Nani at artist residence: Day 3

This is my Nani,

and I, am her Karish. 

At a first glance, Nani seems to be an ordinary grandmother.

But when you  get to know her a little bit, you will soon see that she is magic.

Nani is now 90 years old and has travelled all over the world. She lives a life full of adventure and I think it´s a wonderful story to share, so I have decided to share my version of it.

This is how the story begins.

Nani at artist residence: Day 2

After warming up a bit, I mustered up the courage to begin to draw Nani. It took a while and I had to ask for her permission...in different ways and on many levels. 

And then this happened...

drawings for the first chatper of the book:

Mango Wanderings

Nani at artist residence: Day 1

It's been years since I started this project. 

And though I am very eager to finish it, it's been difficult concentrating on it with so many other things going on. 

So, as a gift to myself, and in hope of advancing on the book, I decided to come to La Cala de Chodes for an artist residence.

And I brought Nani with me! 

Well...not physically. But I have brought her recipes, her spices, her mantras and candles. I got here yesterday afternoon and got settled in to my new workspace: the beautiful library.
I started working on the cover of the book to help me find my bearings. 

A map of the book

Last year, for my first formal publisher's 

meeting I put together

this map of the project. 

It is a small guide for me to follow 

while working on the book.

A year later...

A year later and much has happened...

For one, Nani celebrated her 90th birthday in Casablanca two days ago. Although I couldn't be there physically, I managed 

(with the help of a very special friend) to have this card and a flowering plant hand-delivered to her.

A birthday card for Nani´s 90th

On the other hand, over the past year, a lot has happened

with this project. I finally have an overall structure

of the book. Though certainly it will change as I advance I think I am off to a solid start.

This is a little map of the chapters and structure of the book

I also have a color card:

The technique for this book is a mix of black ink pens for the outer lines,
colored with water color wooden pencils. I may add some colors,
but this is the general pallet

Sketches of sweets and spices:

Some herbs & spices that Nani in her recipes

Some spices that Nani uses for her sweets

Some of my favorites of Nani´s sweets

A couple of chapters planned and sketched out:

Title page for Chapter 1

Title page for Chapter 2

Add caption

And an imagined timeline of Nani's transformation over the years:

Nani in the different stages of her life

I have also decided to make this blog public today. 

In celebration of all these new developments.

So voila!!!

I don't have a launch date for the book, but I think it may be ready 

in the next year or in early 2016.