15-year-old Santa Clarita resident Quinn Chavez is the illustrator behind author Steven Whysel’s children’s book, “The Adventurous Squirrels of Cool Waters Cove.”

Originally published on Sept. 29, the book follows the story of a family of squirrels who join an all-animal forest circus, featuring colorful and lively illustrations by Chavez,

Chavez initially came across the opportunity when Whysel put out an ad on Craigslist, looking for an illustrator skilled in drawing animals for his book.

“I had been job searching for a while for freelance work to be able to save up, so I just reached out to any Craigslist ad that speaks to me,” Chavez said.

The young illustrator sent Whysel his portfolio and samples of work, not knowing the details of the story before accepting the ad.

The process of illustrating for the book took a little over a month, with Chavez doing and re-doing illustrations.

“I read the book a few times and did some character designs and basic sketches to get a basic idea of what he wanted the book to look like and what colors and settings to illustrate, until working on the final designs,” he said.

Chavez did his illustrations digitally, using software on his computer and a drawing tablet.

The young SCV resident hopes to continue work in illustrating in the future as well.

“I had a lot of fun doing this with Steve and it would be great to continue illustrating,” he said.

“The Adventures Squirrels of Cool Waters Cove” is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other retailers.

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