Celebrating Debut Picture Book Creator Nadia Alam!!

It was such a joy to work with Nadia Alam as a mentor through the UK-based PictureHooks programm co-founded by dear friend Vivian French. It was evident that she was about to hit it BIG and that is indeed what's been happening. I'm thrilled to have Nadia here to talk about her debut picture book AWAKE, ASLEEP written by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Nadia, published by Orchard Books. e: Nadia! What was your creative process/medium, can you walk us through it?
Nadia: My creative process is a dance between structure and chaos. Before putting pencil to paper, I invest time in planning. While organizing folders and establishing naming conventions may not be the most thrilling part of the process, aligning all my ducks in a row, aimed at a specific destination, allows me to stay loosy-goosy and maintain a sense of creative freedom.

For "Awake Asleep," the journey began with multiple readings of Kyle's manuscript. Despite its unconventional narrative structure, the story within the prose resonated immediately – maybe because of my own experiences as a parent, or simply because Kyle’s work is such a great balance of universal and personal. I knew I wanted to include several diverse families and my neighborhood as the primary reference for the illuistrations. Armed with these initial ideas, I embarked on the less-than-exciting task of logistics, creating a file system, populating it with PSD files for each stage of the illustration process – from gathered references to final art. After this organizational frenzy, I shut my computer, tossed the whole thing on the back burner, and declared a week-long hiatus from book thoughts.

I spent this “off” time around my neighborhood doing any activity that wasn’t actively working on "Awake, Asleep." i spent afternoons at the library, took extra-long dog walks and messed around at the playground with my kids .

After this incubation period, I had a clear picture of my characters. I have made a habit of creating complete families for the books I illustrate, providing each member with a name, rough age, and personality, even if this information doesn't make it into the final book. Shaping a character's life beyond the page helps me bring them to life on the page, complete with quirks and various details. With character established, I started on thumbnails and rough character sketches, using pencil on newsprint or cheap printer paper. Once approved I entered the ‘choas’ phase and started on final sketches. Working on newsprint or cheap paper I did a lot of messing around, cutting characters from one sheet of newsprint and taping them onto another until I had an approximation of what I wanted the final sketch to be. I photographed these bits and bobs (nothing fancy, I used my iPhone) and brought them into Procreate, where they were traced and refined before being sent to the art director for review and approval.



After this, my process became purely digital. My interpretation of "Awake, Asleep" as unfolding over a child's day divided into morning, afternoon, and night guided my color scheme. I applied an initial messy layer of color across spreads, taking a bird's eye view to ensure a smooth transition between the day's segments (a trick I learned from you, Elizabeth!). In general, I adopt a minimalist approach to digital tools and try to use them the same way I would use in “real life”. I limit my instruments to a couple of pencils, a few paintbrushes, and a charcoal and have no fancy photoshop tricks. Like in “real life” you can do a lot with very little.


Once i had a grip on the colour story and tools I put my head down for a couple weeks and became a sort of human/troll hybrid, hunched over at the computer for long periods of time and, frankly, very happy about it. I have always loved seeing the hand of an artist and my own illustrations are no exception - give me loose lines and not-totally-earased outlines, and the deviating and deviant lines! I tried to keep things fluid while I worked, often jumping between spreads and working on multiple pages at a time, until a balance was achieved and myself and the wonderful team at Scholastic were happy.

Being my first book, the process for illusratating others has undergone some tweaks since, but the fundamental order of operations has proven effective and remains unchanged.

e: Is there a unique or funny story behind the creation of this story?
Nadia: "Awake Asleep" was my debut into the world of kidlit illustration. I was bubbling with excitement, so much so that I probably didn't fully grasp the challenge of illustrating a poem until the ink dried on the contract. No protagonist, no linear narrative, and no set scene—surprisingly, the sheer freedom presented more of a challenge than if I had a named character and story with defined traits. Looking back, I realize I had far more creative liberty than I initially understood at the time and I’m very grateful for the experience.

Initially, I had a spread showcasing a slug on a log with kids observing. This spread sailed smoothly through the entire approval process, from thumbnails to final art. It wasn't until proof reviews that the author confessed a strong dislike for slugs, avoiding any mollocks altogether! Needless to say, I couldn't have the author skipping a page in their own book—so, that spread now features a spider!

e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again? I’m looking for your definition of “Heart Art.”
Nadia: For me, Heart Art is more of a feeling than a specific style or characteristic. As a reader and illustration consumer, Heart Art has always been about images that suggest worlds within worlds, stories within stoires. In my childhood, I was a huge fan of Janet and Allan Ahlberg. They had this incredible ability to craft such pleasing intricate and dispordely envronments. I loved that every character, even the ones in the background, were in the middle of an implied action. Even inanimate objects hinted at a story – a laundry bin brimming with clothes dirty from play, an abandoned doll in the garden, evidence of a messy dinner. These tiny details added a richness to the page, everything feels so lovingly lived-in and warm, there is so much heart in that art you just want to get lost in those books. As an illustrator, the Heart Art enchantment in my work revolves around expressing a sense of connection and compassion, especially between generations. Every now and then, I succeed in capturing that emotion on a page. Whether it's the exchanged glances between a child and caregiver or a hand resting on a cheek, or a parent comforting a crying child – tender, bemused, or even deeply annoyed, occasionally all rolled into one – it feels like I'm conjuring a bit of magic. These are the spreads that I find myself getting lost in during the creative process, and they are the ones I hope resonate with others too.

How do you advertise yourself (or do you)?
Nadia: I don't. I should, it does seem like a blast to connect directly with peers and audiences on social platforms. Currently, it's not in my repertoire, but advertising myself more is on my 2024 resolutions list!

e: What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
Nadia: Storytelling, in its various forms – be it writing, music, or illustration – is pure magic. As a creator, I find myself constantly marveling at and trying to unravel the secrets behind this process. It's like a magical trick – POOF! I've conjured something out of thin air! What used to be an empty page is now a whole new world – ta-da! Listening to and learning from others is such a big part of life as an illustrator. What tools are people using, where do folks get their ideas, what are their studio practices, what are their biggest hurdles and how do they overcome these challenges etc. I really enjoy learning how a creator creates. It's hands down my favorite aspect of this job.

e: Is there something in particular about this story you hope readers will take away with them, perhaps something that isn’t immediately obvious?
Nadia: Love is a universal human trait that transcends creed, ethnicity, race, and gender. Families come in all shapes and sizes, yet we all hold common truths – a cut will bleed, saying goodbye to a good time is a bummer, and nothing beats a hug from someone who cares about you.

e: What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
Nadia: Currently I’m wrapping up several projects, and in 2024, you'll find three more books on the shelf that I've had the pleasure of working on. Each one tells a story that I would have adored reading as a child and I’m very excited to share them with little readers. Next, I am working on adding author to my signature. Writing my own children’s stories is a new endevour with it’s own challenges that i’m really looking forward to. Wish me luck! Illustrating truly is my dream job, and every project that speaks to my heart is a dream in itself. e: Don't I know it! Can't wait to have you back for your next book, Nadia!