Behind the Scenes: Illustrating Arwr Arfro
14th April 2026Last summer, I was hired to illustrate Dewis Dy Dynged: Arwr Arfro (Decide Your Destiny: Hero of Arfro), by Llinos Dafydd, published by Gwasg Rily.
The book is a Welsh choose-your-own-adventure story, filled with magic, mystery, and fantastical creatures. And all in time for National Year of Reading!
Safe to say, I wanted to do it justice. So here’s what I did…
Creature and Character Design
Before I could get started on the main illustrations, I had to design the mysterious sidekick - Gwydion - and some of the main creatures from the book; the Gwiber, and the Afanc.
The Afanc was somewhat tricky to design, being half crocodile, half beaver. (Not your classic combo!) Thankfully, I had more experience drawing the Gwiber, so that was a relatively straightforward task.
The Cover
Now, onto the cover! As usual, I started off with rough thumbnails. The creative director settled on a combination of 2 and 4. Next, I developed a selection of colour schemes, some bright, others dark and sinister. Once option 3 was approved, I moved onto my favourite stage: the collage!
As the deadline for the cover was quite tight, I had to be strategic on how I created the collage. I decided to create a greyscale analogue collage, then apply colour digitally.
The collage was made with a combination of India ink, calligraphy ink, and bleach, also using crumpled paper to emphasise the tactility of the medium.
I applied colours in Clip Studio, and added more footsteps and foliage. Once approved, it was time to start on the interior illustrations!
Interior Illustrations
By this point in the process, I had just over a month before my final year of university started. Ideally, I didn’t want this project to collide with a hectic uni schedule, so I had to streamline the process. This meant sending out batches of rough sketches, and developing new batches whilst awaiting feedback. Fortunately, the sketches were well-received, and with a month to go, I could start collaging…
The September of Collage
Just to keep things simple, I moved into my new student flat at the beginning of the month! Once I’d set up my desk, it was time to start collaging. For three weeks, I entered a collage haze. I created 60+ hand-made collages, and I tell you, when I glued down that final leaf, and finally swept and hoovered my paper-strewn bedroom, such relief I have never felt in my life.
(It did not last.)
The Map
See, I had one task yet to complete. I had to illustrate a double-spread map for the start of the book. Had I collaged a map before? No. Had I even illustrated a map of any description before? Also no. This was a “learning on the job” sort of experience.
So learn I did.
After getting sketches approved, I created a digital draft, printed the outline, taped the outline to my light-box, then crafted the collage over the light-box. This wasn’t a method of collaging I’d tried before, but thankfully, it was a success!
(Which was fortunate, as I had less than a week until the deadline.)
And…breathe.
After a few (or 60+ rather) digital edits, everything was ready to go! I’d officially illustrated my first book! As I write this, Arwr Arfro is sitting on display at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, which feels like a dream to me. I also found it at London Book Fair, which again, made my day.
The process definitely came with its challenges, but overall, I’m incredibly proud of it. If you want to read it (which you should, I hear it’s got tidy illustrations in it), Dewis Dy Dynged: Arwr Arfro is available online in both Cymraeg and English.
Diolch Llinos, Megan, and Lynda, for trusting me with your book!
