How to publish a beautiful book with your own illustrations

What is the best venue and theme

There was a lot of interest around the new Canberra Light Rail. For years we’d watched the line grow from Civic to Gunghalin. We’d mourned the loss of the Northbourne trees. But we were delighted when the new vegetation was planted the length of the rail line. We saw the potential of a new experience for the city. On 20 April 2019, the Light Rail transported our first commuters.

I switched from catching the bus to work to taking the Light Rail. But, I wondered, what should I do for the 20 or so minutes on board? I pulled out my little sketchbook and started drawing my fellow passengers.

That small moment grew to a collection of illustrations that became Tram Travellers. This is a book about the people using the Light Rail for the very first time. It was good for me that the sketching was part of my daily routine; I didn’t need to seek a venue or theme: I had it all before me.

How to choose the right colour palette

The National Library of Australia is a great place to work. The iconic 1960s building is gorgeous and stately. It also has a lot of interesting spaces. I decided to sketch the Library patrons and staff going about their business. Even though this was my first ‘major’ drawing venture, I understood to keep all the drawings in the same tones. I chose a palette that fit with the period: a retro vision of muted greens, burnt orange and vibrant reds. That turned out well for my book, Hush! Secrets of the Library. It’s a cute gift book that entertains and informs Library visitors.

What is the best style to use

When I sketched both of these books, I hadn’t yet formed my own style. But drawing and sketching every day in the same venue, helped to form a certain style. I stuck with a digital collage for all the Library drawings (I didn’t really know how to do anything different at that time!). By the end of a couple of months I had enough drawings to group as a book.

The tram experience drove my sketching style. I had 20 or so minutes to draw in a small book on a train that starts and stops at various stations. Where other travellers bumped and jostled me. My simple line drawings defined the experience for me: I needed a style that is linear and straightforward.

Why is a story so interesting

My friends loved paging through my small sketchbook of line drawing. But I felt that the drawings on their own weren’t enough for a book. What would I like to know, I thought, if I were going on the tram the first time? Canberra Metro helped me with those all important facts. How long is the line? How many trains run at one time? At what speed? And so Tram Travellers became a snapshot of those first light rail travellers. A book of facts and figures that drive the Light Rail every day.

I wrote and edited simple facts and figures about the National Library. How many reading rooms are there? How big is the collection? What is in the collection? And so my simple illustrations + a few interesting facts became the story that is now the book.

How to pull together all the elements

Illustrations and story are the building blocks. A book needs so much more to fuse into a product.  To produce these two books, I engaged a designer.

My designer transformed my drawings and texts into another element: page design. Her visual imagination and expertise unpacked my basic elements and repackaged them. She picked and placed illustrations following her own creative vision.

The outcome was different from my original mission. I wanted to capture people on location. Working with a designer, my books took on their own life. They gained personality and presence.

And the journey continued. The next stop on the book station was the printer.  Paper, ink, binding and trimming created their own object. The designed book transformed into a physical object. Add to that the digital version, and my sketches grew beyond my original plan.

So what started on a commute to the city and a sketching session at lunchtime became two physical and digital books. As a publisher, this is not new. But what was new to me was the pleasure self-publishing my own books gave to me.