I have recently published my first picture book entitled A Wonderful Thing to Win. The whole process was exciting and challenging. It felt like everyday I had butterflies in my stomach.

Once the story was written I realised very quickly that a children’s story needs illustrations. When I first challenged myself to illustrate the book I had a very definite starting point – to draw or design Owen and Carson.

This week I have been looking through some of the first illustrations and designs. I used graph paper and pencil to play around with shapes and styles, and boy were there a lot of them!

Here are a few below.

It was a great feeling to finally settle on a design/ style for Owen & Carson’s Bright Blue Balloon. At this point it felt like the journey had finally begun.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Happy page turning x

©️ Lisa Moralee McLardy