"A Sailor Called Wet Paint
and Other Secret Stories from Indian History"
Children's Book Illustration and Cover Design
"A Sailor called Wet Paint and Other Secret Stories from Indian History" by Nandini Nayar, Illustrated by Damini Gupta, 2023
"A Sailor called Wet Paint" written by Nandini Nayar and published by Hachette India is a children's book that describes, through a series of letters, the plight of the ayahs, lascars (sailors) and other indigenous people that were cruelly carted from India to Britain in the 1800s. I had the pleasure of illustrating the cover and inside illustrations for the book, as well as for the first part of the series "Are there Bun Shops in the Jungles of India?". Many thanks to my fabulous Art Director, Vatsala Kaul Banerjee!
Cover Design
Brief
The cover design for this book required a similar layout to the first book, with depictions of character from the stories instead of animals.
The rough draft along with the final illustration
Finally, the back cover and spine were illustrated and designed, with the final cover being put together on Adobe Indesign.
The Final Cover!
Inner Illustrations
A series of black and white illustrations were also commissioned by the publisher, in order to bring each individual story to life. These were created using reference images of ayahs, lascars and old portraits from the time period.
The illustrations and featured in the final book
The final book came together wonderfully, and has been successfully selling in bookstores across the country, along with its companion book "A Sailor called Wet Paint".
Thanks for viewing my work!
