The award-winning Invercargill cartoonist and illustrator spent three months moonlighting on his fourth collaboration with Auckland-based children’s author Peter Millett, resulting in the children’s book A Kiwi Went to Sea, Sea, Sea.
Mr Yeo said working on children’s books was a joy, and came as a sort of palate cleanser after his day-to-day job of drawing cartoons for the Otago Daily Times.
"With this, there’s no political message behind it ... There’s just such a freedom to it that I love."
Having collaborated several times, his working relationship with Mr Millett was more relaxed and he was allowed the freedom to draw from brief prompts rather than strict guidelines, he said.
Despite the added strain on his workload, he found this project highly enjoyable and even managed to meet all his deadlines with plenty of breathing space for the first time, Mr Yeo said.
"I always hit my deadlines, but I’m usually putting in a bit of work the night before."
A Kiwi Went to Sea, Sea, Sea was the ninth children’s book to feature his illustrations, and he reckoned it was his best so far, he said.
"I’m getting closer to where I want to be as an illustrator. I’ll spend a lot more time thinking about the way the characters look, designing it, laying it out. Particularly with the colour palette, I’m really happy with that."
Published by Bateman, A Kiwi Went to Sea, Sea, Sea was released earlier this month and can be found online or in bookstores.
