When the Stars Come Out is a beautifully illustrated picture book from Museums Victoria Publications that tells the heartfelt story of a child overcoming their fear of the dark. Inspired by author Dr. Tanya Hill’s own childhood—where she once feared the dark before becoming one of Australia’s leading astronomers—the book is an inspiring read for children.
But how does a story like this come to life through illustration? We caught up with artist Sylvia Morris to learn about the creative process behind turning words into imaginative pictures.
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MVS: What excited you most about illustrating When the Stars Come Out?
SM: The possibility of working with Dr. Tanya Hill - a real-life astronomer! I think scientists are amazing, and it’s so cool to work together to share stories about our world.
The family relationships also really resonated with me. I grew up in the Adelaide Hills, which is a great place for stargazing, and we would set up a telescope on our driveway and look for stars and planets together. Lily’s family relationships are very much inspired by my own, and I loved bringing those little moments of shared jokes, shared knowledge and shared wonder, into the pictures.
MVS: How did you approach capturing Lily’s emotions as she overcomes her fear of the dark?
SM: I did tons of little sketches of Lily, thinking about how to convey the whole spectrum of emotions, from joy to increasing trepidation to frozen panic and then the internal moment of bravery. Emotions play out in body language, and it’s quite rewarding when you can feel the emotion coming from a tiny messy sketch. It might be my favourite part of the whole process!
Image: Snapshot of Sylvia Morris' illustration process.MVS: The book features scientifically accurate night sky depictions, including constellation maps. What was your process for ensuring these details were correct?
SM: First, I looked for a specific day to fit with the main story arc, which is set on a Friday, in Autumn, with a full moon. March 14, 2025 checked all the boxes. I then used the timeanddate website to view the night sky from Melbourne on that day, so I could see where all the stars were in relation to the horizon. If you look up at about 8:15pm on March 14, the stars will all be where they are in the book!
We wanted these pages to be useful from year to year, so we haven’t included the planets, which are always in different parts of the sky. This year you’ll also get to see Jupiter near Aldebaran, and then you can find Mars by turning a bit to the right!
MVS: Did you collaborate closely with Dr. Tanya Hill to ensure accuracy in the illustrations?
SM: Email collaboration, yes! Tanya regularly checked my drawings, and sent me helpful information to improve their accuracy. In particular, she sent me a folder of fantastic reference images for the placement of constellations in the Milky Way, and for the constellation maps in the endpapers. I had a blast poring over those photos - the more you look, the more there is to see.
MVS: Can you tell us about your journey as an illustrator? How did you get started?
SM: Like most people, I enjoyed drawing as a child, but had stopped by the time I reached my teens. I certainly had no plans for a career in the arts! This all changed for me when I was studying mathematics at university, and I took up observational drawing as a relaxing hobby. I was immediately taken with it - it felt like magic! And, as a lifelong bookworm, I realised pretty soon that what I most wanted to do with this newfound magical power was to illustrate stories. I then spent years working away at my drawing skills and sending my portfolio to publishers before landing my first job: creating two portraits for Shout Out to the Girls, a book celebrating awesome Australian women. One of those portraits is also of a scientist: the fabulous molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn!
MVS: Do you have any words of advice for young people interested in illustration?
SM: Illustration is a form of communication. Think about what you want to communicate, and then worry about that more than worrying about whether it’s a ‘good drawing’. If you’ve communicated the emotions, meaning or information that you wanted to, then you’ve succeeded. If not, try again! Just like in science, we learn as much through our ‘failures’ as through our successes.
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