I recently came across this great post from Adam Rex on his process for illustrating the picture book Chu’s Day, written by Neil Gaiman, and thought I’d pass it along.

The post is a brief overview of the roughly 6-month process that Adam put into creating Chu’s Day. (Adam mentions in the comments that “I can work on about two PBs a year, or one PB and one novel, before I have to really start sacrificing either quality or free time.”)

This is a great insight into the process of making a picture book. Adam talks about breaking up the manuscript into page-length scenes, planning the pacing, deciding on a page count, sketching, character design, making a dummy, and working with the art director and editor.

I suggest checking out the comments section below Adam’s post, where he’s answered questions about tools and materials.