Meet Troupe 21’s Neesha Hudson
Meet Troupe member Neesha Hudson! Neesha grew up on the coast of Maine, where she spent most of her time drawing, painting, and playing in the woods. Art and exploration led Neesha to her picture book debut, TURTLE IN A TREE (Dial Books), which publishes May 11, 2021.
Neesha is the illustrator of WALK YOUR DOG by Elizabeth Stevens Omlor (Putnam 2018). She also has done illustrations for Parragon, Ladybug, and Babybug, among others. Her debut, TURTLE IN A TREE, is about two friends, Bulldog and Greyhound, who have different points of view but ultimately see that right and wrong are not cut and dry. Here’s the much-too-fun cover!
Want to learn more about Neesha and her journey to publication? Check out the Q&A below!
Get to know Neesha!
What was your favorite story as a child?
I have very distinct memories of my dad reading me MONKEY TROUBLE by Lisa Weil about a monkey who tricks an elephant into waiting on him hand and foot. It was my absolute favorite story and I still have the paperback. Apparently my childhood self had strong feelings toward the monkey because I crossed out his name in various places and replaced it with “stupid.” I also crossed out the Lisa Weil’s name on the cover and replaced it with my own, thinking that meant I created it. It’s my earliest memory of wanting to be an author/illustrator.
What picture book authors and illustrators inspire you?
I absolutely adore Oliver Jeffers. In college I read LOST AND FOUND and it completely changed my view of picture books. The unique, simplistic yet effective style was something I hadn’t seen before. It was one that really solidified my desire to write and illustrate picture books. I also love Jon Klassen. His hat books are some of my all-time favorites. They are so nuanced, funny, and stylistically interesting. His pacing is always spot on too. If you haven’t listened to his Caldecott acceptance speech for THIS IS NOT MY HAT you can find it on Youtube. It’s great. Last one I will mention is Emma Yarlett. NIBBLES THE BOOK MONSTER is such a well thought out and crafted picture book. On top of writing and illustrating great books, she also does her own hand lettering and title design, which I really admire.
Can you tell us a bit about writing TURTLE IN A TREE?
The idea for TURTLE IN A TREE came from a conversation with my son who was two and a half years old at the time. We were sitting in the car when he looked out the window and suddenly exclaimed, “There’s a turtle in that tree!” I asked, “A turtle in a tree?”, and he said, “I’m sure.” That sparked the idea for these two dogs arguing whether there is a turtle or a squirrel in a tree. My first fully thought out draft was very dry and had had quite the anticlimactic ending. I thought it would be funny to have the last five spreads be a turtle very very slowly walking off the pages…yeah. Not very exciting. Thankfully my agent saw the value in the story and gave me the right feedback to form it into a more complete and satisfying book.
Can you tell us about your illustration process?
I bounce a lot between writing the text and sketching out the illustrations. They really form simultaneously because the illustrations tell so much of the story. I’ll do character studies early on, and then create several storyboards and finally a dummy.
Once the dummy is approved and I’m ready to start illustrating, I print my sketches onto 300lb Fabriano Hot Press watercolor paper and use watercolor to paint them. Then add details with colored pencils and edit the final painting in Photoshop.
I’m not gonna lie, I had some really tough times illustrating this book. I think it being my debut made me overthink every little mark even more then usual. The first big decision to make was how to paint the tree, which is the center object in most of the story. Do I want to paint the leaves in watercolor or draw them with colored pencil? Is the tree tall or short? Is it green, yellow, purple? Brown bark? Grey Bark? White bark? When starting the book illustration process there are endless options and it can get really overwhelming. I find the need to just make a decision on something I think works well, and move forward without second guessing. Then the rest of the illustrations usually fall into place once those early decisions are made.
What advice can you share with pre-published authors and illustrators?
I just tweeted a photo of some very polite rejection letters I received early on in my career from publishers. I got a lot of them. The best advice I can give is not to give up. If this is really what you want then put in the time. Put in the effort. Submit to publishers. Submit to agents. You have to show up, do the work, and put yourself out there.
There are lots of ways to connect with Neesha’s picture book debut, TURTLE IN A TREE:
Pre-order today HERE
Mark as “Want to Read” on Goodreads
Follow Neesha on Twitter at @NeeshaHudson
Follow Neesha on Instagram at @neeshas_art
Visit PB Debut Troupe 21 again soon for more about Neesha’s debut and other Troupe 21 books.
See you then!
