As summer winds down, it feels like the perfect time to share my interview with Bonsoir Lune, author-illustrator of Watermelon Pool, translated by Frances Cha. Grab a fork, a tasty watermelon, and enjoy the read!
When the summer sun is in full force, there’s only one way to beat the heat: dive into a watermelon pool. After a large watermelon gets split in half, everyone in the village dives in, digging into the fruit and making slides from the rind while spending a joy-filled day together until nightfall.
Let's talk Bonsoir Lune!
LTPB: Where did the idea for Watermelon Pool come from?
BL: I absolutely love fruit, and in Korea, watermelons are relatively affordable. Back when I was doing freelance illustration work from home, however, even the cost of fruit felt like a burden. Yet, occasionally, a truck loaded with watermelons would come to the neighborhood selling small ones for 3,000 won. Whenever I heard the truck’s announcement drifting in through the window, I would rush all the way down from my top-floor apartment to the ground floor. I’d buy a watermelon and make it last the whole week.
One time, while slicing and eating a watermelon in my room—which had no air conditioning—I dug my fingers into the flesh to remove the seeds and felt a refreshing coolness against my skin. That sensation inspired me to first create a single illustration titled *Watermelon Swimming Pool*, and I later expanded that image into a story to produce a picture book.
BL: I absolutely love fruit, and in Korea, watermelons are relatively affordable. Back when I was doing freelance illustration work from home, however, even the cost of fruit felt like a burden. Yet, occasionally, a truck loaded with watermelons would come to the neighborhood selling small ones for 3,000 won. Whenever I heard the truck’s announcement drifting in through the window, I would rush all the way down from my top-floor apartment to the ground floor. I’d buy a watermelon and make it last the whole week.
One time, while slicing and eating a watermelon in my room—which had no air conditioning—I dug my fingers into the flesh to remove the seeds and felt a refreshing coolness against my skin. That sensation inspired me to first create a single illustration titled *Watermelon Swimming Pool*, and I later expanded that image into a story to produce a picture book.
The illustration that sparked the story of Watermelon Pool
LTPB: What did you find most difficult in creating this book? What did you find most rewarding?
BL: Watermelon Pool is the first picture book for which I created both the text and the illustrations. Before that, I had submitted various picture book dummies to competitions for years without success. Feeling increasingly discouraged, I even left for Australia on a working holiday, intending to give up on picture book creation altogether. Yet, in the end, I couldn't let go of it completely. While living in Australia as an *au pair*—staying with a local family and looking after their children—I spent my spare moments coloring the illustrations for Watermelon Pool. I think the hardest part back then was the lack of any certainty that the project would actually become a published book.
Some time after the picture book I had so long and earnestly dreamed of—one I had both written and illustrated—was finally published, I found myself on a flight. Usually, whenever I fly, I worry about the possibility of a fatal accident; but on that day, I felt so happy that my book had made it into the world that I thought, "Well, if I were to die like this... I suppose there’s nothing to be done about it." I still remember that feeling.
LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Is this your preferred medium? How does your process change from book to book?
BL: I created the illustrations for Watermelon Pool using colored pencils. While coloring with them takes a long time, they offer the advantage of allowing for intricate work despite being a simple medium; I felt they were perfect for capturing the texture of the watermelon flesh.
At the same time, I also enjoy a somewhat rougher, more spontaneous style—reminiscent of graphic novels—so I like working with paints as well. Although colored pencils require a lot of time to finish a single page, painting allows me to complete multiple pages in a day, giving the work a satisfying sense of momentum.
Since the story of Watermelon Pool was originally conceived as an animation, some illustrations depict character movements across multiple panels, mimicking the motion of a camera. I enjoy breaking down scenes to reveal the flow of movement in this way, though the specific approach to composition tends to vary depending on the story each book aims to tell.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
BL: Watermelon Pool is the first picture book for which I created both the text and the illustrations. Before that, I had submitted various picture book dummies to competitions for years without success. Feeling increasingly discouraged, I even left for Australia on a working holiday, intending to give up on picture book creation altogether. Yet, in the end, I couldn't let go of it completely. While living in Australia as an *au pair*—staying with a local family and looking after their children—I spent my spare moments coloring the illustrations for Watermelon Pool. I think the hardest part back then was the lack of any certainty that the project would actually become a published book.
LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Is this your preferred medium? How does your process change from book to book?
BL: I created the illustrations for Watermelon Pool using colored pencils. While coloring with them takes a long time, they offer the advantage of allowing for intricate work despite being a simple medium; I felt they were perfect for capturing the texture of the watermelon flesh.
Since the story of Watermelon Pool was originally conceived as an animation, some illustrations depict character movements across multiple panels, mimicking the motion of a camera. I enjoy breaking down scenes to reveal the flow of movement in this way, though the specific approach to composition tends to vary depending on the story each book aims to tell.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
Sketch
Final colored version
BL: Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the publication of Watermelon Pool in Korea. To celebrate, I created a summer picture book titled The Peach and the Caterpillar. Having just wrapped up work on that picture book and taken a moment to catch my breath, I am now sketching out the storyboard for a new graphic novel. Since I’m not sure when I’ll finish that story, I’d like to share some illustrations from the picture book I just completed instead.
The Peach and the Caterpillar tells the story of a child who, while about to eat a peach, discovers a caterpillar inside. Envious of the caterpillar’s ability to feast on the peach to its heart's content, the child swaps bodies with it. Once transformed into a caterpillar, the child eats plenty of peach—and even passes gas and poops, all smelling sweetly of peaches. It is a silly yet adorable story.
LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?
BL: Honestly, I’d prefer it if no one created a comic based on me or my life, since I’m quite lazy and live a rather pathetic existence. Still, if I had to choose, I think a slice-of-life comedy with a touch of gentle humor would be enjoyable and easy for readers to engage with. I’d pick the author Miri Masuda; I once read an essay-style comic she wrote and illustrated called "My Ordinary, Laid-Back Life as a Writer." I laughed out loud and deeply related to her story about moving to the big city with the grand ambition of becoming an illustrator, only to spend the next six months at home just watching TV. I like just sitting around doing nothing, too—I’m always telling myself, "I really ought to get this done," yet I rarely actually do it.
A pool-sized thank you to Bonsoir for answering questions for me! Watermelon Pool published from Dial Books earlier this summer!
Special thanks to Bonsoir and Dial for use of these images!
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