I SURE DO

Reflections, outtakes, and learning curves

Hello friend,

I hope this entry finds you well and cool and breathing sufficiently clean air (as I type this, wildfire season is unfortunately back and in full force). The last month and a half has been busy (nothing new), as I continue to chip away at my ongoing 2026 projects. My latest book, I SURE DO, is now officially out in the world, so I will be sharing some of the process work that went into it!

Everyone experiences this: some big, impactful life event or memory becomes attached to a place or routine, or something you were doing when said event occurs. Every book I’ve worked on, probably because of the typical 6 month-1 year turnaround, has ended up representing seasons of my life. Whenever I look at my work in I SURE DO, I’m reminded of my cat’s last days, a family trip, hours on the road, 80s Cantopop, a Christmas tree, and hospital waiting rooms and cafeterias. All my books hold a special added meaning for me because of the associated memories, and I SURE DO, a picture book about a parent’s love for their child, is particularly so.

Written by Charles Demers, an accoladed Canadian comedian (you sure bet I listened to his specials while working on this!), the book is tender, but to my excitement, also incredibly silly and nonsensical in some moments. Many of the books I’ve worked on so far have involved heavier undertones and themes, so I was really looking forward to creating something more lighthearted and fun.

Since the characters are loosely based on the author's own family, there was originally an older sibling. To keep things simple, we ended up with just the one child.

Drawings that *didn't* make it into the book. I particularly enjoyed the chaotic kitchen scene involving heel-clicking plumbers, a tap dancing dog, and a potty throne

A vignette that also didn’t make it into the final product

Though the premise of the book isn’t super deep per se, I really appreciated the simplicity (as well as complex layeredness) of the feelings behind it. It reminds me to cherish my time with loved ones, particularly in the mundane of everyday life. Along with all that happened in my family while working on this book, this was especially poignant for me.

The sketch for the spread that also ended up being the cover

I seem to be picking up a pattern where the first spread I attempt painting ends up requiring a redo. In this case, it was the cover image — I had it hung up so I could reference it for colour consistency in my other spreads

Learned my lesson and decided to rough out the colours digitally before using up more painting materials. My computer monitor finally gave out, so I took the plunge and bought a Cintiq, since my Intuos tablet was also getting old and physically falling apart (2 birds 1 stone!). I got to familiarize with it to work on this book.

The finished painting!

Spoon based on an actual spoon that my family (and probably every Chinese family) owns. Not sure about you, but for me, this is the elite soup spoon, no-matter what kind of soup it is!

Thankfully had some feline assistance for a couple of weeks not too long after Percy was gone

Family trips and days at the hospital meant I was working off my ipad a lot for this book

As usual, time is passing quickly and the summer is also halfway done. I’m about to start the final art for my current two books, so I’m looking forward to seeing how I might try to pull it off! I’m also currently in the middle of working on the big Chinese painting project that I previously mentioned — it’s been a learning curve trying to work with unfamiliar paper. The paint and ink behaves so differently with it compared to watercolour paper. Back in June, I worked on a fun illustration for The Globe & Mail again — it was nice to switch gears for a minute and crank out a relatively quick project.

In true millenial fashion, a dated meme reference

Chinese style painting learning curve as steep as this mountain!

After humming and hawing for a couple years, I made the splurge and bought a new lens for my Fuji camera today (XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR II). It’s a zoom lens, so a departure from my usual prime setup, but it should be pretty handy and versatile. I have a couple of shoots coming up in the next month, as well as a big trip in the new year (hopefully) — so I’m looking forward to using it!

In more personal news, I’ve been trying to keep up with my lifting this summer and to just keep getting stronger in general (Super proud to PR a 150lb trap bar deadlift! I can use 45lb plates now!). My goal this summer is to get faster at running; I’d like to be able to run a sub-2hr half marathon by my birthday in September (no worries if not though haha)! Never thought I’d be a fitness bro, but something about seeing tangible progress as a direct result of effort is so satisfying — not to mention an improved resilience to the daily strains of life, mentally and physically. There’s also something about seeing friends and family take up that commitment to becoming stronger as well. Makes me all emotional and excited for them!

What’s a goal you’re working towards this summer?