October and November Adventures
Hello from a very busy 2 months of Illustrator Events, Book Fun and Tons of Photos!
Hello and happy crispy leaf season to all of you Sketchbugs!
The past few months have been…a lot to say the least. I don’t really have anything amazing to say on the matter. I think Kayla Stark and Phoebe Wahl said it better in their most recent substack posts. On another note, I wanted to share what I’ve been up to in October and November, packed with fun doodles and photos galore. I had an amazing book launch, met a bunch of amazing illustrators, and enjoyed some wonderful art.
Before I go into full visual journal mode, I wanted to share some promo stuff I am doing for There’s That Sun Again as well as some press.
If you are in the Massachusetts area, please check out me and Mk’s Storytime with the Eric Carle Museum December 1st, 2024 at 2:30pm! There will be merriment, stickers and fun art stuff! I will even have some original art too! Learn more about the event HERE
ALSO, If you’re in the Philly/ Haverford area, Children’s Book World will be hosting their first Illustrator Boutique on November 30th to December 1st with a Preview Party of the art on November 29th! They will be selling work by local children’s book authors and illustrators! Get a Mermay zine or a reverse mermaid sticker for your holiday shopping list! Learn more about the event HERE
In addition, I did an interview with
about the book! There’s process photos and creative musings. You can read it HERE! And if you’re on instagram, check out the Holiday House Instagram takeover I did a few weeks back! There’s a fun reel, some more process photos and even a process video showing how I colored the first spread. Oh and if you’re in Massachusetts, check out Imaginary Bookshop! They have cutouts of the characters from the book gracing the shelves.Thank you for tolerating all this promotion. If you feel so inclined, please give us a review on Amazon or Goodreads if you can! It would make me and Mk’s Day and give the book a chance to be seen by more people!
With that out of the way, let’s go over the last two months!
Mo the Moonpie Being a Cutie
Thank you all for your love of Mo the Moonpie! He is still an energetic little guy who loves playtime. Although, he has developed a new habit of licking my hair, so I now have to wear a bonnet to bed.
The “There’s That Sun Again” Book Launch
We had an almost packed house at Childrens Book World! Thank you to all the friends and acquaintances who came out to support the book! Shoutout to my artist friends Davey Levson, Adem Kaan, Jay (FawxStar) and my high school art teacher Mrs. Calnon Buote! Follow all their work! And special shoutout to Katina Dinh for coming to support my events in PA! It means so much!
MICA Guest Speaker
My wonderful former UARTs colleague and already mentioned cool artist Adem Kaan invited me to speak to his class at MICA, the Maryland Institute College of Art, at the end of the month. I had briefly seen the school for a college tour years back so it was interesting seeing the school from a visiting artist perspective. The kids were lovely and asked a lot of great questions. Even in dark times like these, it’s great to see spaces for creativity being fostered and developed.
The Children’s Book World Holiday Party
Children’s Book World has a year end party for all the writers and illustrators in the area to commingle and eat treats. I got to finally chat with the amazing Gene Baretta, Matt Phelan, Victoria Jamieson, Brian Biggs, and Zach O’Hara while also catching up with the lovely Margo Rabb (Illustrated her Washington Post article last year), legendary Judy Schachner and the wonderful Adrienne Wright. Unfortunately, we were all hit with the tragic loss of Hannah Schwartz, the founder of the store, later in the month. Publisher’s weekly did a wonderful blurb about her you can read HERE.
The American Illustration Party
Every year the American Illustration/ American Photography Annual puts on a big party to celebrate the winners of their yearly competition. The event is full of illustrators from multiple fields but focuses more on editorial and branding. This year one of my pieces from the New Yorker made it into the annual! It was for a book review of Tan Twan Eng’s recent book The House of Doors, which was kind of a dream project considering how much of a fan I was of his previous works. I even got to take a photo with my art director Steph Wu.
Caught up with illustrator and art director friends, new and old! Illustrator friends including substack’s own
, as well as the gang I travelled with; Franco Zacha, Michelle Perez, and Jack Zhou. My friend Franco Zacha in particular has an awesome mural in Grand Central Station right now until February, so check it out!
Holiday House Pre-Party
The day after the AI-AP party was the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show. I was lucky enough to get a piece in so I was revved to see some scrumptious picture book art. But before that, the publisher, Holiday House, had a little party celebrating all the illustrators who made it into the show. I got to finally meet writer Mk Smith Despres, page designer Jennifer Browne and THE Neal Porter in person, while also catching up with beloved editor Taylor Norman. Plus got to meet illustrators Kate Cosgrove, Yevgenia Nayberg, Jason Chin and catch up with Brian Floca for a second (we met at a Books of Wonder event last year).
The Original Art Show
The event itself was so crowded but we got their early-ish so I was able to admire some of the work before the place filled up. Got to meet with artist internet mutuals like Jess Hannigan, Chuck Groenink, Alexandra Finkeldey, and Minnie Phan amongst many others not pictured. Also got to catch up with author Matthew Burgess (look forward to our book, Mungo on His Own in 2026) and see substack star
win a silver medal for her phenomenal book, Pig Town Party! It was a stellar night.
After the party, a bunch of us headed out to get dinner. We made merry, talked axolotls and picture book making. Plus, I got to eat soup, so it was a nourishing night. Artists include: Jacob Grant, Gabriela Larios, Zahra Marwan, Rodolfo Montalvo, Veronica Mang and Ana Aranda
More Artist Friends
Before I close out this giant diary entry/tagging frenzy, I would also like to mention some of my artist friends I got to catch up with in these two months. Thank you Sander Goldman for visiting Philly from LA, thank you Cecile Kim and Anabeth Bostrup for reconnecting like no time has passed, thank you Clar Angkasa for letting me couch surf in Brooklyn for all these events, and thank you Claire Wyman for yapping with me in Winson for 2 hours. Check out all their work along with all the work of all the people I mentioned!
Phew! I think that’s it in terms of catch up! I tagged so many artists so you can look at their wonderful work! Thank you for being here and welcome to all the new followers! Before I go, I wanted to point out some other good art I’ve enjoyed recently
EXTRA ART
Look Back (2024) a film based off of the oneshot manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto (Chainsaw Man). I was pleasantly surprised at how heartfelt and beautiful the film was. A true love letter to the act of drawing and a thoughtful dissection of why many of us begin our artistic journey despite how isolating it can be at times.
Arcane Seasons 1 & 2 (2024) Now this is a Netflix animated show based off characters from the videogame League of Legends. I am not a player of LOL, just an animation appreciator, but I highly recommend giving this series a try. You can go in knowing literally nothing about the game and appreciate what a true marvel this show is. Excellent character design, environment design and overall good writing. The ending was a little rushed but I felt content considering how ambitious the last season was.
One Child Nation (2019) A film by Nanfu Wang that focuses on China’s One Child Policy and its repercussions it had on everyday citizens, from delving into her own family’s trauma with the law as well as taking a look into the officials, midwives and other people who enforced the law. It also covers the flaws of international Chinese adoption
Recently, China stopped all international adoption, so this film resonates a little more than usual. It opened up my eyes to the complexity of the One Child Policy from a less Sinophobic perspective. I will warn, if you’re a chinese adoptee or a US adoptee parent who hasn’t thought critically about the adoption system, this film might be too much for your first foray into media on adoption. Please consider this warning before watching it.
Time flies by when you're busy! What a jam-packed month!
Loved reading this recap of such a whirlwind of fun times!! Thank you for the shoutout 🥺 also omg I forgot to include Look Back, otherwise we would have recommended the same things––and rightfully so!! 😭💖 One Child Nation was so heartbreaking and eye-opening 💔