On Feb. 22, SIS hosted the very first Author-In-Residence and welcomed the Caldecott Honor-winning professional illustrator LeUyen Pham to give a presentation.

High school students had the opportunity to attend this discussion during the activity period in the library where she shared her artistic journey, revealed secrets of her illustration techniques, and introduced her latest book “Lunar New Year Love Story.” 

“From this artist visit, I was able to understand the motivation, mindset, and passion illustrators and authors had that led to the creation of masterpieces,” Kate Kim (10), attendee of the discussion, said. “I was inspired by how she had the right imagination and illustration skill to make anything possible even with limited time.” 

“Lunar New Year Love Story” is a romance-comedy graphic novel about Valentina, a girl who believes that she is cursed and destined for heartbreak, goes on a journey to break the family curse and find her love. During the presentation, Ms. Pham gave the attendees sneak peek into the book, revealing her working methods and artistic decisions she made in key scenes.

“Meeting and hearing from a contemporary professional illustrator for the first time was a new and meaningful experience to me because I was able to attain a lot of new knowledge about the world of art,” Dyne Kim (10), art student, said. “Also, I always wondered how illustrators work on their projects, and I was really surprised by how fast she could draw 30,000 pictures in just a few months.”

After the presentation, students were able to ask questions and engage in a discussion with Ms. Pham directly and received art tips and advice on illustration techniques.