Myrna: As an illustrator, what are your primary tools?

Ken: When I first started, I primarily used pen and paper. Since then I’ve switched to entirely digital work. While it allows me to work faster and makes life easier when it comes to revisions, it also makes other art styles difficult to achieve. But the challenge also makes it interesting.

With the popularity of iPad and drawing tablets, digital art is even more accessible to those who want to try it.

And even though the high-tech tools are nice to have, it all comes down to the basics … eat your vegetables!

Myrna: Haha! I know that Arree would agree with you on that! Why did you take Arree Chung’s Making Picture Book Stories class?

Ken: Before joining Arree’s class, I had attended quite a few workshops, and most of them were focused on illustrating picture books.

I found out that my illustration skills were pretty good and that I needed a good story focused class.

That was when I attended Arree’s January 2017 webinar. The class was helpful, and Arree’s honest, firsthand insight was very valuable. I liked that it was easy to understand and presented in a meat and potatoes kind of way (no fluff). I became a member right after that class.

I met Arree at the NYC SCBWI conference that same year, and the rest is history.

Myrna: How did taking Arree’s class change the way you write picture books?

Ken: Storyteller Academy classes are wonderful and deserve multiple viewings, even for the veteran picture book makers.

What I do love is the focus on writing with dummies, as well as his techniques for idea generation. It’s fun and very organic.

But I think what’s even more powerful is Arree’s focus on the creative lifestyle and the philosophies around time and energy management. These are values that will help all of us in the long term.

Myrna: Oh, I agree! Developing healthy creative habits was a breakthrough for me. Could you tell us the story behind your most recent book, Ghastly Ghosts?

Ken: Ghastly Ghosts is a picture book that I illustrated that’s written by Teresa Bateman, and published by Albert Whitman. The publisher queried my agent on January 2018, so it’s been just a little shy of two years from illustration to publication. Unfortunately, I don’t have the details of how long it took from writing to acquisition.

The publisher was familiar with some of my earlier work and believed that my style—along with my love for this genre—was a good combination for Ghastly Ghosts.

Ghastly Ghosts combined my love for spooky stories and my goal of traditionally publishing a children’s picture book, so it worked out well.

I created a series of videos regarding the illustration side of Ghastly Ghosts, where I talk about character design, colors, and cover design.