“The Bird Who Was Afraid of Heights”
Who’s Who
By: Sakina Khaliq
In the book “The Bird Who Was Afraid of Heights” By Farah Bagharib-Kaltz, the illustrations that you see are done by our very own facilitator in RP. Mr Soh Ee Shaun from the School of Technology for the Arts (STA). He shares with aloud how he made use of the skills he has in the best possible ways. Definitely, one of which would be imparting the designing skills and art techniques to his STA students.
What gave you the inspirations for your illustrations?
My inspiration came from old children’s books that I’m very fond of such as books by Jim flora, Dr Seuss, and Ludwig Bemelmans. I was trying to emulate the limited color palette style from early children books and the loose, whimsical cartoon style they had.
Complete the sentence, “If I could draw up a book-ful of illustrations for the students in RP, the book would be titled __________ and about _________.”
If I could draw up a book-ful of illustrations for the students in RP, the book would be titled DAZED and about children who have trouble keeping awake.
Fill in the blank, “ If I could choose who I want to do illustrations for, it would be …? Why?
If I could choose who I want to do illustrations for, it would be myself. Because there’s nothing like writing a book about yourself.
Were there any difficulties when doing the illustrations for the story?
Not really. We had a pretty good working relationship. We were both very open to changes and how we wanted the story to unfold. The difficulties came from having to constantly re-draw scenes and come up with new illustrations when the story got edited.
What kind of art do you enjoy? Comical, abstract or storytelling?
I enjoy mostly abstract works and one-panel comics, works that are limited in text and illustrative, surreal, non linear or leave much to the imagination.
http://www.eeshaun.com/ is Mr. Soh’s personal site filled with amazing artworks and everything that blows your mind. @
