I knew that what I wanted in my book was going to be hard to draw. There multiple bird characters that needed attention to detail, but I also needed to capture their colour, movement and expression to give it justice. I first found an illustrator on a website over in Europe and just loved his style as it had an animated feel and my ultimate dream is to have this story turned into a children’s movie.
I committed to what was a significant investment (enough to give me anxiety weekly) but did not pay a deposit which in hindsight should have been a red flag!
Not knowing what standard turn around times should be I patiently waited in between random emails from him every month or so. I only had a few sketches as a start, enough for me to get excited seeing the project come to life. I clung onto hope I’d hear back from him, and days, weeks months would go by with no replies.
Six months passed, then nine months… eventually I had to say to him “if this project is too much please just let me know” to which he replied and said yes I need to withdraw.
My heart sank but I was almost relieved at the same time as now I could get moving. I did a bit more research this time into what illustrations should cost, and set a budget in my head so I wouldn’t have the same anxiety for over committing like I had the first time.
I found FX Color and Studio and began talking to Kaustuv over email and Facebook. I could tell straight away that he wanted to understand my vision and the story and the price was much more reasonable. He gave me clear timelines, an agreement, and terms that made sense for both of us.
I was so excited when the first round of sketches came back, I had sent everything I could through including notes, my sketches and YouTube videos of the birds for guidance. I probably won the award for most annoying client or most amount of revisions as my passion for this project being as scientifically correct as possible shone through. The landscapes of Australia VS New Guinea needed to be contrast, the birds all had to be birds actually found in New Guinea (no random filler birds!) some beaks smaller, tails longer, you name it I adjusted it with the FX Color teams’ support.
We got there in the end and I’m so grateful I took the time, and invested the money on amazing illustrations because Wow, the book is a beauty.
