Doodle Life - June 2025
Limbo, metaphorical inspiration drawers and proofs
Hope you are surviving the sudden spur of heatwave. June for me was a mixed bag of productive and non-productive days.
In March, I had a very positive meeting with a publisher. I was (and still am) convinced that they would be a perfect home for my new book. Fast forward three months, unfortunately we’re in deadlock over my contract. I love to work with them but more importantly I want a contract my story deserves.
This is the exact situation I talked about in my first Thinking Out Loud post. I have a steady income from my day job. It gives me the luxury to be choosy and the confidence to say “No” to things I’m not happy with even if that means no contract.
Refilling My Inspiration Drawers
So I found myself in limbo this month, but the timing worked in my favour. My mum came to visit me from Japan so I took a week and a half off from work. During the time, we’ve done a lot and it refilled my metaphorical inspiration drawers.
Both of us love theatre and London never lacks in theatrical offerings. (Sadly) we don’t have infinite funds but we always try to see at least two productions per her visit. This time we treated ourselves to THREE! (My cat’s tummy had decided to act up and made us cancel our trip to Belgium so we made it up with extra show.) We saw Onegin at the Royal Opera House, My Neighbour Totoro at Gillian Lynne Theatre (my second time) and Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell at Sadler’s Wells. Though stage productions are very different medium to illustration, I find them very inspiring. (I think I’ll write a separate post about this.)
For example, I loved the set design of The midnight Bell, especially how they conjured up the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho in the 1930s with simple silhouettes, floating windows and a few pieces of furniture.
Another highlights from this holiday includes…
V&A East Storehouse
My friend told me about this new place opened in East London. You might have heard of it by now but at that time I had no idea what to expect. When we stepped inside, I was blown away. It’s a working museum storage but it’s now open for public to explore. It’s almost like a museum itself but I loved how they designed the building. It’s deceptively random so you don’t know what you discover next! There is also a section you could see the staff performing restorations. And it’s FREE entry!
Eltham Palace & Gardens
I love anything mid-century, especially Art Deco, so Eltham Palace had been on my “to visit” list for ages and I finally made it! The place has a long and interesting history where an eccentric millionaire couple decided to build their art deco mansion, described as a "masterpiece of modern design", right next to the medieval Great Hall. The interior was DELIGHTFUL! It was real-life Wes Anderson film sets. I also enjoyed the naughtiness of snooping around someone else’s home. Who knew seeing someone’s bathroom so exciting? If you get to visit the place, don’t miss the basement (and the lovely gardens and cafe). And watch out for their beloved pet lemur’s secret ladder.
Royal Pavilion & Gardens
Since we had cancelled our trip to Belgium, we took a day trip to Brighton to make up for it. There we visited this very eccentric place. The pavilion was constructed as the seaside pleasure palace of King George IV. It looked like a tiny version of Taj Mahal but the inside was something else. It was designed by people who were fascinated by Chinese culture but had never been there... So the result was Orientalism on steroid. It was so bonkers that pretty impressive. Palm tree pillars in kitchen? I’ll take it. And look at that dragon chandeliers! I don’t know what the Chinese tourists near us were thinking but I loved it (maybe I shouldn’t have).
Lambeth Country Show
It was too big, too loud and too crowded. We didn’t enjoyed it much to be honest. But we queued to see some vegetable sculptures. Actually we queued over an hour…but I’d like to say it was worth it. We enjoyed the vegan satirical creations. (Mum’s favourite was the “Cornclave”.) In this age of AI, it was kind of reassuring to see people, young and old, willing to queue to see these very human creations. I thought this was what art was all about.
The limbo also gave me time to work on something else too. First, I received colour proofs for two picture books I had illustrated.
For the book 1, I used tried-and-tested colours so I knew they would come out OK. Yet still, there’s always something you couldn’t notice until you see it printed on the actual paper in actual size. For example, the notebook grid background looked way too fuzzy on the paper. Also, the proofs showed me places I hadn’t cleaned up properly.
For the other one, I was worried that I might not get printed proofs from the US publisher. But they did post printed proofs across the pond! They are not on actual paper the book will be printed on (they are done on their in-house proofers) but better than nothing by miles. Overall I was happy how they came out but I decided to micro tweak four spreads. Better be picky than sorry, you know?
I cleaned and tweaked the artwork and re-delivered them to the both publishers. Colour proofs are a life-savour. A few friends told me that some publishers didn’t do proofs in order to save money. That would terrifies me 😱
I’m going to wrap up this post with some work updates. This month I had the joy of finally finishing something I had started writing over 11 years ago. This is just the end of the beginning for this book’s journey, but this felt SO GOOD!
What really helped me finish this draft was the crit / co-working sessions with my author/illustrator friends. You don’t always agree with your peers’ feedback, but what’s great about peer crits is that each individual brings an unique perspective derived form their own lived experience and that human interactions could spark something UNEXPECTED. That makes your art exciting.
Apparently, you could ask ChatGPT for feedback these days, but it will just tell you what art “should” be, based solely on data and statistics. It might save you time (and awkwardness of human interactions) but it will make your work predictable = boring.
I’m looking forward to our next crit session!
And my authored picture book, When the Sun Goes Home (Hachette Children’s), has received an US co-edition offer! It’s great to know my four-year-old book will get a new spur of life :)
Speak to you next month!
Momo x
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dotty Doughnut Storytime and Craft Activity at Nomad Books
July 5, 2025 11:00 am
Join me and the adorable Dotty Doughnut on a fun-filled adventure as she discovers that being true to yourself is the very best thing you can be! And then join us for a little creative session.
No need to book - just come along. Recommended ages 3+.
The Illustrators’ Fair - July 12, 2025, King’s Cross, London
Once again, I’m taking part in the UK’s largest free illustration fair. Over 120 illustrators participate, selling a range of illustration and illustrated products. I’ll be selling my new books, new prints, new cards and some more!
So much inspiration Momo and the Proofs look stunning! (Remind me to talk about Totoro with you, I loved it so much!)
Isn't Eltham Palace wonderful! And that V&A outpost is definitely on my to do list...