?”

Like the steps listed in “Writing a Children’s Book” blog, I began with prayer trusting God that He would help me find the right person in the process.

I then began to do my research and search around to try and figure out what I even wanted. I couldn’t communicate the “look” I was going for if I couldn’t first identify what that “look” was. I looked at tons and tons of books in the library, in book stores, and paid attention to the different styles of art techniques and took note of which styles gave me peace for this project. I captured photos and began compiling them together so I could start to recognize patterns and narrow down what I was looking for.

I also started telling people I was looking for an illustrator and spread the word in case they knew someone. When this was harder than I thought it was going to be, I opened my heart even more to technologies that would connect me to people beyond Hawai`i.

Then, I created an ask. What would I ask these illustrator once I identified some whose work I loved?

I then sent this ask to children’s book illustrators who had that “look” while waiting for them, began to do further research on the illustrators. As they responded with some showing interest and others not, I started to compile a spreadsheet that tracked my progress with each one and took notes such as their timelines, budget, communication styles, enthusiasm for the project, etc.

This spreadsheet went from 12 illustrators contacted, narrowed down to 7 who I paid to do a sample cover page, down to 4 who I asked to do revisions, and am now down to the final 2 with a decision to make.

As I will soon wrap up this chapter of "Finding an Illustrator,” I will end the same way I started with prayer. I am praying that since both of the illustrators I am working with are so talented and I love them both, I pray that God guides me on who to work with and when.

I also pray that this encourages you if you too need to find an “illustrator” or a particular someone in your life, that God will guide you as you open your heart and share your dream project!

finding peace by piece:

This was a back and forth process that I had to take one conversation, with one illustrator, at a time, but it eventually lead me to two incredible women who believe in this book and its message for the world. Let’s find peace by piece in knowing that God guides and provides when we follow the desires of our heart, and we include Him in our story.