MICHELLE I was working on my It Must Be Seasons series when this book quietly and unexpectedly crept up on me. My mother-in-law had been diagnosed with dementia a few years ago. Growing up, our children always loved it when their grandparents came to stay from Vancouver a couple times every year, but their most recent visits seemed different, and things started disappearing around the house. We eventually realized that lost keys, eyeglasses, cordless phones, and even soap dispensers were ending up in Oma’s bag. As we went through her collection nightly, she would tell us stories about each item. At around the same time, there was a day when we were having a particularly difficult morning with Oma. Opa turned to me, eyes brimming with tears, and said, “I feel like she’s slipping away.” At first, I couldn’t think of anything comforting to say. But later as I watched Oma happily watering my aloe plant every time she walked by it while the children laughed and joked with her, I was inspired to write my answer to Opa in the form of a book. Enter Sam. SAM Oma’s Bag is not only the first commissioned book I've illustrated but also my first book to be traditionally published! My desire to be an artist stemmed mainly from the copious amounts of comics I used to read as a kid such as Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts. Illustration by Sam Nunez from Oma's Bag. MICHELLE Wow, Calvin and Hobbes is probably the first comic book my family ever owned and I still have a collection of Snoopy stuffies on a shelf in my bedroom! No wonder our partnership was so seamless, Sam. Actually, I knew that you were the right illustrator to go with when I gave you photos of my family and asked you to draw your version of us. I couldn’t believe how you were able to capture not only the physical resemblance but the overall essence of my father-in-law (and Oma and all the children as well, of course.) Illustration by Sam Nunez from Oma's Bag. Photo of Michelle's father-in-law. SAM Depicting the Lim children had to be one of my favorite parts of the process. As the youngest of four siblings I found the dynamic the children shared to be not only charming but very relatable. I found the themes of growing up and spending time with older relatives to be very touching and heartfelt and I hope my illustrations are able to do the same. Illustration by Sam Nunez from Oma's Bag. MICHELLE They absolutely do! And I am so grateful that you were able to because at the heart of Oma’s Bag is my family’s story. Since so many scenes in the book were from our own real-life experiences, I had very specific images in my head for how they should be illustrated. For other illustrations, I was inspired by my favourite picture books - I could imagine the contents of Oma’s bag as pages from the I Spy series. For the rest, though, I really had no idea how I wanted it to look. Luckily for me, you obviously did. Illustration by Sam Nunez from Oma's Bag. SAM The process of producing Oma’s bag was fairly straight-forward. I really like to plan ahead when tackling a project like this so I spent a significant amount of time with Michelle framing each page until it fit just right with her vision. The book was done 100% digitally using Corel Paint Essentials and my trusty drawing tablet. Progression of an illustration by Sam Nunez from Oma's Bag. MICHELLE Well, not 100%, or at least not initially anyways. I remember the first time we met in the children’s section of the Peterborough Public Library. I had just given you a copy of my manuscript and you were reading it surrounded by all these books we had pulled out as exemplars. We started talking about the ideas I had and you gave me your thoughts about some other pages. At one point we were stuck on a particular passage and we just started throwing out ideas to see what might stick to the wall. I looked up mid-sentence and you slid over a piece of paper with a detailed pencil sketch of everything we had just talked about drawn on it. I was just in awe. Pencil sketch by Sam Nunez of characters from Oma's Bag. SAM Illustration for me now is currently only a hobby, and while working with you to bring your vision to life was a blast I hope to someday soon branch into telling stories of my own. Until then I hope to continue illustrating children’s books and more! MICHELLE I can’t wait to read your books, Sam! In the meantime, hopefully we’ll work together again because this book was so much fun to do. I currently have a spin off adventure for the squirrels from my It Must Be Spring book writing itself in my head. I also have a fistful of stories inspired by pretty much anything and everything I see these days. Finally, who knows, Oma’s bag of tricks might not be her only one yet. Since I don’t see my own drawing talent getting better anytime soon, keep a tab open on the trusty tablet for me, Sam! Illustration by Sam Nunez from Oma's Bag. Michelle Wang lives in Toronto, Ontario, where she was born and raised on Saturday mornings at the library with her two sisters, borrowing ten books each. Unlike Oma, Michelle doesn’t usually carry around a purse or a bag, but please don’t ask to look in her pockets.
https://itmustbebooks.com/ (iG) @itmustbebooks (FB) @mustbebooks Sam Nunez is an artist with a love for illustration and cartoons. Oma’s Bag is his first book. He lives in Peterborough, Ontario. instagram.com/samnunezart Comments are closed.
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