Painter finds joy in illustrating children’s books

Paige Poppe grew up in the Valley and went away to college to study art. When she returned with her degree, she saw the splendor and beauty of the desert differently. She began to create watercolors of the desert landscape and cacti. Known for her pastel colors and whimsical paintings, Poppe has also illustrated two children’s books. We will focus on her work as an illustrator and how that differs from being a traditional artist, using someone’s words to paint a picture.

Poppe does mostly watercolors but she loves testing her artistic abilities. She was referred to illustrate children’s books from a friend and realized the amount of work that goes into. Poppe explains the collective process in creating the visuals of the book. Her experience writing two children’s books were vastly different. One was familiar while the other was new.