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.
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
Home Is a Wish
This will be my next author-illustrator picture book, published by Connie Hsu and her team at Roaring Brook! I wrote this book while settling into Seattle, wishing I could see my parents in Taiwan, and thinking a lot about displacement.
Coming in early 2025!
Bing’s Cherries
Livia Blackburne and I are pairing up again, this time for 2 books! We are on a mission to expand the canon of American folklore with the support of Rotem Moscovich and her team at Knopf Books.
It all started from a sentence in Erika Lee’s book, The Making of Asian America, about how the famed PNW Bing cherries were named after Ah Bing, a Chinese immigrant.
Coming in 2026!
Prodigy
Thanks to writer Cyrena Lee and editor Trisha du Guzman, I’ll be illustrating my first graphic novel about Ashima Shiraishi’s meteoric rise as a young rock climber, along with all the pressure and attention that came with it. Experienced graphic novelist Alec Longstreth will be assisting as colorist!
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!