Picture books
The Crane Who Counted Waves
Cover art for a counting book set on a stormy coast.
Client
Fernhollow Press
Year
2025
Medium
Colour woodblock print
The project
The brief
A counting book that needed a cover with one clear character and plenty of movement, tall enough to sit well on a shop shelf.
How it was made
The crane started as a stiff profile and got softer with every rough. I let the wave break across the title area so the lettering could sit inside it.
The result
The cover won the publisher a front-table spot in two bookshop chains in its launch month.
Sample image: Utagawa Hiroshige, Crane and Waves, early 1830s. Public domain, Art Institute of Chicago.
Want one like it?
Send a short brief and I’ll reply with questions or a price.
