Like most passion projects, they all start with a fleeting spark of joy and a hazy vision. Petal is a fictional character that is largely shaped by my own experiences. Highlighting the dreamy, and joyful slice-of-life that is somewhat relatable. The process of how Petal evolved in personality, story and visual style was all very organic.

It started with a ‘Snack Attack’

I spend a lot of my time thinking about food. Admittedly, I think snacks could be my favourite meal - much like tapas and entrees. This particular day, I was reminiscing about the Dango I ate in Japan. Soft glutinous rice balls known as mochi, served on a skewer, lightly torched and glazed in brown sugar syrup and generously dusted with soybean powder.

In my first sketches, I was just trying to roughly capture the idea onto paper. I knew I wanted this character to be holding a giant Dango… it looked like a weapon. Just like that, the snack attack concept was born! It only felt appropriate to include more snacks. Longtime favourites such as milk biscuit balls and Yakult. Experimenting with the scale of objects can help place importance on the story of the illustration.

After outlining the initial sketch, I felt that the style of character was lacklustre. I wanted something more playful to reflect the joy of consuming a delicious snack. Cartoon styles with chunky shapes and bold outlines such as the Simpsons, Steven Universe and The Gorillaz came to mind. So I drew over the existing character in Procreate, to enhance the line work. And yes, we did need another snack. Pocky!

Chasing dreams with a “Petal to the Metal”

When constantly running at full speed, we forget to stop and smell the flowers. Truthfully, this insight was reflective of my mental state. Exhausted and burnt out, I needed to remind myself it is important to rest and hydrate. Even though, it felt unproductive.

Expressing emotions without words allows me to lean on visual cues such as metaphors, surrealism and composition. Colour was also an important aspect here. I experimented with different hues, tones and saturation to create that otherworldly feel. I felt like the blue, pink and purple pastel tones resonated most closely with warmth and friendliness.

Duck. Duck. Doggo!

One of the purest forms of joy is when you are surrounded by happy cute dogs. Trust the excitement, when I discovered a doggy daycare and cafe was opening just around the corner. I was compelled to capture this wonderful feeling.

This idea led me to ask, what kind of world would Petal live in? One filled with cute dogs, obviously. In terms of execution, I struggled with extending the current colour palette to a whole environment. I decided to reuse the existing colours. Seeing how far I could push with the usage of tints and gradients. (Please excuse the messy brush work. I intend to vectorise this series… one day!)

I hope to continue developing this character and the world she lives in! Petal is just trying to live her best life.