An insight into the world of a children's book illustrator

Monday, November 25 2013
Spending time with illustrator Rachel Oldfield
As it is my aim to gain a greater understanding as to the role an illustrator plays in the field of children's books, I felt it important to spend time with those who work in this specialised area of work. Rachel Oldfield illustrates picture books for Barefoot Books, an independent publisher with offices in Summertown, north Oxford and Cambridge, MA, USA. Her first book for Barefoot, Up, Up, Up! features three young travellers who visit different cultures via balloon with a dog and a mouse. It was launched early 2010.

Up, Up, Up! published January 2010

I first met Rachel three years ago as she was just finishing this project. I interviewed her as part of my role then as Creative writer for Stroud Life. Out of all the 300 artists I interviewed over five years, seeing her at work in her studio, working with her light box, triggered something in me. I felt then that illustrating was something I would love to do, but wasn't sure how to go about it. This is the link to that article http://gloucestershire-echo.vlex.co.uk/vid/illustrator-oldfield-illustrating-spiers-77040498 
Today I spend a few hours with her in her new studio, working on her latest book for Barefoot Books called Opposites, based on six children who go on a camping trip.

As she works, we talk about the book industry and share what books we enjoyed reading and looking at as children. As she is only 4/5 years younger than me, the books are very similar. Janet and Allan Ahlberg; Beatrix Potter; the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But Rachel says she also remembered her French godmother having some very unusual books including a boy who sucked his thumbs and ended up having them cut off! I find out later through my own research it was called Little Suck-a-thumb.

"Being an illustrators, it helps so much having children. Reading books to my three boys, it is amazing what they pick out, they love spotting things and notice the sub plots that go on," she says. As a mother I agree and recall my own delight as a child in discovering the details within the pages.

PRACTICE

Rachel, graduated from Brighton with a BA (Hons) in Illustration. One famous illustrator she interviewed as part of her degree was Kit Williams who wrote Masquerade and designed the bubble-blowing fish clock in Regent's Arcade, Cheltenham. She works with traditional materials - pencil and acrylics. I took this photo as she was making final touches to the opening double page spread which sets the scene. All action takes place within the scene and following pages will show close ups of different parts of the picture. The publishers have asked her to remove part of the arm of one of the little characters who is wearing a yellow star t-shirt. Barefoot Books' mission is to make books accessible to everyone so that means making reference to characters from different ethnic backgrounds and physical abilities. The amputation takes place while I am there - painlessly I hasten to add!
This double page spread is almost to scale, only slightly bigger than what it will appear in the book, Opposites, due to be published in 2015.
Her next job is to draw out the other scenes and provide more completed pages as well as designing the front cover and end papers. This book will have about 12/13 double page spreads.

Thumbnail sketches are required particularly nowadays as publishers like to record the process on their website to keep their audience gripped and eager to see the final outcome.

Up! Up! Up! took six months from start to finish, whereas Opposites is taking longer. Texts are given and the illustrator is asked to come up with ideas and provide two double page spreads, not sure then whether he/she has the job.

As well as making cards for Clare Maddicott to provide some extra income, Rachel has just started teaching illustration part-time to foundation students at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.

TIP from Rachel

"It is important to find out what your language is. Once I got my language, that is when the commissions started coming in. Publishers need to be confident that your language is going to be consistent," she admits.

Her own experience with agents

After working for a large agent, Advocate Art, Rachel worked for a smaller company PlumPudding, but her animals weren't cute enough and they wanted her to change her style.
"After spending years trying to find my style, I didn't want to let go of it. They do say that illustrators can have two different styles of working and often operate under different names, but that did not work for me and I left by mutual consent," she admits.

She was honest that for many agents are helpful in that they promote you, give you the work and act as a go between. But they do take 35 per cent of the earnings, which is a lot if the job is £2,000.

Support from other illustrators - Rachel explains that in Brighton, there is BIG - Brighton Illustrators Group and a group of illustrators in Stroud is hoping to do the same, so SIG could be forming soon.


The time with Rachel was such a privilege. Seeing an illustrator at work was like looking into an artist's sketchbook - it offered a valuable insight I couldn't have got anywhere else. While she worked, I quickly drew her to recall the moment. It has inspired me even more.

Illustrating the illustrator