For my project, I decided to construct a 3D box with paper cutouts of my characters. The box is designed to resemble a Chinese bakery, as this was one of the familiar places that remind me of my culture. Food especially pastry brings me fond memories. Along with the box, it was designed with a cashier in the background and the foreground showing a table with rows of sandwiches, buns, and cookies. The characters are based on original designs from my other stories. One is a boy named Jassie and his sister Misha picking out their lunch, and the other two are a little Qilin and his guardian.
Overall, the scene is meant to give a sense of daily life when people are allowed to visit shops. The shop may be something that viewers may recognize in Chinatown.
The bakery was constructed with paper cutouts on a 2 layer background. It showcases original comic characters going about their day.
Characters and pastry display separated from the bakery box
Bakery box with cashier and display cases at the back, with characters and pastry shelf on the side
Side view of the box
Side view of the box
Jassie and his sister Misha, picking out their lunch
Little Qilin and his guardian
These are some of the pastries that inspired the ones added to the bakery. One of the major things that brings me back to home and childhood.
Chinese Swiss Roll
Curry Puff
Melon Pan
Pandan Cake
Sarah Chui Lau (she/her) is a Bi Asexual East-Asian Canadian freelance illustrator who specializes in drawing kids lit book illustrations. In her free time, Sarah creates webcomics and posts them online, since her early days on Deviantart. In 2012, she debuted a work in an international magazine called "Fairy Dust" and was hired by picture book authors. She is finishing an art degree at Seneca College. Sarah was born in Singapore and was transferred to different schools during her growing years.
Although she was raised with Western beliefs, she turns to visual arts, studies different Eastern folklore and history. Creating comics with BiPOC characters help her connect with her Asian roots as a 1st gen immigrant student. She enjoys adding metaphors and history in her stories (such as Hybrid Dolls, an ongoing webtoon) and her future graphic novel: The Travelling Princess. More of her work can be found on www.worldofsarah.com. Her latest piece is A Place to Belong, an autobiography comic about fitting in as an Asian immigrant.
The comic artists who inspired her works are Rumiko Takahashi and Moto Hagio. In the future, she hopes to inspire new readers as she goes down the path of being a graphic novel author/illustrator.
Sarah can be reached at @joichichan on Instagram, or @lavendercomics on Twitter.