FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I think our illustrative style is something that we can get quite hung up on as illustrators. It can often feel like everyone else has a really defined style but we don’t know what our own is. My university tutor back in 2007 told me that you will never reach a fixed style because your work will always be changing, developing and improving. However I understand that when you are early in your career it feels like a really important thing to find. I think the best way to find what feels like you is to do lots of drawing and experimenting and also look at the work of people that you admire, whether that be designers, illustrators, children’s books, or artists etc. Personally,  I think my work has evolved very gradually since university. I would describe myself as quite a slow developer and although I have been illustrating for 15+ years, I think it’s only in the past two or three years where I feel like I’m beginning to get to the place I want to be! 

The first thing I do when I get a new project is close my eyes and try and imagine the book in my mind’s eye.  As with many visual people my thoughts are confused and distracted by visual “noise” around me, so with my eyes closed or in a very dark room I try and let my mind wander over the project. How does the story make me feel? What colours and textures am I leaning towards? How do I imagine this book looking? What might the characters look like? The next thing I do is use a really thick painterly brush on procreate to begin to sketch some character studies.  I like to use a thick brush to map out the shape of the characters before I think about the detail because I find it easier to get the body shape down first and add in features later. This also helps me capture a sense of movement without too much detail to weigh the drawing down at this stage. Once I’ve done some character studies I will use the same thick brush to begin to sketch very basic layouts on a storyboard, slowly working in more detail as the composition of the spreads begin to take shape.

When my girls were really small and we would read baby books together I would feel such comfort and cosiness myself in looking at the pictures and the simplicity of the stories, just as if I was a child again. When I draw children I want to capture the innocence and light that a very young child carries in their heart. I know children are definitely not always sweetness and light (!) but even in the toughest moments there is a purity that they hold. I try to create that on the page.

There are two answers for this! Creatively and visually I am inspired by so many different things - I love children’s books, particularly books that are published outside of the UK and US. But I also love looking at the colours and textures of artists and painters, and also more bold collage style graphic design. 

The other thing that inspires me is the artwork of real children! It makes me think of the quote by Picasso that goes: “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” My children’s drawings are unencumbered by knowledge of perspective and how things “should” be. While they often bemoan the fact that their artwork doesn’t look like it “should”, I am so in love with how they capture the essence of something on the page in a way that an adult can only dream of!

Not always very well! All I ever wanted to be growing up was a Mummy, and so I’m Mummy first, and illustrator second. It’s a juggle, but isn’t everything in adulthood? I was working as an illustrator for a number of years and had 8 books published before I had my oldest daughter, but once I had to fit in my work around childcare suddenly I learned how to be a lot more productive in a shorter space of time! I guess this might be the same if you are juggling illustrating with a part (or full) time job too. The hardest part is when I have a deadline and I have to work lots of evenings and weekends to make up time lost by illness or the shortness of the school day. But THE BEST THING is that I’m continually surrounded by the crazy, funny and lovely things that kids do, and my girls and their friends are always giving me loads of ideas for new stories! 

It is entirely digital - although my aim is for it to look analogue! I used to paint everything for real and then scan it in and edit on Photoshop, but after having children I just found that took too long. Originally I tested out making books on Photoshop, and then when I had my second daughter I bought an iPad so I could balance it on my knee to sketch out storyboard plans while breastfeeding her in the dark! Now my work is almost entirely made on Procreate, with a few final finishing touches and formatting done on Photoshop. For a long while I felt like I was cheating or my work was not as valuable because it isn’t ‘real’, but these days I feel more satisfaction with my work than I ever felt with my old, traditionally painted work, so it works for me!

I think that everybody feels like this at various times in their career. I just recommend pursuing your own path, and practice practice practice to get good at what you do. Try not to compare yourself to others because as the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy!  

There are lots of ways to be freelance as an illustrator and one way is to be represented by an agency. Each agency will have its own vibe, and will approach work in its own way. Children’s illustration agencies will actively seek work for you and promote you to their contacts in the publishing industry, and when you get work through them a portion of the fee will go to the agency for their part in negotiating the work/fee. Literary agencies take a smaller fee but you have to be more proactive yourself in making your own work for them to promote, as far as I understand it. My agency, The Plum Agency, is really nurturing and supportive, and I’ve been with them since a couple of years after graduation. As I work alone I love that I can call or email my agent Becky and she’s always there to chat things through! I also I hate dealing with the business stuff and I find negotiating with people and pushing my own work forward very difficult so I am grateful to have an agent to take care of all that for me. But it isn’t essential to have an agent, there are plenty of illustrators who don’t have one. 

No, I work from home. I don’t even have a proper studio at home, just a desk in a bedroom (I did have my own “studio” room until we had the girls and then it became their bedroom!) but I don’t mind because I like to migrate around the house depending on what mood I’m in. Because I work on my iPad a good portion of the time I can do this easily! I’m massively introverted (although you probably wouldn’t think so if you met me) - I need a lot of time alone and find it really hard to make creative work with other people around. So being home alone while working is the best option for me! 

When I was little I was always drawing drawing drawing. I used to make everything into tiny books, including barcode, blurb and price on the back. When I was 7 my Mum said she thought I would be an illustrator when I grew up - prophetic maybe?! I can’t imagine doing anything else. 

I actually love sewing my own clothes. I haven’t made that many things, but I really enjoy the process of choosing patterns and fabrics, then following the instructions to see my creation slowly come to life. It feels like the grown up version of following the step by step instructions on a new Lego kit but I get to wear it at the end! I also have an inner yearning to paint...but I've not found time to fit that into life yet!

There is a button at the bottom of the page, which will take you to my storefront for bookshop.org, which supports local bookshops.  Also you can always see if your local library has what you’re looking for. Not all my books are in libraries (generally the picture book format ones are) but our local libraries are so important and it’s great to support them and also nurture a love of books in our kids!

- Persevere - it only happens quickly for the lucky few! Don’t be disappointed if it takes years to go full time - that’s normal. Don’t be ashamed of having another job alongside it - that’s security.

- Only show your BEST work in your portfolio.

- Keep improving your portfolio even when you don't have any 'real' work on. There are many online prompts you can find and join in with to help you make work

- Have an online portfolio - there are many options for setting up simple websites and you need somewhere for people to find your work quickly and easily, and that you can update easily.

- Being freelance can be quite a lonely job - many illustrators work from home, and therefore on their own. Are you someone who can spend endless hours working alone? Alternatively you can get a space in a studio, which is fantastic for your creative development but you will have to factor in the studio hire cost. Which option you prefer might depend on your personality type!

- Set up a separate bank account to receive payment into, that way you can easily keep track of what you spend on buying materials/research and what you earn, and it makes it so much easier when you do your tax return. Also keep accounts of your income and expenditure - there is a lot of help on the internet of how to do this. 

The Gap by Ira Glass

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

HERE is a link to the most lovely video made by Daniel Sax of the above quote with the voice of Ira Glass from the original interview. I highly recommend watching it.

Children’s book illustrator Sarah McIntyre has a really helpful blog post with tips for students/newly graduated illustrators

Also Lisa Maltby who is a designer/illustrator has a fantastic page of resources too. I highly recommend checking it out.