Beautiful Bubble

Yes Bubble is a beautiful fish who is too proud and too vain, but in the end she turns to a beautiful fish inside and out. 
Bubble should be so cute, beautiful, one guppy that children will not forget, and who children couldn't resist to cuddle with.
And looking at my first drawing of Bubble, I don't think she's that different than any other guppies in the whole fresh water zone. It is just one ordinary guppy with heavy eyelash.. So, I went with  the 'so cute and so cuddly Bubble', like this one:

Isn't she cute!? I love this one!... but come to think of it, in her cuddly-cuteness she is not that breathtakingly beautiful...

Ahh... nah...not this one...

Hahahaha...she looks too naughty!

Yeah well, the search for the RIGHT Bubble still continues...

Guppy lives in the sea? oh please...XD

Okay, guppies are not salt water creature, they live happily in the fresh water... :D

Bubble The Beautiful Fish

New book project by Datin Rossiti Aishah Rashidi from Shah Alam Malaysia.
The story is about a beautiful guppy fish named Bubble.
Here's the book's review:


Don’t we all like to be praised? well, Bubble the beautiful fish is no exception. But sometimes, some of us think too much about our appearance. Looking into the mirror is something everyone likes to do but the true reflection of us is what we do and not how we look like. Let's see if Bubble realizes this in time to save her friendship with others who thought she’s just beautiful on the outside but is too proud and too vain.


Bubble is a resemblance of a beautiful guppy, who looks arrogant and with eyelashes. My first attempt to illustrate her just comes up with this image:

Following this illustration, Datin Rossiti made a little note saying that guppies live in the fresh water, so no corals should be added. 
Whoopsie Daisy!! hehe... *blush*

And happiness is...

Mirror mirror

Emma with a poem...:D

Swinging around

One illustration from Emma and The Tooth Fairy that goes well with one of the classic (my favorite) Indonesian children song. My mom used to sing this song when i was little, and now i sing this beautiful ryme song for my children. Love it!

Tooth Fairy

Sometimes an idea just pops up instantly when i put a pencil on my hand. Like when i drew a sample character of Emma and the tooth fairy. I felt that it would be fun to dress them up with similar outfits. The fairy will mimic every fashion style of Emma's.

Alex loved the idea, but unfortunetely the tooth fairy just had a short visit to Emma. There is no chance of changing clothes sessions. So, after i had some chats with Alex, we decided just to change the fairy's outfit gradually. It started with the same pattern with Emma's pajamas and then it changed its style and color after every page. Quite fun i guess..:))

Emma and The Tooth Fairy

Beware for those who does not love brushing teeth! Your teeth will start
changing colors, from white to creamy, to yellow and then to black due to you not brushing, and ended up with having toothache like Emma...
But lucky to Emma, the tooth fairy appeared from Emma's wardrobe and gave her a chance and return her teeth but under condition that Emma will always brush her teeth...^_^

This children story book is a wonderful project of Alexader Zaslavsky from New York City USA.
His messege of this book is basically to promote brushing teeth to the little ones (age 3 to 6).
Alex said that he based the story on his daugthter. He wanted to help her realize that brushing teeth is important and need to give her a little push.
The idea of the story is that there is a pretty girl named Emma, who is very nice (everyone's princess!) but at times a bit naughty. But regardless, people love her. One thing that she does not like is brushing teeth. Following her ignorance of taking care of her teeth, naturally comes the teeth problems, which make her upset and cry. This is the time when the tooth fairy will appear from Emma's wardrobe and give her a chance and return her teeth but under the condition that Emma will always brush her teeth.

The ambience in Emma's bed room : PINKY feeling! ^_^
Why pink! haha... I've got so much influenced by my 3 years old daughter pinky color status. And Alex is okay with my picking color, so there it is now, Emma in pink bed room! fun!

One of the scene of page 11.
I put here Alex's suggestion for illustration on page 11:


On page 11, the fairy will tell Emma: “I can see why you are upset - you are no longer a princess!”
(Emma looking down to the floor, puddle of tears, illustrate fairy pointing at a “reminder bubble for Emma” with pretty Emma playing with family smiling at her. Fairy can have a somewhat stern look on her face. Evi, I will need your creative part here so that we do not stay in Emma room but move about. Perhaps we can view Emma from the back, walking down a long corridor of her house with the fairy hovering above her and pointing at the bubble. I am open to another setting of your choice that may better suit the plot in order to avoid repeating the same setting. Also as I mentioned above with your idea, fairy's clothes/colors should change)


 I have a concept that the communication between autor and illustrator is the important part of visual prosess in the making of children's book. Lucky me I've been working with some wonderful authors who give me a huge space to explore my creativity and for me to dig the ideas for the book. And that is one of the best part of making illustated book, for me.. ^_*

Vicious Bee!!

Hey!! What happened with this little bee's fingers??

Oh I c... 'somebody' tried to make this cute creature looks more vicious.... LOL!

FIRST LOOK session at The Asian Festifal of Children's Content AFCC

First Look-Illustration Critique Panel at AFCC Singapore 28 May 2012
My 6 illustrations among 42 others from 7 illustrators have been reviewed and commented on by a panel of international publishing experts.
Chaired by Kathleen Ahrens, International Regional Advisor Chair, SCBWI, Hongkong.

Being commented by these three represented critique panelists was a huge experience for me. 

Btw, in the evening after the SCBWI dinner, I had to go back to our hotel in Johor Baru. Crossing the Singapore-Malaysia border with pack of bags and sleeping Aruna (my 6 yo boy) on my shoulder while running like an idiot with my husband and our two other children trying to catch the bus back to Johor Baru was a real crazy experience that i don't recomend for anybody with children to do so.... but I kept smiling.... that's weird O_o.... but that's the spirit that I got from that wonderful First Look session!!! waahooo...!!!XD

The Critique Panelists:
Leonard Marcus, Historian & Critic, USA.
Sayoni Basu, Duckbill Books, India.
Naomi Kojima, Author/Illustrator, Japan.
One comment from Sayoni Basu about font for one illustrator was: "Please don't use Comic Sans, I hate comic sans." And later I found out that comic sans font has a groupy who hates it! You can find many of them in you tube :D

Have fun with masking fluid aka FRISKET

I love the frisket! it's a magic technique. It's very effective to block out areas of watercolor while you paint, thereby retaining the white of the paper or the previous color that was painted.

The first time i used frisket, it was sooo brush consuming!! I wasted a lot of brushes, as it is tricky to get masking fluid out of a brush. Some artists recommend dipping a brush in washing-up liquid before using the masking fluid, as this makes it easier to wash out of a brush. But I am done with the brush, period.
In my frustrated moment because i had no more brushes that i can use for frisket, a ball of lamp just swiched on in my head! hey, why not!! If I cannot use the damaged bristle of the brush, why don't i use the tip of it's handle! just sharpen it with the pencil sharpener and no apps can be better for frisketing!! YAY!! happy me!:))

Frisket that's got a color is easier to use than one which is white or transparent as you can see where you've applied it. Mine has a grayish color here.

Frisket is easily removed by gently rubbing it off either with your fingers or an eraser, once the painting is dry. And my white flying dandelions are so lite, happy and cheerful... love them!