Earlier this year in the Spring I finished a picturebook for Reycraft, a publisher under the umbrella of Benchmark US. A publisher creating authentic stories and illustrations that reflect the voice and vision of all Children. They found me through my agent Amy at Illo Agency. It is interesting to note that this was the first book I had created in my new collage style created from my year long project in 2016. A completely different visual language to the 50+ commercial picturebooks I had made over my career. It was also the first book for a client, since leaving my rolling book contract with Little Tiger Press in 2022.
So going back to the day before I got the email from Amy, at that time I was in hyperfocus with my love of rocks, having realised the connection between my childhood of growing up on the beaches of Cornwall and my colour palette and sensibilities as a professional creative. I was building a whole body of work around rock formations and specifically the interaction of rocks when they are piled on top of each other, like the Tors in Cornwall we used to walk around as a child. Longrock in Penwith being a favourite, along with Carn Brea and Helman Tor of which I created my book Untethered about earlier this year, published through An-ti-dote Press.
So, rocks were on my mind and I was teaching at Newlyn School of Art, where I co-lead the Defining Practice course with Faye Dobinson. I was giving a talk to the students about my love of rocks and how they help me define what I am interested in, in regards to content of my work but also the connection back to childhood and the colours and textures I use in my work today. Showing them sketchbooks full of drawings and paintings of rocks, from memory, imagination and reference, talking about the tension and weight of the interactions and curation of my work and the continuity that now runs through my practice. So, it was a lovely surprise when the next morning I greet the students in our morning introduction, with news that I had received a commission from a children’s book publisher about a rock! A rock that travels through Millenia, glaciers, and many different situations to end up on a beach. I just had to say yes! It was exactly the same amount I would have got paid from my previous commercial books, so felt like another sign to say yes.
So I embarked on creating a set of thumbnail sketches (tiny sketches in proportion to a singe or double page in this context) which were accepted as they were, no edits, which was rewarding knowing what I was doing on my own was working (without editors, designers guiding me) . When the sketches were approved I went on to creating a few rock characters and immediately came up with this guy. He seemed to stick and Amy loved him so I knew he was the one! Using artwork textures from my book Untethered as the background helped expediate my ideation process and get connected to my main character. So then I spent the next few months creating spreads for the book, checking in with the publisher now and again, and with hardly any edits I continued to create the entire 40 page book.
Although I had a template to work within and the text had been set for each page, I designed each page allowing for text, editing where needed and also designed the front and back covers, end papers and vignettes for the title, copyright pages etc. It was a joy to have so much freedom and time to create the book, I think 8 months in the end with the delay on feedback and me scanning everything! at 600 dpi which took longer. Luckily I had bought a new laptop that could handle the file sizes and have a professional scanner meaning I could do everything my end and send to the publisher when finished. A new and enjoyable experience for me.
Above are some vignettes of some of the supporting characters, who I have always loved most! and could easily make books about each of them, any offers, let me know!
Producing textures for the rocks and mountains and background features
The process I use is painting A4 and A3/A2 sheets of white card with different textures and colours, that relate to the content I want to represent, whether trees, rocks, water, animals etc. I oftentimes cut elements straight out, not planning first, just knowing the size I need, using the thumbnail sketches as a guide, then adding details in crayon or pencil if needed. For content that has to be more accurate I would draw first and then cut out, but generally it is all very freestyle, messy and intuitive. I sometimes make a whole double page in collage, and other times I cut the elements out and compose on the page in Photoshop (a digital, photo / image editing software). The pages of these in themselves can be really satisfying to flip through.
Separate elements
So a small peep into what I do. Within my Arts Council funded project I hope to add in new ways of creating textures, bring in my love for printmaking textures, which have served me so well in the past and I would love to lean into more. Continuing to work on my picturebook process as an author / illustrator, with any spare time in between other work commitments working on portfolio pieces and mapping out exciting ideas for other creative ventures. I feel fresh with new energy and ideas and really excited to see who I will be working with next and what book I will be illustrating. Thanks for reading and please do ask questions below if you want to. I’m going sketching!