Kaley McCabe, a senior designer for children’s books at ReaderLink and a freelance illustrator, has deep roots in art that trace back to her childhood. Her mother ensured that a very young Kaley was always supplied with computer paper, prompting the budding artist to spend hours crafting stories and transforming them into handmade books with colorful construction paper covers.
“My parents always encouraged my drawings: My mom is an elementary school teacher, and she has a massive collection of children’s books. I think she always knew I would end up being an illustrator, and she and my dad were both supportive of my love of art. They still have a lot of my terrible drawings from when I was a kid,” Kaley recalls.
It’s safe to say that no one would describe her work as “terrible” today, especially considering her impressive portfolio. Among her notable accomplishments is her work illustrating the “Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: You’re My Little Nightmare” board book, as well as “Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Welcome to Halloween Town!” which features interactive elements based on the beloved film.
McCabe is also one of the featured artists in this year’s San Diego Book Crawl, an event celebrating Independent Bookstore Day, taking place from April 26 to 28. During the crawl, visitors are encouraged to explore 14 participating locations, earn prizes through purchases, and get their event passports stamped at each stop.
As a book crawl artist, McCabe contributed the main artwork featured in the event’s marketing and merchandise while fellow illustrator Susie Ghahremani designed limited-edition collectible pins.
Currently residing in Rancho Peñasquitos with her husband, Jake, McCabe reflected on her creative process, favorite book-hunting spots, and some unexpected interests.
When asked about her initial attraction to visual art, McCabe expressed her fascination with the ability to create unique worlds and characters.
“I loved being able to create worlds and the characters that inhabited them. And even when I was drawing things from cartoons or other media, I would also make my own characters to be a part of the stories I loved so much,” she stated.
Over the years, her appreciation for art has grown, particularly in terms of the effort involved in crafting children’s books.
“As a kid I always loved children’s books and graphic novels, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve really come to appreciate how much work goes into each book. I oftentimes revisit children’s books I read a million times over as a child and will catch details or jokes I never noticed before. There’s so much heart that is put into books that I now understand after being part of the creation process,” she said.
Living in Rancho Peñasquitos, McCabe enjoys the neighborhood’s tranquility while still being conveniently located near the 15 highway.
“I love that there is a park right down the street from me, which I often go to just to swing. My husband and I take a long walk every day around our neighborhood, and we have a lot of kind people we chit-chat with on our route,” she noted.
Adding a personal touch, McCabe shared her fondness for the pets in her neighborhood.
“There’s also a lot of animals we see in people’s windows and yards that we’ve given our own names to. I especially love when we get to see Tuxedo, a small black-and-white cat who is often roaming the cul-de-sac. She’s a sweetheart!”
The topic of her artistic inspirations led to a discussion about her deep-rooted connection with the iconic film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Before illustrating the books, McCabe had a lasting obsession with the movie as a child.
“I’m sure it comes as no shock, but I was obsessed with ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ as a kid. I remember taking my friends to the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood to see a 3D showing of the movie for my birthday one year. I replayed the DVD over and over again in my room while I drew in sketchbooks or played computer games,” said McCabe.
Tim Burton’s unique artistic vision played a significant role in McCabe’s own creative journey.
“Tim Burton and his uniquely creepy point of view was a massive inspiration to me, and ‘Nightmare’ was my favorite work of his. I wish I could go back to my younger self and tell her she would one day be working with Tim Burton and his team on books—she’d flip!”
Discussing her creative process for illustrating established characters, McCabe explained it involves specific guidelines due to the existing character designs and environments.
“My process for working on licensed books is a bit different than typical projects. Since these are established characters, often they come with specific rules: what you can show a character doing, what environments they can be in, etc. Keeping those guidelines in mind, I’ll start working on very loose sketches to lay out each page.
I’ll do these very quick (often scribble) drawings for each page of the book, to get an idea of how the layouts will work together as a full book. Once I’m happy with the general direction, I’ll go in and do rough sketches of the characters and backgrounds to block everything out. The characters don’t need to be incredibly accurate at this point; I just need to get across what I’m thinking to the editors and the licensing team to get their feedback,” she detailed.
After this, tight sketches are created to hone in on details and ensure accuracy to the character designs.
“Once the tight sketches are done, they are sent to the licensing team again to get their feedback. This is usually when the most changes are made. Often, licensing teams will supply you with bluelines or redlines, which are corrective overlays to your artwork that show you exactly how they’d like you to revise a pose. They’re usually images that just have your original sketch at half-opacity and then a red or blue drawing on top to show the corrections (hence the name).”
Once they complete revisions, McCabe enjoys the thrilling stage of adding color to her sketches.
“Once that stage is over, you can start to work on colors. This is usually the longest stage, but to me this is the most fun part. Getting to bring the sketches to final render is satisfying, plus at this point I can usually sit back and just enjoy the process; the details and layout have all been figured out already, so I have a set blueprint to just add color to.”
McCabe draws inspiration from a variety of sources, particularly from other creatives.
“This is a little meta, but seeing other creative people inspires me to be creative. I always get really inspired when I watch a great animated movie, play a great video game, or when I’m browsing through thrift stores and come across old, illustrated books or toys and dishware. Video games, especially, have been a creative inspiration for me—I recently played through the ‘Psychonaut’ video games after finishing a large book project, and it really helped rejuvenate me.”
When it comes to local bookstores, McCabe finds joy in visiting her library.
“My favorite place to browse books is actually my local library! The (Rancho Peñasquitos) library is very lovely and quiet. Especially right now, when federal funding is getting cut for libraries and book banning is on the rise, I want to give my library as much support as I can.”
In terms of drawing locations, McCabe envisions herself in a coffee shop or a vibrant setting, yet finds comfort in the familiarity of drawing at home.
“As for where I like to draw, I wish I had a cool, artsy answer for this, but I honestly love drawing most when I’m alone on my bed. In my head, I love the idea of going to a local coffee shop to draw, but I get anxious about drawing in public. I have a daydream of taking my iPad to the San Diego Zoo and drawing some of the animals, but I need to psyche myself up to do it. Maybe I’ll make that one of my goals for 2025!”
The best piece of advice McCabe ever received resonates deeply with her daily artistic practice.
“The best advice I’ve ever received is to just draw every single day. Even if I am completely burned out and have no desire to draw, I will at least scribble something out for 5 minutes. Doing this every day helps you maintain all the training you’ve put into your drawing hand and stops it from ‘getting rusty.'”
Despite her artistic endeavors, there’s an aspect of her life that may surprise fans of her artwork.
“If you just saw my artwork, you’d probably never guess that my favorite genre of music is heavy metal! I’ve loved metal for a long time, but the sub-genres I listen to frequently have changed over time. I started with loving symphonic metal (Nightwish, Delain, Within Temptation), but in recent years I’ve also gotten into metalcore, which is a mix of metal and hardcore music (aka, lots of harsh, angry vocals). My favorite bands are Spiritbox, The Devil Wears Prada, Motionless in White, Lacuna Coil, Architects, and The Birthday Massacre. There’s something cathartic about drawing cute unicorns while listening to loud angry music, haha.”
As for her ideal San Diego weekend, McCabe painted a picture of a perfect day filled with adventure alongside her husband, Jake.
“My husband Jake and I have annual passes to the (San Diego) Zoo, so my ideal weekend in San Diego is to visit the zoo early in the morning—ideally when the red panda is out and about, he’s so cute! Then, I’d go visit a local goth clothing and accessory store called La Loupe Noir and probably spend way too much money. Then, we could stop and get some coffee at a local shop (Seven Seas Roasting Co. is right next door), before heading over to La Jolla to see the sea lions on the ocean cliffs. Then we could round out the day by going to Tokyo Central and Main to grab some snacks and their premade meals (the katsu chicken is delicious).”
McCabe’s journey from a young artist creating stories on computer paper to illustrating beloved children’s books showcases her passion and dedication to her craft, inspiring creativity in everyone she meets.
image source from：https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/19/grab-a-passport-to-access-a-world-of-independent-bookstores-at-annual-san-diego-book-crawl/
