Book Illustration Process
I’ve worked on a variety of books - classic picture books, specialty books, YA chapter books, even a board book! These projects are very time intensive, often requiring 6 months on one book. Such large projects require carefully planning and building out a visual structure from the ground up - a process I enjoy immensely.
Drawing From Experience
The building blocks of my illustrations will always be my own personal experiences. Everything I see inspires and informs the art I create, from growing up as a second generation Taiwanese-American to rock climbing in rural Kentucky. For this reason, I am so grateful to have worked on books that tell the story of my own community, from the little girl emigrating from Taiwan to the US in I Dream of Popo to the history behind my own birthright citizenship, in I Am An American: The Story of Wong Kim Ark.
Process Examples
Click into any of the following book illustration projects for an explanation of how each project came together and how my thoughts and work evolved during the project.
Process for Mountainous
Process for Bing's Cherries
Process for Home Is a Wish
Process for When Love Is More Than Words
Process for The Next Scientist
Process for Luminous
Process for Let's Do Everything and Nothing
Illustration process for RISE
Process for I Am An American
Process for I Dream of Popo
Process for The Sound of Silence
How to Work With Me
I am represented by Emily Van Beek at Folio Literary. If you have a serious book inquiry, please reach out to Emily at emily @ foliolit.com.
In the Pipeline
Mountainous
This will be my next author-illustrator picture book. Mountainous follows Luminous in my new series with Greystone, I AM NATURE.
Coming in 2026!
Seen: The Story of Corky Lee and His Photographs of Asian America
By Julie Leung. If we are not seen, how can we be remembered?
Coming in 2027!
Chrysanthemum’s Glow
By Livia Blackburne. The follow-up to Bing’s Cherries with the wonderful Knopf team!
Coming in 2027!
Book Illustration Projects I’m Looking For
I’d like to depict people of color experiencing adventures out in nature, just as I do. Whether our subjects are explorers, athletes, or scientists, I believe representation enables children and adults alike to see themselves in places they’d never before dreamed of!