Custom Illustration - Zi Xuan's 1st Birthday

The ‘Xuan’ character in Baby Zi Xuan’s name is Chinese for the orange lily or tiger lily. Hence we wanted to depict it in the background, and have Zi Xuan in the middle with the things she likes most – her toys and birds.

The orange lilies in the background are painted in gouache. The illustration of Zi Xuan is done with ink before colouring in with gouache too. Words are done digitally. I decided to have Zi Xuan in a blue dress so she would stand out amongst the orange flowers. I also put in some light yellow flowers to soften the really vibrant orange. This is a first time using floral watercolour for artwork for a first birthday party, and I liked how it turned out.

The final artwork was digitised and printed on an A3-sized matte board so that it could be used as part of the backdrop at her first birthday party, and as a prop for her photoshoot.