Periwinkle and the Lost Treasure

Periwinkle and the Lost Treasure tells the story of a human child who survives a shipwreck and is magically transformed into a singular sea creature by a gentle cuttlefish.

I’m actually a storyboard artist and first envisioned this story as an animated film. But I love graphic novels and wanted to explore the visual language of pages and panels. There’s a richness to the storytelling and to the layers of information that can be shared, and there’s a kind of collaboration between artist and reader, who can choose what to look at and when.

I think there are plenty of undersea adventures and pirate stories out there, but I wanted to explore childhood on the cusp. When I was growing up, difficult emotions were to be controlled or hidden, and that’s pretty unhealthy for a growing human. In this story, Periwinkle is always exposed and has to embrace what appears to be a weakness, but turns out to be a strength. I’m also interested in family themes, especially the mother-daughter relationship. And I love sea creatures, especially cephalopods like cuttlefish and octopuses. I enjoy drawing their gelatinous bodies and their ability to camouflage and squirt ink!

Project Delivery

My thesis is a pitch packet for my graphic novel, Periwinkle And The Lost Treasure, which I am now showing to agents. I would love for Periwinkle to become my first published full-length graphic novel, and I would love to share more of my stories as picture books, graphic novels, or animated films.

I have a lot of experience illustrating other people’s stories, but I have always gotten in my own way when it comes to creating for myself. I instinctively draw sequential stories but I never thought of myself as a writer. I didn’t know if I was capable of crafting an actual beginning-middle-ending kind of story that would make any sense. Turns out, you can learn these skills!

Tools & Techniques

I used Photoshop on my trusty Cintiq, with Kyle Webster brushes that mimic watercolor paint and paper, brushes and ink. I actually love to work traditionally, but I moved from Los Angeles to Boston, to New York over the course of the project, and having everything on the computer kept the project organized and portable.