Why I’m Illustrating my Dog’s Story

Meet Appa: Too Big & Too Much

I’m illustrating a children’s book about my too-big, too-loud, too-much of a dog that takes the form of Appa. He is far from a small presence in our lives, as his size demands attention. His fur is everywhere, he tracks mud in on rainy days and dewy mornings, and his bark could probably rattle windows three houses down. He’s loud, messy, and often too much, but that’s what makes his story worth telling.

The Spark of a Story

While he is often too much, he is also our walking friend, our alarm system, and our movie-watching snuggle buddy. He’s 5 now and has calmed down quite a bit, but when he was younger he could be quite the terror. And he just kept getting bigger and bigger.

The idea for the book came when the observation was made that he was always underfoot and in the way. He just wanted to help—as sous-chef: laying in the middle of the galley kitchen during meal-prep times; as door-greeter: greeting guests with a bit too much enthusiasm; or guard duty: patrolling the backyard for opossums, as well as calling out each and every passerby who dared use the sidewalk. In his bigness, he leaves a trail of spent nerves and muddy paw prints, but I miss him when he’s not there.

I told my mom one day about this phenomenon we called “Appa Helps”. It was maybe a week later when she came back with this fully-formed children’s story. Now, several years on, I am using the story she wrote to work through the learning process of illustrating my first children’s book.

The Power of Animals in Picture Books

Animals have helped to tell lessons in stories and picture books throughout time. From classic folk tales to today’s favorite children’s characters, animals give us a playful way to explore emotions, relationships, and values. I see Appa and his story as similar to those timeless characters: big-hearted and eager to please in the most inconvenient ways. I think there’s a lesson to be learned in his story for everyone — on accepting yourself for what you do bring into the world, rather than focusing on what you don’t. By turning his story into illustrations, I’m looking to join that tradition of processing our world of emotions through the playful, familial lens of picture books, while also preserving and celebrating a piece of my own family’s life.

Story and illustration work in tandem, and illustration itself isn’t just about making something pretty. Images carry emotional weight, sometimes more than words can capture. Successful illustrations tell intriguing stories before the accompanying text is even absorbed — they distill a feeling into color, shape, and gesture. This is one of the reasons picture books have been cherished across time and generations: because they let us see lessons unfold, and not just hear them.

I fell in love with the world of illustration while reading to my son over the years — repeatedly impressed with the art, stories, and lessons that I can so easily get peacefully lost in. What better way for me to aspire to that world in my own right, than to illustrate a story written by my mom, about my dog, with lessons from my own life?

Behind the Scenes

At the end of the day, bringing Appa onto the page is a passion project, worked on in pockets of time between other projects. The task has even seemed so enormous and intimidating at times that I shelved it for a while. I’ve since picked it back up, and it’s a subtle combination of mindset and skill that pushes me either upward and onward, or downward into dissociation. Through all of the ups and downs of self reflection that is needed to see a passion project through, there must also be a quiet determination to make it exist in the real world despite all of the imperfect lines and imperfect action.

It’s involved a lot of trial, error, mindset shifts, and self motivation, but in recent weeks, I’ve had more consistent luck with breaking the process down into simple baby steps, and consistently doing one thing a day to bring myself closer to my goal(s). Everything is figure-out-able, if you break it down into simple enough steps.

My storybook process starts with an emotional beat map: printing out the manuscript and notating where in the story he feels joy, where he stumbles, where he learns, and planning the illustrations around that emotional arc. What distinguishes the quieter pages from the louder ones? The spot illustrations from the full-spread images? This can all be garnered from the emotional beat map. From there, I thumbnail and sketch each composition, make a loose color map of the spreads, and explore different visual and character styles: should his “too big” nature come across through oversized paws? Should his helpfulness show in wide-eyed expressions? Every choice is a layer of storytelling. What might look like a simple illustration is actually the result of many decisions that shape how readers will experience his personality.

Why Passion Projects Matter

As an artist, personal projects like this push me to grow in both skills and mindset, as well as help manifest the type of work I want to put out into the world. They stretch my storytelling abilities and refine my style in ways commissions can’t. These kinds of works become the heart of an artist’s portfolio, as they’re where the authenticity and passion shine through. And as spreads are finished and possibly published, supporting or collecting from this body of work isn’t just about owning a painting—it’s about supporting a piece of the narrative I’m building, one that blends personal story with timeless illustration traditions.

Appa might be too big for most regular-sized apartments, but he is just the right size for a story that I hope inspires joy in others. If you’d like to follow along as I bring his book to life—and see pieces from the process that may become available as prints or originals—I’d love for you to subscribe to my newsletter. After all, every illustration begins as a story worth sharing.

P.S.

Maybe you missed me in your inboxes last month? I missed you too! With one thing and another, my blog post didn’t go out and I am begging your pardon for the lapse in my monthly chit chat. I’ll also be taking the opportunity to rethink the cadence of my posts, which will now be moving to a quarterly schedule. But never fear, the reduction in blog posts will now be supplemented by a brief new monthly newsletter to keep you in the loop about the goings-on in my life and business! Sign up here for the latest scoop ;)