We recently connected with Nez Riaz and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nez, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Learning how to draw is one thing, but learning how to illustrate is another. I’ve always loved drawing people and characters, but for a long time, I ignored drawing environments and spaces. When it came to placing my characters in a setting, the disconnect between the person and the environment became obvious. It felt like I was just sticking the character onto the background like a sticker, rather than integrating them into the world I had built. This issue was even more noticeable when I drew the character first and then tried to build a setting around them.

When I practiced, the landscapes I drew looked decent, but they didn’t match the world of my characters. I felt like I had to “dumb down” my character drawings to fit into the crude settings. Eventually, I had to learn to approach the setting as if it were a character and to treat the characters as part of the setting. Only then did my drawings become complete illustrations.

Building settings is still difficult for me, especially non-organic spaces. Often, I need to sketch a floor plan of whatever room I’m trying to draw. Preplanning and relying on my thumbnail process have helped make my illustrations feel more cohesive, allowing both the characters and the spaces they inhabit to feel more alive.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a children’s book illustrator, and being of both Pakistani and Palestinian descent has given me the opportunity to illustrate and highlight stories from South Asian and Arab creators. Stories like My Name is Bana, about being a refugee, Zain’s Super Friday, about being Muslim-American, or Leena Mo, CEO, which explores the diaspora experience, are all stories I feel personally connected to. I’m incredibly grateful to have had the chance to help tell them.

It’s always amazing to see the authors I work with include cultural details I can relate to. I get excited to take it even further by adding elements like textiles, food, and clothing that bring more representation to the books in ways I wish I had seen growing up. Right now, I’m working on my own book that tells the story of my grandparents in Palestine. I feel like, now more than ever, my community has a voice and space to tell our stories.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In college, I became deeply invested in becoming a picture book illustrator. I took every class I could on the subject, made book dummies, and even interned at a publishing house. After graduating, I applied to a few agencies, including one where my favorite teacher was an agent. However, she rejected my application, explaining that she didn’t see me fitting into the picture book industry.

I felt dejected after that, so I revamped my portfolio and shifted gears toward editorial work, pretty much giving up on my dream of becoming a children’s book illustrator. Still, I continued creating kid-lit-focused illustrations in my free time and posted them on Twitter. Two years after that rejection, an editor at a major publishing house saw my work and reached out, offering me the opportunity to illustrate my first book, My Name is Bana. I remember crying when I received that email. That opportunity reignited my passion for drawing picture books, and now my fourth illustrated book is coming out this year. It’s wild to think I ever considered giving up.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Letting go of perfection has been my biggest hurdle. In high school, I was very focused on technical skill and didn’t consider my energetic, rough sketches to be “good enough.” This tightness and focus on rendering stunted my ability to loosen up and let the materials I worked with speak for themselves.

Now, I constantly remind myself to let go, not to overwork a piece, and to embrace the mistakes I make as “happy accidents,” as Bob Ross put it. This is something I’m still unlearning, and I hope to become even more confident and relaxed in my practice moving forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nezriaz.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nezzies/
• Twitter: https://x.com/NezRiaz
• Other: books available on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ANez+Riaz&s=relevancerank&text=Nez+Riaz&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_2