Meeting One Of My Idols, Emila Yusof

I had the privilege to meet the well-known award-winning Malaysian children book illustrator, Emila Yusof on Bookaroo Children’s Literature Festival which was held in Pustaka Negeri Sarawak on April 22 this year. It was a dream come true. You see, Emila is one of the illustrators that inspired me in my journey as a self-taught artist. She is self-taught because she couldn't afford to go to art school and after her SPM (national high school exam) had to work to support her younger siblings.

I came across Emila's picture books when I was searching for local coloring books for grown-ups. (Yes, you read it right. There is such thing as coloring books for adults. For those who are unaware, I am a coloring book illustrator too, but more about that in future posts.) So, I was in the midst of working on my first adult coloring book (Sarawak Tattoo Mandalas) and because adult coloring wasn't a trendy thing in Malaysia at that time, I was curious and wondered if I was the first Malaysian to publish coloring books for grown-ups. It turned out I wasn't. Emila and Rizal Paper Bag Head beat me to it. Rizal published his Bunga and Monster coloring book a couple of months before Emila's came out with her Colourart Series. So you could say that I am the third Malaysian to published coloring books for adults. We have several local artists who later published their own books and the most well known is of course, Marty Woods :)

Anyway back to my story of meeting Emila.

Initially, I was (tentatively) invited as one of Bookaroo's speakers but I declined because I felt I wasn't ready. To be honest I felt intimidated. There were some big names among the invited speakers such as Heidi Munan (researcher and Honorary Curator of Beads at the Sarawak Museum), Evi Shelvia (Indonesian illustrator), Siddhant Shah (Indian heritage architect) and so on. Sent shivers down my spine...I am nobody among these people LOL.

From her Facebook status, I knew Emila would be one of the speakers so I sent a personal message telling her I would like to meet up. She said yes and off I went.

I brought a copy of Emila's Mother Earth coloring book for her to sign. Yes, I am meeting a star and getting her autograph is a must.

When I reached the venue, Emila was having a doodling session with a group of children so I had to wait. It didn't take long though. I had a brief chat with her and Evi Shelvia (she's the one with gray blouse). I can't remember what we talked about though LOL. Both of them were very friendly and down to earth and it was a great honor to meet both of them. Even though I can't remember much what we talked about but I do remember one piece of advice Emila gave me - being self-taught we have to constantly learn and try new things. The journey is tough because we don't have paper credentials and that is why we have to be courageous and persevere.

Yes, yes. That's the kind of advice I need to hear - to have the courage to try and push beyond my limits.

Pictures below - a couple of Emila's book I owned and some coloring in I completed.