Artist Statement

“Children’s illustration is known to be a genre where imagination is encouraged—I get to push boundaries of what is possible. As a child, I enjoyed seeing what materials were clearly used in books like watercolors, color pencils, and collage. Iconic books such as Click, Clack, Moo , Guess How Much I Love You, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The Snowy day all have a traditional aesthetic that I try to incorporate into my own work. Having different mediums to work with at my disposal help me achieve different moods within my storytelling, so it is more intriguing to look at. Chowder, an animation series by Cartoon network includes a lot of mixed media in the show like print overlays for the characters, puppets, stop motion animations. Seeing something that was handmade only made it more exciting—knowing that with enough skills—it was possible to create an amazing stop motion like Wallace and Gromit. For my works that are done traditionally, I use watercolor, gouache, inks, color pencils, and collage. I also use digital tools such as Illustrator, Photoshop to edit and enhance my paintings.”

— Isabel Cambray