"Summer's Children, the graphic book, was published in 2019 and it took me two years to complete. This book is about memory and loss, as well as an ode to a Kerala summer. The story unfolds through a day, and this timeline was important in situating the tale. I wanted it to feel like an endless summer day, and how time seems unworn and meditative, since the beauty of the place was so captivating.
I wanted the book to resemble an old grainy movie, and to achieve this I did the entire book in pointillism. Memories are often hazy and this style seemed to befit the mood I wanted for the book. Just as I encountered the space with an active imagination, I’ve tried to recreate the same from memory. There are no words exchanged. I made a story board for half the book and rest was done impromptu, I got better at creating the effect and I knew how to unravel it. I didn’t redo a single page; it would have taken an eternity, if I had sat back to scrutinize it all. The process was lengthy enough, taking weeks to finish a page and it was hard not feel the lethargy. I would dream of dots and dot making, piling up like an unresolved labyrinth."
-Anpu Varkey
