Behind the Book: Letters to the North Pole with Fia Tobing

We caught up with Fia Tobing, to share what it was like illustrating LETTERS TO SANTA, the new childrens picture book from Annie Atkins. This is the first childrens book from Atkins, who is a visual designer and prop maker for films, most noteabley The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Letters from the North Pole has a nostalgic, magical feel to it. Can you share some of your key inspirations for the artwork in the book? Did you draw on any specific holiday traditions or vintage styles?

From the beginning, Annie wanted the style of this book to be more classic and timeless, which I thought aligned with Annie’s art style. I observed vintage illustrations, classic Christmas picture books and movies, old photos of holiday traditions, and Annie’s art as my key inspirations. These inspirations helped me to catch the “mood” and to imagine how my illustrations would look. The storyline itself was inspired by some holiday traditions that I thought were pretty common. Even though, as you can see, the characters in this book are from five different countries, representing kids all around the world. Therefore, in every chapter, I had to bring out the Christmas signature of each country, such as their typical Christmas decorations and architecture, by still referring to classic or timeless style.

How did you approach designing characters that align with the tone and emotion of Annie Atkins’ storytelling?

Annie was incredible in describing the details that she wanted to show in each character, including physical characteristics and even personality. This helped me a lot to imagine and design the character accordingly.

How did you select the colors for Letters from the North Pole, and what mood or emotions were you hoping to convey with your choices?

We used a traditional Christmas color palette, combining warm and icy colours: red, glowy yellow, browns, and rich navy. For the mood, I wanted to bring out the emotion and warm feeling we get every time we see Christmas lights or candles, as it just makes me feel happy, and I hope the reader feels the same way. I used a lot of yellow in the background to make it warm, with a touch of bright red to represent Santa Claus.

Were there any particularly challenging aspects of illustrating this book?

The most challenging part was the architectural background pages representing each country. You can see that we started from various angles to figure out the composition that worked the best to show the characteristics of the buildings behind the letter and to make us feel closer to the rooftops where the children feel that Santa exists. We also did a lot of trial and error on the writing-letter scene as it was one the most essential parts of the story. I was so glad we ended up with simple vignettes that focused on the characters and the architecture as the background.

What is your favorite element or scene that you illustrated in Letters from the North Pole? Was there a particular image or moment in the book that you’re especially proud of in capturing the holiday spirit?

My favorite scenes are the holiday traditions part as they involve the beloved ones of each character and because they convey the warm feeling and happiness of celebrating Christmas. There were two images that I am proud of. One was the Christmas market scene, as it was not easy for me to capture the atmosphere of the cool night yet warm feeling with those lighting and to show the hustle and bustle of the Christmas market in a vignette illustration. The other was the Santa’s workshop, as it was quite a massive scene with a lot of details for me.

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To work with Fia, please get in touch here.