Bewitched by Colours: Nancy Raj

 Written and illustrated by  Nancy Raj, It's My Colour emerged from a workshop jointly conducted by Tulika Books and Parag Trust in 2018. Published by Tulika books, the picture book is ideal for chidlren of ages 3-8 years. Chennai based Nancy Raj gives more details about the book which marks her debut as an author.

Your thoughts about writing and illustrating a book for the first time.

While I naturally paid attention to forms, shapes, composition, colour palette and other visual aspects of storytelling, this book gave me the opportunity to imagine and think of words, texts, it’s expressions and narration for the first time. This was a challenging journey but a joyful one.  

Also, this  is my first attempt making mystical characters and scenes. Flying lorries, talking tomatoes, carrots as pirates etc. I have always drawn only people and their everyday life in India. (Except once some Indian wildlife for Pratham’s Achoo) This book has mystical creatures and scenes. But, I chose to pick matters and things from everyday Indian life. I like the ethnic local touch to my books. 

This book was a result of the Parag-Tulika workshop. What aspects of the idea do you think appealed to the selectors of the workshop?
Although there are so many books introducing colours to children in the market, the team of selectors felt the idea I pitched was unique. Perhaps a funny and creative route to approach the idea of colours for children.  

Tell us something about the artwork used for the book.

The colour palette for this book is widely colourful and vivid. This has brilliantly come out

in the final book, as it's printed on shiny thick paper.  

When I was doing Tulika’s “Mala’s Silver Anklets” which was around 2010, I started using digital tools to colour the artworks. It seemed like some kind of sin at the time, but it was enormously helpful and since then I use digital medium constantly. I make the initial sketches in a traditional method using a sketchbook and pencil, then move it over to digital for colouring and layout.

Did the images spring first? Or the words? How did you approach the idea? Did the words flow easily?
Visuals have always been my chosen form of expression. I had to think along visuals with words this time. So, I first had a roughly written idea and script.  Accompanied them with some sketches to strengthen the idea further. Yes, I did have hiccups with the words flowing easily.

Do you feel inspired to write more books?

Yes! I have a list of ideas, some developed - which means it moved from head to notebook and some in progress, which means it's still in the head. 

What tips would you like to give illustrators who are attempting to write a book?
I am still a budding children’s book author and I’m experimenting. Maybe I can ask you to keep a pocket book to note down your ideas before they fade away from your head. This will surely help distill your text/concept to its essentials. I tried this and it worked! 

How long did you take to execute the project?

I worked in phases. Phase 1 started before and during the workshop. Moving the ideas to drafts could have been phase 2. Phase 3 was work-files to print-ready files. We went to and fro with this. Many months in the making, a couple of years almost. Remember I said I had hiccups many times in between? 

Was the first draft of the manuscript written when you attended the Parag workshop ? Did the idea strike after the workshop was announced?

Colours, shapes and forms from nature are my favorite subjects that always fascinate me to gaze more and more at them. I did have a vague idea of doing a picture book on one of these themes. Although there are many books on colours, I wanted to explore this theme from a funny angle. And the workshop announcement came. They liked my approach.

Yes, I prepared a first draft and submitted when they took in entries for the workshop. 

Anything else readers should know about your book.

How does a child look at colours? An orange fruit may look bright and orange under

sunlight, but what colour is it at night? It was definitely fun to explore, and to know

what runs in a child’s mind when they look at things sharing the same colours.

Chicken egg eyes, huge head with a small torso- a little boy with his never ending questions, in his strange universe, fanciful almost. The creatures there are so different from the ones in our world. Clouds that rain Jilebis, boat that float in sweet syrup, ripe tomatoes who whistle and giggle, parrots that squabble all day, crabs who play guitar, lotus ponds with ice-cream cone blooms and many more magical creatures and matters. But this book is not about them. “Yellow can't be yours, it's mine!” shouts the sunflowers to the yellow lorry, so does the tomatoes and crab for red, and so on.  Who owns which colour? It's a ding-dong tussle across the pages, who owns these colours actually and did the little boy get his answers finally?

Did you know that (Tulika’s) Maharani the Cow gives a guest appearance in “Its My Colour!” book?! And! there are some secret codes that may interest the detective in you :) Find out for yourself. 

Get your copy to find out and laugh out with “It's My Colour!”

To register for the book launch (on 15th November 2020) or get a copy of the book visit: www.tulikabooks.com