Most days you can find me hunched over my studio table, pen flying across the page, trying to finish the art for three children’s books before the end of May. Colourful papers are scattered everywhere like flower petals falling from a tree: reference sketches spread on the floor so I can see them at a glance, working sketches and final art layered on my table in a careful sedimentary arrangement. The most recent and most urgent work is on the top. My laptop is open and humming, so that I can search for reference material at a moment’s notice. My favourite kuretake brush pens are never far from my side, and several can often can be found wound into my messy bun, or tucked behind my ears for safe keeping. Time of of the essence, and my mess, rather than chaotic, is actually a sign of efficiency.