She draws the moment a new leaf opens
She loves the natural world deeply and is endlessly curious about it, and her favourite subject is a new leaf emerging from a stem and slowly unfolding.
Portrait·Character assets
Character profile
Ye Ya · Botanical Picture Book Artist
More urban character cards →Reusable comic characterBotanicalIllustratorCalmingNature
At a glance
- Role
- Botanical Picture Book Artist
- Genre
- Urban
- Gender
- Female
- Form
- Human
- Art style
- Japanese-style illustration
- Main colours
- Cream, sage green, wood brown
- Home scene
- A glass greenhouse full of hanging plants
Appearance
A shoulder-length brown bob under a cream beret, green eyes, a small mole under her right eye and a soft, quiet smile. She seems as unhurried as the plants she draws.
Signature outfit
A sage-green long-sleeved top under a long cream painting apron with two brushes tucked into the chest pocket, and a small brown leather bag across her body. She holds open a botanical sketchbook filled with leaves and small flowers, and a few softly glowing green leaves and blossoms float up from its pages.
Where you will find them
A glass greenhouse filled with sunlight. Baskets of plants hang overhead, wooden shelves hold terracotta pots and ferns, and a wooden table in the foreground is scattered with coloured pencils and paint tubes, with round-leaved pennywort on one side and a cluster of small white flowers on the other.
Personality and what makes them interesting
Pictures that calm people down
Her work gives off a quiet, healing strength that lets tired, anxious city people find a moment of peace.
Reverence for life, passed on through art
In the official profile her art carries her respect for living things, and her pictures warm the people around her.
Characters that pair well
Suggested pairing: a neighbour who kills every plant
Every week the neighbour turns up with another dying pot. She saves the plant and turns the rescue into a new page.
Suggested pairing: a strict picture-book editor
The editor wants the book on schedule, but how long a leaf takes to open was never up to her.
Story hooks
Leaves drifting off the page
A possible opening: as she finishes the last stroke, the leaves on the paper drift gently into the air, and only a small child sees it happen.
Waiting for one leaf
Tell the whole story as a week of waiting for one plant to put out a new leaf, one panel per day, ending on the open leaf.
Leaving the greenhouse
The greenhouse she has rented for years is being taken back, and she has to decide which plants go with her and which stay for whoever comes next.
Character card FAQ
What genres suit Ye Ya?
Healing slice-of-life, slow-paced urban stories and light fantasy with a fairy-tale feel.
What are the key points of Ye Ya's design?
The cream beret, the short brown hair, the sage-green top with the long apron, and the botanical sketchbook in her hands.
Her art style differs from other cards. How do I handle that?
Her artwork uses a softer picture-book style. In a shared story, keep the beret, the palette and the sketchbook and she stays recognisable in any style.
