The Easter Bunny’s Real Life

NEW BOOK ALERT!!!

This is my 6th book as an author AND illustrator and I’m very hoppy to share it with you! (see what I did there?!)

Before I begin sketching the interiors for a book, I first start by working on character development. This is the most important step – in my eyes, for any story or animation. I usually will sketch a few different ideas for the characters. Some books it takes several passes, other books I know I have the perfect character with the first sketch. With this book, it took me three sketches before I decided on the final character.

Everything about the third character sketch was making me happy. I loved the big glasses, suspenders and bow tie – he actually reminded me a lot of my 9 year old son! Once the creative director and I have decided on the final character, I begin to fully bring it to life with colour and texture and patterns oh my! Since we wanted an Easter vibe, we wanted to make sure everything from his shoes to his bow tie were happy and colourful and full of glitter – because glitter is my favourite colour!

 

 

He’s so Fluffy I Wanna Die!

I’m not going to lie – I have a love/hate relationship with drawing fur. I love how it looks in the end, but the process to get there is painstakingly slow and painful. By the time I was finished with the final character, my hand was frozen in a semi-permanent claw position and caused a deep ache all the way to my shoulder – illustrator problems. And that was just after one page – I had 10 more Easter Bunnies to illustrate.

But I think the end result was worth it. Just look at this little guy! He’s so soft and fluffy and cuddly and I want to squeeze him with all my might!

Once the character has been fully developed, I begin sketching the interiors. I’m not one of those illustrators that does thumbnails first. I usually have a good idea of what I want each spread to look like. My sketches are always pretty detailed – it makes it easier for me when I start the final painting stage.

 

Get Your Sketches On!

Sometimes the sketch phase goes quickly, and for other projects it can go on for months and months and many rounds of revisions. You gotta develop a pretty tough skin to be a book illustrator. I’ve had book projects where I spent weeks finishing the sketches to only be told the publisher is pivoting and going in a different direction – which means starting allllllllllllllllllll over again. But for this book, things went pretty smoothly. Just the normal amount of revisions!

Once the sketches have been approved, the fun part begins – the final painting stage! I LOVE adding tons of textures and patterns to my illustrations. And I love adding little Easter eggs for parents to find.

Do You Want to Know What My Muse Looks Like?

A lot of my work is inspired by my little boy. Like this spread for example.

Do You Want to Know What My Muse Looks Like?

A lot of my work is inspired by my little boy. Like this spread for example.

My son has always been obsessed with suits and bow ties. All during covid, my son would come downstairs at 7:30am wearing a full suite and tie while his dad and I wore our daily questionably clean sweatpants and shirts.

So I just knew the Easter Bunny had to wear a bow tie and big sparkly glasses!

So, are you ready to meet the Easter Bunny? What do you think would happen if you did?

Well…maybe he’d show you his excellent bow tie collection and you’d be treated to a lesson on egg dyeing! And he’ll definitely tell you his real name, which is NOT Easter Bunny.

Learn all the ways the Easter Bunny gets ready for the big day.

In stores TODAY!!!

Comment below if you would like to see more behind the process posts!

 

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