He’s Happy With It - Daniel Camp, Author & Illustrator
Daniel Camp
The joy and journey of creating children’s books
Heheh…
Did you hear that?
That was me, literally laughing out loud when I reached the end of The Last Pumpkin Picked. It was my first time reading this book—one of several children’s books written and illustrated by local Steveston author and artist Daniel Camp.
Books by Daniel Camp
Where was I that day? It was in December of 2022, and my family and I were at the Steveston Hub Christmas Market selling our Use And Improve crafts, while Daniel was there selling his books and artwork.
When my friends Enrique and Sandra (local owners of 74CO5 Taco Kits) dropped by at the event, they pointed out that Daniel’s their friend, and told me I should interview him for my blog. After they introduced me to Daniel, I picked up The Last Pumpkin Picked. After having a real laugh from the story and enjoying the visual art within its pages, I understood why my friends recommended him to be featured on Steveston People. Thanks for the referral, Enrique and Sandra!
Currently Daniel offers four books for readers who love well written and beautifully illustrated picture books:
The Twelve Days of Christmas Under the Sea
Halloween A to Z Under the Sea
There’s a Kraken Under the Bed
Since meeting Daniel for the first time, I’ve collected all of his books, and I would describe his stories and drawings as cute, clever, bold and informative. And even with four works already published, Daniel’s motivation to write and illustrate continues—with book number five coming out later this year. So while we’re all waiting for his next book to arrive, let’s take a moment to get to know this artist and resident of Steveston!
The Last Pumpkin Picked
In my recent interview with Daniel, he reflected—with humility and gratitude—on his experience as a children’s book author and illustrator. When I got home and re-listened to our recorded interview, I realized how fitting it was that Daniel’s first book, The Twelve Days of Christmas Under The Sea, was influenced by a song about gift-giving. Because, as you will see, the creation of his first book has brought along so many benefits to his life, as well as to his community.
So join me as I unpack my conversation with the talented Daniel Camp!
First, we’ll see how Daniel’s book making journey began. Then we’ll dive deeper to discover not only how it evolved into a small side business, but something even greater—an opportunity to interact, learn, educate—and gain the confidence to pursue more challenging styles of art and literature.
The Twelve Days of Christmas Under The Sea
Once upon a time, in the quiet village of Steveston, father and son were playing around with song lyrics
As many parents can relate, our kids can influence us to do a lot of things! For Daniel, his first book was inspired by his son. He followed the lead of his child’s imagination and committed to trying something new!
Daniel: It all started with my son. He would draw comic books and staple them together, and he’d encourage me to do the same. It was around Christmas, and he was super into sea creatures. So he’d change the lyrics of traditional holiday songs into being about sea creatures—one of those songs being “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.
And then one day…
Daniel: My son said to me, ‘You should make this into a book!’ And that’s when I started toying around with the idea of my first book, The Twelve Days of Christmas Under the Sea.
He embarks on a mission to make it happen
Drawing was something Daniel had been doing all his life. But making an actual book? That was entirely new. So, not surprisingly, it involved a little trial and error to get it right.
After researching online about different ways to publish a book, Daniel decided to try the self-publishing route through a company called Blurb.
Daniel: First, I used a program called Procreate to draw the pictures on my iPad. Over several months, I would work on each page. Once I had all the pages ready, I sent it off to Blurb for a test-run. And when it came back it was horrible. So I learned to adjust the page layout, make the font bigger, and change things around.
With a traditional publisher, they take care of that. But with self-publishing, not only did I have to write and draw everything—I had to figure out how to make a book.
It turns out that printing a book is sort of like cooking pancakes—you have to throw away the first copy (or in Daniel’s case, the first three copies)! It took three test-runs, modifying layouts and testing different papers and inks, before getting the finished product. In the end Daniel had a debut book that his whole family was proud of, and knowledge to apply towards his later works.
Second Day page from The Twelve Days of Christmas Under The Sea
A brief stop at Amazon before arriving at his own shop
At first, Daniel decided to let Amazon take care of his sales and shipping. But since many customers requested signed copies, he decided to create his own website and online shop because Amazon orders couldn’t be personalized.
Daniel: This one little tiny idea of just making a kids book turned into figuring out how to make a business, how to be a shipper, and be a website designer—all these things I wasn’t anticipating.
Halloween A-Z Under The Sea
He makes connections and discovers new purpose
After setting up his online shop, where did Daniel take his books next?
He decided to test out local craft markets to promote and sell to the community. Then he attended school visits by invitation, to meet his little fans and share his stories and creative process. Although Daniel isn’t into promoting himself, he’s grateful to have made new connections in the community after getting out of his comfort zone and into public events.
Daniel: I hate ‘selling’ myself. A lot of artists have imposter syndrome. They think, ‘I’m not good enough.’ I’m shy, so it feels a little awkward to tell people, ‘Come love my art!’ But the school visits and markets have brought me out of my shell, and have made me more communicative. I’ve come to know a lot of people at the local markets, who have cool and interesting stories to tell.
Book talks at local schools have been a lot of fun for Daniel as well because it has been rewarding to see the young readers’ enthusiasm for his work. Direct engagement with his audience has also given him new ideas on how to make his stories more educational.
Daniel: Going to schools and talking to kids, seeing them get excited motivates me to keep creating new books. Hopefully my creativity will inspire their creativity and show them that anybody can do this as long as they have the time and the patience.
In addition to asking me, ‘Are you famous?’—The kids often ask fun questions about animals. And other times, I learn new animal facts from the kids too! For example, I never knew about axolotls before until my son taught me about them. That’s why my new book will be more educational. Because if we can use the medium to help educate and entertain at the same time—that would be really cool.
Spooky sea creature facts from Halloween A-Z Under The Sea
He does what he wants
Oftentimes, we don’t realize the full value of something until we reflect on how we feel when we go without it. For Daniel, when he’s not creating art, he’s not as happy.
Daniel: If I don’t do art, it depresses me. There were actually a couple of years where I didn’t do art at all, besides in my job. I definitely think it affected my mood.
In my day job as a visual effects artist, I do art where I’m constantly being told what to do and being critiqued. So I wanted to do something that would reignite my creativity, where I was fully in control. For good or bad, it's all me. I wanted to take back control of my artwork instead of somebody else always being in control of it.
It’s important to put effort into serving our workplace in order to earn a living. And spending time to nurture family, to make them happy, is also a good thing. But Daniel reminds us that, as individuals, if creating art makes us happy, then we should take the time to do it—regardless of whether we make money from it, or if the public likes it.
Daniel: You should do art for yourself, not to appease other people. If it makes you happy, it will make other people happy. So I’m just going to keep going because it makes me happy.
Sure, Daniel admits that if he makes a profit from his art, he wouldn’t reject the money, but that’s not the point. By continuing to practice art for himself, Daniel finds joy—and that joy just naturally spreads to the community around him.
There’s a Kraken Under the Bed
He hears the call of his next adventures
Daniel’s fifth children’s book is expected to be ready this fall, but that’s not all that’s on his creative itinerary. A few years have passed since his first book, and now many young fans are growing into pre-teens and teenagers. So he’s exploring creating stories and illustrations to suit an older audience.
Daniel always loved graphic novels, but he didn’t think he was skilled enough to create them. The experience of writing and illustrating childrens’ books has given Daniel confidence and motivation to learn and practice new techniques that will help him to potentially create graphic novels. Whatever it is that Daniel sets his creative mind to next, I’m sure that it will turn out amazing!
Dedication page from There’s a Kraken Under The Bed
Ok, so what are YOU waiting for?
Isn’t it amazing to see how saying “yes” to one thing, such as creating a Christmas book about sea creatures, can bring about so many gifts to an artist and his community?
I’m so thankful for the opportunity to hear about Daniel’s experience as an author and illustrator, and I hope his story will encourage other artists to keep doing what makes them happy.
Creativity is a gift that’s waiting to be opened. If you have an idea, don’t walk by and ignore it. Pick it up, look inside, and say “yes” to new possibilities!
Daniel Camp with wife Rosa and their dog Echo
Support Your Local Author & Illustrator
Read these other articles featuring Daniel Camp:
Daniel Camp transforms geek to chic — the life and times of a visual effects artist - The Taber Times
These Portraits Show That the BTS ARMY Is Not a Monolith - Time Magazine
