Bal Harbour

T H E Which elements of the Shops first captivated your attention? I was fascinated by the lush tropical greenery working in harmony with the architecture and glamour of the Shops. I imagined an immersive experience of beauty in various forms, coming from nature, architecture, and fashion itself. How do you create a work such as this one? Do you follow the same process in all of your drawings? This piece was mixed-media. I drew each of the elements in black and white, using ink, pencil, charcoal, Artist Cornelia Li is this year's Bal Harbour Shops Creative Challenge winner. Here, she shares the inspiration behind her illustration, the process that goes into making each of her magical mixed- media works, and what else she has in store for the fall and holiday seasons. BY TALI JAFFE-MINOR and any other materials to create the desired textures. The black-and- white drawings are then scanned and brought into Photoshop, where I color them digitally, layering in more textures to create the vibrant colors. I predominantly use this technique for my publishing works, and it's really fun to explore it in other types of illustration! Tell us a bit about the new book you've illustrated, "Chang'e on the Moon," which comes out in September. It's a picture book from HarperCollins's Everlasting Tales series about multicultural folklore and mythology. The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival story of Chang'e, [retold in this book by Katrina Moore], is about how an ordinary girl became the goddess of the moon. To celebrate the cultural heritage of this tale, I used sumi ink and a calligraphy brush on rice paper to create the drawings. This was the first time I explored this medium, and I discovered that it was quite the challenge. That said, I was very happy with how the final artwork turned out. What are some of the other projects on the horizon for you? I'm currently working on two more children's books that are coming out early next year. They both have scientific themes—one a hilarious story of a disappointing birthday, while the other is a poetic-prose tale about the magic of scientific discovery. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED became the goddess of the To celebrate the cultural FROM LEFT Cornelia Li's winning illustration for the 2024 Bal Harbour Shops Creative Challenge; the cover of her new book, "Chang'e on the Moon" SHOP TALK, NEWS & HAPPENINGS AROUND THE KOI PONDS courtyard chronicles C O U R T E S Y O F C O R N E L I A L I ; H A R P E R C O L L I N S

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