I started by drawing Super Ted characters on my kitchen floor and before I knew what was happening I was doing a BA (Hons) in Illustration with Animation at the University of the West of England. My experience since has been quite varied. I have had the opportunity to work on animation, computer games, advertising and also other children's books.
I like monsters, robots, demons, and angels. I like things that go "squelch, plop, bang, and whoosh". I like darkness and horror and goop. I like things that are dynamic and alive. I love stores and the journeys they take you, for parts of you mind never to return. What I hate doing the most with my work is lying.
With The Jai Jais both the authors and I work closely to develop the look of each character and page. Initially, I found this task to be hard, not having the knowledge of the complexities of Hindu mythology. Sunita made the goal absolutely clear, we want children to be able to relate to the characters easily without losing the significance and importance in the story line. In essence, give a modern spin to the traditional characters.
The illustrations are prepared on the drawing board with pen and pencil. Once scanned, the colour and backgrounds are added using Adobe Photoshop. This process is constantly improved, with the aim to make each book and characters distinct but remaining recognisable as part of the franchise.