Three weeks after joining Hire an Illustrator a lady in Pennsylvania found out about me and I got this picture book commission.

Let me introduce you to Marina the Monongahela Mermaid, living in Brownsville Pennsylvania river! She is unhappy because the rivers are becoming polluted. Luckily, 5 year old Della and her sister Lila who is 3 years old meet Marina one day and help her by coming up with a plan of how to educate the community about taking care of their beautiful rivers…

I am currently working on the final spread and front cover of this book and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve loved painting pretty fins and characters, and the client has been so enthusiastic and a joy to work with! One of the elements I love most about being an illustrator is the contact with other creative people – the to-ing and fro-ing of ideas, making sure that the images compliment the text and getting the final image just right for the client. I can’t wait to have the printed book in my hands, which hopefully won’t be long as it will be published and available to buy later this year! I will write an update about this soon with some more images!