Isabella, an elementary school student, drew a smiling raindrop monster she named Droplete — who lives in the sky and eats water drops (but can't eat those). This is what happened next...
The Brief: As part of The Monster Project — a nonprofit initiative organized in partnership with Capital One — I was paired with a young student's original monster drawing. My job was to reimagine her creation in my own illustration style and bring it back to her. Isabella's Droplete was simple, joyful, and already full of personality.
First Sketches: I started on paper, working out Droplete's poses and emotions. I thought, maybe she's dancing across the page?
Thumbnails: Two small watercolor thumbnail compositions to work out how Droplete's journey would read across the picture plane — Starting from the safety of the cloud at the top, down through her leap, to the freedom of open sky below.
Color Exploration: I wasn't sure how Droplete's backdrop would go, so I played with watercolors for a bit. Every morning, while walking my kids to the bus stop, we got to see beautiful sunrises — Beautiful gradients of peach, pink, and gold. That felt right for Droplete. The world she was jumping into should be beautiful.
Final Illustration: The final piece was completed digitally, building on all the paper work that came before. Droplete got her sunrise sky, her moment of courage, and the wide open air waiting for her on the other side of the cloud.
Isabella asked for a stuffy, so she got one. It was such a joy to bring her monster to life.
Created for The Monster Project, organized in partnership with Capital One.
