Book Illustration for
How the Onion got it's Layers, written by Sudha Murty
Published by Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House India
Client: Penguin Random House India | 2020
‘How the Onion got its Layers’ is an incredible story written by Dr Sudha Murty. This was my first book with Puffin and for Dr. Murty. The story demanded bright, fun and detailed visulas.
Beena, the main character of the story is a princess who loves wise variety of clothes. Hence the idea was to showcase the diversity of Indian textiles and techniques used to craft these. You can find zari, bandhani, ikat and block printed fabrics amongst others in the book.
This book was Art directed by Devangana Dash, and edited by Sohini Mitra.
Pictured above is beena, the central character of our story! Can you tell she loves clothers and jewellery? This was our opportunity to show the varied textiles of India. Below, you will find some examples of the textiles and the techniques that were illustrated, block printing, zardozi, bandhani, ikat and more!
One of the most magical spreads from the book!
This is the goddess, notice how you can find different foliage, birds and even a tiger in her foliage to represent that she is the goddess of the forest!
Meeting Dr Sudha Murty and having a beautiful char with her about the books we have worked on!
Kind words by Sudha ma'am during the online launch of the book!
Check out this project and more on my Instagram here!
