FOR CAROL CHOI, her big break into the world of book illustration came from her starting place — the University of San Diego Extension school, from which she received a certificate in children’s book illustration in spring 2022.

Around that time, participants in USCD Extension’s children’s book illustration program — including then-recent graduate Carol — received an email about a project another student from a different program had inquired about: Cody Spencer was looking for someone to illustrate his project for a business class. 

Carol was the illustrator that Cody, a student in the Young Entrepreneurs program, picked for the project, for which she was going to illustrate six panels.

“I reached out to him directly with a link to my portfolio,” said Carol. “I started within a week or so of that on my first illustration. To work with a student, it took the pressure off. I was grateful to have a partner in him.”

She completed those panels in about two weeks, and Cody was recognized for his project with an entrepreneurial spirit award in class. Cody had also spoken with Carol about further aspirations to turn that project into a book and soon — very soon – that plan took fruition. Carol not only illustrated his class project, but the 32-page picture book called “Hold Yer Horses, Pardner!” that quickly followed as a result. 

They celebrate the collaboration of their joint project this month: November 2023 marks the one-year anniversary publication of the rhyming picture book “Hold Yer Horses, Pardner!” The humorous picture book introduces readers to brothers Jed and Jake Jones, cowboys who encounter mysterious happenings on their ranch and jump to conclusions about who is behind the shenanigans.

Carol illustrated “Hold Yer Horses, Pardner!” in about a six-month turnaround — an almost unheard of timeline in terms of speed.

“He was in a hurry,” said Carol humbly of accommodating him. “I had to keep in mind he was under a huge time crunch. I worked with his suggestions. I had freedom in terms of style, and I would add details…to add more fun and make it more playful.”

For cowboys Jed and Jake, home sweet home is a ranch. Life is idyllic — at least at first.

“Hold Yer Horses, Pardner!” features Carol’s whimsical drawings and bright color palette, both trademarks of her style. The sketches were hand-drawn and painted digitally — Carol’s “medium of choice these days. 

“If I want to do sketches, I just work on my iPad and explore and experiment. I also like to use watercolor. Watercolor tends to look imperfect. Quentin Blake is one of my favorite artists because he encourages me to draw in my own imperfect way just as long as I don’t hesitate to capture the spirit of something.”

While Cody had a specific vision of what he wanted, Carol’s touches can be found in various visual parts throughout the book — such as in the depictions of scenery and of cowboy gear, as the story takes place in the Wild West.

To Carol, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the book project was the research phase. Carol said: “I love doing that part. Thanks to the internet, one can Google all over on your computer. This was the first time I illustrated western style — cowboys, western style barns — I had to look it up and research it.…It was kind of nice to branch out of my comfort zone and and draw things that you wouldn’t normally do. It increases your vocabulary in a sense.”

FOR CAROL, her journey into illustration began in her third decade. She had always wished to explore her visually creative side, but she thought that it would be more practical to pursue a career in finance — accounting in particular. And while her career in finance worked out as planned, Carol never fully forgot about her desire to draw, even if she hadn’t really yet physically put pencil to paper or an Apple drawing stylus to an iPad.

“I remember wanting to be an animator in high school,” she said. “But I had this preconceived notion then that drawing should be a hobby, not a career. So I set it aside and chose a safer option — math and economics. Once I turned 30, and my daughter was born, I wanted to revisit something I was passionate about — an old childhood dream.”

“It was an itch I had to scratch,” she said of stepping into illustration, and when it was the right time in life for Carol, she leaped into classes at UCSD Extension without “a safety net” — a brave thing for an adult to do.

“I’m self-taught I guess, in a way,” said Carol. “I try not to have imposter syndrome. But for a long time, I didn’t call myself an artist. I’m inspired by artists all over the globe, and I’ve learned so much by simply observing their work. It took me five years to find my style and it’ll be an ongoing journey. For me, personally, it’s not about drawing lines perfectly (though it helps); if I get to make someone laugh out loud, it is the highest compliment.”

Carol started an Instagram account called littlethingsnoticed early on in her art endeavors, based off her blog account and her website with the same name. 

“I started the (Instagram) account to keep watch of how I progressed,” she said. “I was aware that the things that I made weren’t to the level that I wanted, but when you love drawing (or anything else for that matter), you naturally find yourself spending a lot of time doing it, and you amazingly progress overtime.”

These days, Carol has a sketchbook that “I keep in my purse or bag and try to draw five to 10 minutes daily minimum. I draw my family or if I’m at a zoo, what’s there.

“If there’s something really funny, I have the urge to draw it for posterity. My daughter, Taylor, was eating an orange, and she took the whole thing and ate it as if it were an apple and was pretending to be a cheetah. The orange was gushing everywhere. It’s stuff related to my everyday life.”

Carol, who had graduated a few months before receiving that fateful email, now looks back on the project as having serendipitous timing:

“The timing of where it started, it is the perfect introduction to what I hope is children’s illustration work. It was a good learning experience, and it was a positive experience.”

Carol, whose spouse, Yilei Liu, is in the military, has lived with her family in San Diego currently for several years. The family of three has also lived in such places as Honolulu, Washington, D.C. and Boston.

“(My daughter) wants to be a writer and says that I can illustrate for her,” said Carol.

“Hold Yer Horses, Pardner!” by author Cody Spencer and illustrator Carol Choi can be purchased through Amazon, $11.99.

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