Rachael Sanders Illustration

Some latest artworks of children’s based imagery. 

Working with depth

I’ve been taking part in some free assignments set by Lilla Rogers on the http://makeartthatsells.com/blog/ in readiness for the Illustrating Children’s Books course. This illustration was for assignment no.4 where we tackled depth and perspective.

I LOVED this task. I didn’t think I would as it’s something I wouldn’t normally do, but by being asked to work on something that was alien to myself, it really got those creative cogs whirring. I think this is one of the best illustrations I’ve done to date because it feels like a complete image. I don’t often do a full spread, and my images up until now have been focused on character (and not placed in to a setting). I’d like to work on more settings over the next month or two, placing characters into an environment really brings the whole thing to life.

For this assignment I thought I’d use it as an experimentation exercise. A lot of my illustrations so far have been quite flat so for this I thought I’d play around with texture and I also wanted to limit my colour palette so that the focus would just be on the birds. I also wanted to focus on a different medium so chose gouache (I’m usually a watercolour gal!), adding details with my coloured pencils. I had a panicky moment halfway through and wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing, but I persevered and I’m so glad I did.

Sometimes all you need on a wet, cold and slightly foggy day is a nice warm cup of tea.

I’ve started 2017 by promising myself that I would create artwork as frequently as possible. I’m currently working on a personal development project that will see me illustrating a diary/album (#1. so I can record what I get up to throughout the year and #2. so I can regularly practice, experiment and evolve, whilst nurturing a habit of creating illustrations consistently). You can follow my artistic journey on Instagram if you’d like (@rach_in_the_clouds) as I tackle the world of illustration.

This illustration was inspired by a book I’m reading at the moment called All The Birds In The Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. It’s full of magic and two-second time machines (?!) ...and birds! It’s a great, highly imaginative YA read and is a fantastic source of visually imaginative input for anyone trying to create an illustration. So this is me, my imaginary favourite chair, a cup of tea (of course) and the book coming alive around me. I’ll be posting more illustrations based on this glorious book in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled.

New Year, New Start, New Projects...New Blog!

Hi!

I’d like to start off by introducing myself - I’m Rach (cyber wave), an aspiring illustrator living in the not so sunny UK.

I work mainly in watercolour, pen and ink and coloured pencil. I love creating images aimed towards the picture book market (but would also like to explore the gift card/wrap/stationary markets as well).

I wanted to create a nice new blog to chart my illustrative journey in readiness for the new year. I’ve got lots of plans for my own personal development and thought it would be nice to chart and share my journey with (hopefully) some like minded individuals.

This will very much be a work in progress and a case of  learning on the job! I’ve been dabbling in Photoshop recently and plan on exploring and experimenting with my illustrative style, composition, textures and pattern making, scenes and the whole picture book/storyboard/pacing process.

I hope that you will come on this journey with me, and we both find something pleasing at the end of the road. You can also follow my processes and illustrations here: https://www.instagram.com/rach_in_the_clouds/

So here (above), is my lovely young lady setting off to who knows where, with her raccoon companions (why not?!) in tow.