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book expo america

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This is a panel from Pashmina. The word shabash means congratulations in Hindi. Beta is the word for son/daughter. Around our house we’re always saying shabash to our daughter – and I imagine my mom saying this to me as I embark on my trip to New York tomorrow for Book Expo America.

The trip will mark a lot of firsts – my first author trip to promote Pashmina, first publisher luncheon with other authors, first round of interviews and meetings for Pashmina. Among many of those firsts – I will see and hold my book for the first time at my first book signing (advance copies, the book still releases on October 3rd).

It’s about to become very real and I am very excited (and nervous, too!)

 

this is india

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Do you remember the first positive representation of your home country? The lead character in my debut, PASHMINA, Priyanka is introduced to India in one of my favorite pages. I will be sharing a few sneak peeks before its release in October.

I remember inking this page not sure if I could convey what I wanted – but when I added color it came together.

I hope you have a happy weekend!

mother’s day cards

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We have put a lot of cards on sale, including our two remaining Mother’s day cards.

Also, I am happy and humbled that Pashmina was included in Teen Vogue’s list “8 YA Books with Powerful Stories about being South Asian.”

the flow

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An artist career is one that cannot be charted or replicated – it has its own flow. As I sat down to draw today I remembered deciding years ago to reduce my daily drawings to weekly. I was nervous that it would impact my income and that I would lose the audience I had worked so hard to build. Stopping was necessary though – I needed to complete Pashmina.

I went from producing a finished illustration 4-5 times a week to once a week. I posted older images to keep connecting with people, but as Pashmina took my focus I reduced those posts as well. Now I find myself unconcerned with this irregularity. My career has flowed into new territory.

No longer do I attempt to create daily illustrations – often times I sacrificed the quality of the image for quantity. Pashmina is done and I’ve begun thumbnailing my second book, Jukebox. It demands my focus as well. I may not be creating illustrations every day, but I am creating daily. The opportunity to create longer narratives – to make books – is one I’ve dreamt of since I was little. Both disciplines are worthwhile – but for now, my heart is in comics. I will be traveling throughout the year to promote Pashmina – in April I’ll be at the Cleveland Museum of Art and in Juneau for the Alaska Mini Con. The opportunities to create illustrations in addition to my other projects and travel will be minimal.

But somedays, like today, I miss my daily drawings. So I stop. I draw. And I continue to follow the flow.

seattle bound

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Thank you to all the people who came by Disney’s Wonderground Gallery through the month of February. I finished Snow White and have two other paintings that I’ll finish up after this weekend. But my traveling won’t stop!

I’m driving up to Seattle for Emerald City Comicon. It’s my favorite show of the year and I’m happy that Everyday Love Art will be sharing booth 409 with Unicorn Crafts! I will have prints, cards, magnets, original watercolors and canvas prints – if you’re in Seattle please come by and say hello.

This year I will also be promoting my debut graphic novel, Pashmina. I will be on FIVE PANELS (eeeks!) with some amazing authors like G. Wilow Wilson and Gene Yang. 

Hope to see you there!

pashmina cover

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pashminacover

I’m super excited to share the cover of my debut graphic novel, Pashmina, with you! It was shared with a host of other great covers on Entertainment Weekly.

Have a great weekend!

walking on sunshine & more

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walkingonsunshine

I returned from San Diego Comicon on Monday and commenced 10-12 hour workdays to complete Pashmina. The convention was my best ever, not because of sales (honestly, they dip every year) rather is was the feeling of being ushered into the greater comics world. Meeting editors, journalists, and librarians – I’ve worked on Pashmina for 4 years and even though Fall 2017 feels far away, it’s closer than I’ve ever been to sharing this book with everyone. I’m nervous but also thrilled.

Plus, I’m almost finished! My deadline is in 2 weeks! My favorite phrase currently is “After Pashmina is done…” I have stacks of books to read, groups of friends to see and trips I am looking forward to enjoying with my family. Oh, and after a multi-year hiatus, sometime in late August I will begin to create & share NEW illustrations  ^_^

Meanwhile, we have an overstock of prints due to some shops we work with shuttering their doors. There are lots of prints on sale on our online shop!

That’s all from me – back to coloring Pashmina. Have a lovely weekend!

 

shelter owls + zazzle + live drawing

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shelterowls

It’s a cozy rainy day here. I haven’t created any new illustrations because I’m pushing forward on Pashmina. I am producing 2-3 pages a day. It may seem like I’m not drawing but I’m drawing more than ever before! My deadline for completion is approaching. The book won’t be available until Fall of next year but I willcomplete it this summer. My publisher will then haveample time for corrections, production and of course marketing! I thought as I got closer I would feel calmer, but I just feel more nervous! I still have a good stretch to wait, so hopefully mynerveswill subside.

Meanwhile, we’ve updated our zazzle shop with loads of products. We have phone cases, wallet cases, kindle and ipad covers, pillows (!), mugs and more. They’re having a 22% off sale today only for all orders, use the codeLUVOURPLANET.

Also I will be at Trickster in Berkeley for a Mother’s day live drawing event on April 30th. If you’d like a custom drawing for mother’s day or just because, come by with a photo (on your phone is fine). Limited number of slots will be available.

That’s all from me! Back to producing pages ^_^

pashmina helper

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pashminahelp

we’ve been fighting the family cold, so progress on pashmina has been slow. but i had a cute helper while working on pages yesterday!

what’s in a page?

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pg1a I am working diligently on Pashmina. As I completethe final art, I feel challenged and discover new ways to communicate the story through art andwords. Even at this stage of final art I continue to learn and edit. The evolution of a graphic novel is excruciating but also wonderful. I cannot believe how far I’ve come in what seems like a short time – although I’ve been working on this book for 3 years now. The above page was in thepitch to publishers. Originally page 1 wasan establishing shot of Priyanka’s home. pg1b After a few manuscript revisions, page 1 was her school for a brief moment, until I settled on a driving scene. I trieda “soft opening” which includeda series of shots of Priyanka enjoying driving – hand out the car window, wind in her hair, listening to music. I wanted to contrast her feelings of freedomwith her worried mother and end it with her mom yelling, “PRIYANKA”. pg1c After one of many long conversations with my editor he made the comment that it’s better to start with action. I thought about that and shifted the panels. I began with her mom yelling and it felt right. Instead of an establishing shot, a soft flowing opening, we dive into STORY and their relationship. My editor suggested that I think about how my characters hands can look more natural, and to act out what my characters are doing. For months during the thumbnail process I would walk around our apartment saying lines and acting. Nick would giggle at me as I repeated some lines over and over trying to put myself mentally in the moment. While working on the story and revisionsI was thinking about Pashmina so much that it felt like Priyanka and her family wereliving with us. And in many ways, they still are. pg1d Finally I settled on the right hand placement and after thumbnailing the entire book for roughly a year (which included many revisions small and large) I started on final art earlier this year. As I looked back on the pitches, I thought, “Wow! So much goes into just one page!” I’ve always wanted to make a graphic novel but I never realized the amount of work it takes to visually communicate a long form story. From panelling, character design and acting to story development, line work and shading (and color!) it exercisesevery creative muscle – and I love it more and more every day!

pg1final