365 Days of Grief

Illustrations for a book of poetry on the five stages of grief, by Nat Puttavon.

The objective provided to me as the illustrator was to create a character, a newt, that would act as a friendly guide and aid to pair with the poems. But he had to be designed simply enough so as to not be completely representing an emotion that “should” be felt by the reader - instead, acting as more of a mirror. This character needed to represent the notion that there is no right way to be feeling in times of grief, and all emotions should be given space in order to help heal.

I also needed to design and represent the 5 stages of grief. Each chapter represented a different stage and needed a chapter title page. We both brainstormed the types of thoughts and images each of these words brought up for us, and once we landed on a few ideas for each, I began the works - ensuring along the way we were both happy with the designs.

Each were drawn on 9 x 12 in. Bristol paper using a combination of markers, pen, and paint.

365 Days of Grief was is a book of poetry written by Nat Puttavon, in which I Illustrated.

The stages of grief is not an easy subject to approach, but with the help of Newton, the newt friend that tags along with you during this journey, you’ll have a gentle guide to navigate the emotions, offering comfort, wisdom, and even a bit of lightheartedness along the way.

I had free reign for the rest of the illustrations. I picked the poems that I felt I could work with the most and where our friend “Newton” could shine.

Each one started as a pencil sketch, then using a lightbox, was transferred into a pen drawing, where they were touched up and made print-ready in Adobe Photoshop. I then aided in placing them appropriately with the poems using the Blurb self-publishing program.

I also colorized in Photoshop one of my favorite illustrations and sold them as small 5 x 7” prints, available during our reading and book signing events.