Illustrating Fun for “On Whimsy’s Wings”

If you’re following my newest venture book release, “On Whimsy’s Wings: Stories for Magical Children,” you’ll know it’s a book of short stories that I wrote and illustrated myself. Illustrating is not entirely new to me, however, this kind of illustrating-digital illustrating- was completely new and not exactly in my wheelhouse. I had SO. MUCH. FUN!!!!

This past Christmas, I asked my husband if we could possibly get me a tablet for illustrators, because I love to sketch. I also write children’s books, so, learning to create digital illustrations seemed like a logical next step. I researched several tablets, and became a little discouraged. It seems the most popular tool is an ipad (which is definitely not in our price range) and a program called pro-create. Then, you also have to purchase a special pen to used. Read that as an additional 100.00. Luckily, I discovered the Huion Kamvas Pro 13! It was less than half the price of the apple products, included a pen, and was perfect for beginner illustrators!! This is not a plug for them, it’s just what works for me.

Once I had my new toy, I set straight to work. I had already written the short stories during the spring, summer, and fall of 2020, as a relief from Covid. So it was easy to see what I needed to do. The more I drew on my new tablet, the more I learned. I am still perfecting and playing with technique, but I am happy with the resulting illustrations. Check out the video below for a sneak peek at those illustrations!