Creating Georgia: A Character Design Study

This is Georgia—the main character in my upcoming illustrated children’s book, Am I Invited To The Party?. She didn’t always look like this. (Except for the spacebuns, she had from the start.) It took sketches, revisions, and a lot of back-and-forth with the author, Angela Heine, to find the version that fit the storyline. Let's walk through how she came to life, step by step.

The initial concepts were both fun and terrifying as I struggled with plenty of self-doubt and wasn't sure how I'd pull off illustrating a children's book. This this was my first go at it. The biggest hurdle was just giving myself permission to start. To start somewhere, anywhere. I drew these expanded stick figures and at times thought they looked so silly but I kept at it.

Once I started playing with shapes I really started paying attention to the stylization of the character. I thought about her age and whether she should look more like a young child or a toddler and just how life-like the details should look. There was so much opportunity for stylistic direction that at times it was difficult to narrow it down. Little by little though, the signature look of the book started coming through.

Figuring out the hair and outfit was probably my favorite part! At this point I knew the direction I was headed with the stylization and the body shapes. I knew the characters would be softly rounded and have slightly bigger heads in proportion to their bodies. Now that I had set those parameters, I could explore within them and get even more creative. Sounds counter-intuitive but at this point I had honed in on a direction and I wasn't feeling bogged down by an endless array of options so I could start to experiment more freely.

The eyes were pivotal in defining Georgia's character and personality. I spent so much time on this seemingly small detail, but I knew it was necessary. Something as tiny as a dot or a curve changes everything. I wanted to find an expression that felt sincere, open, and inviting without over-explaining who she is. After some feedback from a group of little ones, we went with the simple dots. I think those were just right!

Another favorite step of mine, color theory! I initially figured out the overall color palette with the rest of the characters first. Once I started with Georgia, Angela and I had already decided on a bright and punchy color palette instead of a soft and muted one. The real challenge here was to give Georgia a two-tone look that stood out enough without clashing or overwhelming the rest of the characters. I really liked the yellow and purple combination but it gave off circus party vibes more than birthday party, so we decided to save that one for another time. ;)

In the end, the mix of shapes, colors and details all brought together this sweet little sunshine of a girl that loves her friends, family and wants those around her to feel included. She's soft yet bold, gentle and joyful, caring and a whole lot of fun.

You can find Georgia and the rest of her world in Am I Invited to the Party? written by Angela Heine and illustrated by Myrna Cazessus (that's me). Make sure to follow along as I'll be sharing more on the process behind the rest of the characters soon.