Eceng gondok (Eichhornia crassipes), commonly known as common water hyacinth, are known as an invasive species. Eceng gondok in Indonesia mostly grows in shallow waters, swamp, lakes, and rivers. It breeds quickly, is easy to float and spread, and can quickly cover the water body, resulting in poor water transparency. So it's been considered a type of weed that could damage the aquatic environment.

Many control efforts have been done, along with utilization efforts. In this picture book, together with Dimas, Ayah, and the villagers, we will learn how to utilize Eceng gondok for its best use.

The project goal was to illustrate a picture book from scratch, divided into weekly tasks. I was given a storyline with illustration brief. We started by creating a moodboard, then character concepts, thumbnail sketch, actual sketch, and at the end of the course we were tasked to create full cover and content illustrations.

The project was getting more and more challenging along the way, but it was actually getting more fun to do too. I learned how to make a narrative illustration and to make it more interesting with an imaginative twists.

The "actual sketch" part was quite fun. I was tasked to create more detailed sketch for each of the pages, from front to the back cover.

Thank you!