Hi, my name is Sonali (so-nah-lee).

(If you are looking to work with me, this should give some idea of how I think and my journey so far)

I have been drawing my whole life; as a kid, in school, through the College of Fine Arts in Bangalore, while learning Photography at the Light and Life Academy in Ooty and pursuing a Masters in Design at UNSW in Sydney, Australia. I didn’t really think about illustration as a career until, I adopted a cat.

This cat was instrumental in me drawing a lot more, perhaps it was his curiosity for the mundane, his agile beauty and his peculiar temperament that made me look closer at everything around me, just as he did (hence the name Dangercat). I began to draw in earnest and for the first time- shared what I had made with others. I learned as I made album covers, murals, package design, editorial illustrations, book covers- and then a fully illustrated book!

Though publishing has come far from the days of letterpress, the essence of why books are made remains the same- storytelling. This collaborative form of story-building between author, editor, art director, layout designer, illustrator and printer; that transforms into a book, which enters the lives of others! – is pretty fascinating and I love being a part of it. Over the years I have devised a way to join this stream of collective ideas and do my best to give it form. I have learnt a lot from the people I have worked with. Apart from being great fun, this process began for me with the pursuit of creating and seeking harmony, but has now also become a deeply philosophical and spiritual one. I have grown to know myself, in a way I could have never imagined.

I think life is like making a book. The quality of thought, intention and action in every moment, shapes the quality of the story unfolding.

Although my illustrative work is mostly digital, I try to mimic the mediums I use in my sketchbook – pen, colour pencil and ink. Each book needs something different, but words are usually where it begins and is the primary source of inspiration. I work in stages, each stage is developed based on feedback. Research, book planning and making deadlines is quite thrilling, apart from the drawing itself.

I have recently begun writing as well.. my first written and illustrated book ,‘I Dream of Ganesha’, will be out in the fall of 2024. I have started drafting my next. I hope to write books that spark conversations about life, death, the meaning of myth, consciousness, philosophy, learning from nature and above all… books that make the reader value and understand themselves, so they may walk through life with love. I am a big fan of the way a good children’s book can communicate ideas of great depth with simplicity. To write about reading and books that inspire will taken an hour of your time and words won’t do justice.

Over the years I have worked on a number of books.. this website is a curation of the most recent.

My work has been published by: Penguin Random House US/Canada/Spain, Penguin Ladybird UK, Bala kids books (an imprint of Shambhala Publications), Restless books –New York, Gibbs Smith – Utah, Lantana Publishing- UK, La Courte Echelle- Quebec, Groundwood books- Canada, Hachette, The Hindu, Juggernaut and Amaryllis publishing- India, Mondadori Libri- Italy, Actes Sud- France, Psichogios Publications- Athens and Alice Jeunesse- Belgium, among others.

I currently live and work on Salt Spring Island- Canada, with my husband.