Skip to content
Zara Gonzalez Hoang Illustration
Menu
  • Work
  • Books
  • Sketchbook
  • School Visits
  • Freebies
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Shop

Home

RECENTLY

Turned in the last bit of a book yesterday so today I archived it and took it off the wall. I love full walls but empty walls have such promise. Ready to fill it up again with bits from the next book which I started finals on this week. Do you date stamp your finals? I do. I might love my date stamp just a little too much. I finished this sketchbook back in December. This one took a long time because it was a particularly difficult end of the year and I didn’t feel like drawing much of anything. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised there was anything I’m willing to show in it, but it is fun to peek back and discover some little gems. Hope you are all off to a good new year, mine seems to be a continuation of the last year but hoping things take a turn for the better soon. 🤞🏼 Tomorrow night grab your kiddos and tune in for a bedtime story with @belmontbooks! Register (for free!) here: https://www.belmontbooks.com/event/virtual-monthly-bedtime-storytime-9 It's been 6 years since my dad passed away. So much has happened in 6 years. There are so many things I wish he hadn't missed. I started working on children's books after he passed away. He never saw a book published with my name on it. He doesn't know that A New Kind of Wild was inspired by (and dedicated to) him. He never met my second son. He doesn't know how much my first reminds me of him. But, he also didn't have to see his beloved island pummeled by Hurricane Maria and its people ignored in its aftermath. He didn't have to suffer through four years of President Trump and he didn't have to be terrified for his life, every single day this pandemic has been raging. There's so much that I wish he could have been here for, but there is so much that I am grateful he hasn't had to experience. Death is bittersweet and grief can be confusing. I wish he was here and I am thankful he is not. If I could have him back, I would, but since I can't, it helps to think about all the things that would have caused him pain that he didn't have to experience. It balances out all the things that cause me pain because he isn't here. Te amo Dad. Join us tomorrow for our first Mi Casa is My Home reading! We'll hang out, read and possibly even have a little dance party. Free registration here! https://www.brooklinebooksmith.com/event/picture-book-hour-laurenne-sala-and-zara-gonzález-hoang (link is also in my bio) This is a page in my sketchbook of some early character designs for Lucía and her siblings / cousins from Mi Casa is My Home. I like to talk to myself in my sketchbooks, so that "much better" is because I wasn't really liking my first character sketches of Lucía and this page was where I finally felt like the character was starting to become who she would be. When I am doing initial sketches, I tend to just doodle and see what comes out. Sometimes things work out and I have a thread I can follow and sometimes I just need to keep doodling until something clicks.

Monthly(ish) ramblings about illustration and books





  • instagram
  • twitter
  • dribbble
  • email
Copyright © 2022 Zara Gonzalez Hoang Illustration