Penny and the peanut!

I had the amazing opportunity to illustrate a children's book about food allergies. Keep reading to find out more about the process!

A little bit about the book: Penny and Madison are two best friends that always have fun together after school. Unexpectedly, Penny has an allergic reaction after eating Peanut Butter cookies with her friend Madison. Through this experience, Madison learns the importance of recognizing the signs of a severe allergic reaction to help save her friend.

Written By: Micca’ Thomas

Find her website and contact info here: https://www.themicaathomas.com/

The book is available to purchase here: https://www.themicaathomas.com/pennyandthepeanut

Final Cover Design

Final Cover Design

Purple Dragonfly Award - Honorable Mention for Excellence in Children's Literature

Opening Page, introducing Penny

One of my favorite pages :)

Another favorite :)

Early Penny expression explorations

Early Madison facial expression explorations

Style exploration

Style exploration

Madison Color Explorations

Penny Color Design

Madison and Penny final designs

Initial Cover Rough

Final Cover Design

Purple Dragonfly Award - Honorable Mention for Excellence in Children's Literature

Opening Page, introducing Penny

One of my favorite pages :)

Another favorite :)

Early Penny expression explorations

Early Madison facial expression explorations

Style exploration

Style exploration

Madison Color Explorations

Penny Color Design

Madison and Penny final designs

Initial Cover Rough

Stylistically, we wanted to go for a watercolor look. Through mood boards, reference material and research we settled on this fun, playful style. I started with character designs of Penny and Madison, based on photographs of the people these characters are based off of. From there, I came up with ideas on how to illustrate each page, being mindful of the amount of text on each page, and the goal of conveying an important message.

I used Procreate and Adobe Photoshop to illustrate all the pages. Since this was my first time illustrating such a big project, it was fun to create a new workflow. I really enjoyed every minute of it, and I’m grateful for this amazing opportunity to bring a little bit of fun and positivity to introduce a more serious topic to children.

© Shravani Kulkarni 2024