Reverie
InDesign
Procreate
A collection of heartfelt poems accompanied by charming illustrations, Reverie is an earnest exploration of the world’s enchanting beauty and the human experience through the lens of non-verbal autism. Vinay Lingampalli’s sincere poetry shares themes of perseverance, love, appreciation, and more, with a profound focus on the positive side of life.
My brother requested for me to illustrate accompanying images for each of the 20 poems. However, I was only given a week to do this, so that we would have enough time to send the book for printing. This way we could receive copies in time for our trip to India, and be able to share his accomplishment with our family.
This meant that I had to come up with ideas and execute them within 9 days – around 3 drawings per day, balanced with my courseload of 4 classes (18 units), 2 jobs, and 4 clubs. Of course, him asking me meant the entire world to me, so I haaad to make it happen for him. 🥲🩵🩵🩵
Here are a few of my favorite poems and illustrations accompanying them:
Here I am, ready to shine. A star clothed in dark clandestine clouds waiting for the wind to carry my light.
Here I am, heart yearning to be seen. A thousand words spill from my throat in paper boats filled with ink.
I walk my path and the ground turns gold. My dreams pave the way in glittering letters.
And as I wish a wish for wind. A road becomes my destiny.
On a cloudy day I sit and rest my head. On a pillow of endless dreams. Golden rings surround my goals And halos of light envelope my memories.
On a cloudy day I close my eyes and see visions of goals achieved. Roads with glistening emeralds for grass, Lined with ruby flowers My path brilliant as can be.
Pleasure abounds on a cloudy day My hands wrapped around a warm mug filled with all the words I have to give. My poetry floating in a rich sea of sweet sentiments.
Perhaps cloudy days were meant for this. To blanket our existence with the warmth of our potential and the fuzzy hope of expectation.
Cloudy days that see our feet leave the ground and fly us to our next destination. Gentle steps on bricks of our imagination.
On cloudy days.
Don't sleep in Morpheus’s arms when following your dreams. The slumber of procrastination may rob you of your greatest achievements.
Don't sleep on the moon's crescent when reaching for the stars. Find the shine in your goals, shoot and propel yourself towards them.
Don't rest on the branches of trees. Climb to the top with persistence and joy.
Above all, don't forget to wake up to the scent of success when you stay awake for tons of your dreams.
Carefree days full of sun Saris dancing filled with sequins Packed backyards getting stomped by the beating rhythm of feet Amazingly festive in their mood
It feels like summer. The chatter of a thousand voices Summer Plane rides, taxis, catch a train And throw your cares away.
The road to our dreams is lined with perseverance A steady stream of tenacity A world of strength, a pound of hope, and an overwhelming blindness Blindness because it is best to see with our heart. A blind eye to the nonbelievers A blind eye to the dream killers. Blindness to the unkind. A lot of blindness towards those who share their fear to dream Blindness to the ignorant of miracles and magic. In a journey towards the impossible, we must pack unending faith in our commitment The joy for the struggle and the success. The steady determination of every sunrise. And the permission to rest with the stars. Most of all, we pack the guiding light of those who see our journey successful even before it begins.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel frustrated with my concepts at times or felt like the drawings weren't working out — at which points I turned to Pinterest or Adobe Firefly (generative AI) for compositional references. Some of the poems were very abstract, and working on pieces so quickly made it very easy to fall into the trap of creating very similar art. Seeing different compositions and photography helped immensely in varying my pieces.
In the end, I was able to finish in time; the art style I chose to complete the drawings in allowed me to not only complete the art quicker, but maintain a semblance of abstract fleetingness, which I felt matched the imaginative poems. I'm curious to see how I would approach this project again in the future with more time and a more developed artistic style...perhaps a redraw is in the books? 😉
Find his work on Amazon.
Amazon