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Crushable writer Tom Rosinski , who’s also a New York-based graphic designer, caught up with buzzy young British illustrator Rachel Lewis, whose work was recently honored at the D&AD Awards.
Tom: Can you tell me a little about your background for our readers?
Rachel: I was born and brought up in a town called Leighton Buzzard, in Bedfordshire, U.K., which is about 30 miles north of London. I can’t really say that one particular thing led me to illustration, I knew from a young age I wanted to make and draw things, which is what I spent most of my childhood doing.
Tom: What kind of things inspire you to create and where do you look for them?
Rachel: I get inspired by everything and anything. Often in the middle of the night, annoyingly. The most interesting things to me are when I find the extraordinary in the mundane, the little things in life that make you stop and question the way things are. Words are infinitely inspiring to me; quotes, lyrics, letterforms, signage, and strange spelling mistakes.
My main source of inspiration is the Internet, definitely. I read a lot of magazines and books, both fiction and not, but I just get astounded by the amount of talent and information that’s out there on the Internet. Other people; their work, or even just their work ethic inspires me.
Tom: What is your process like when you are creating something? Your work looks very hands on. Do you start with a complete picture in your head or does it grow more organically/unpredictably?
My process can sometimes vary but generally, when I have an idea for a project or for an illustration, I can usually visualize it in my head straight away, or at least the gist of it. It’s the method and media that is always in flux; I start all of my illustrations off with hand rendered elements of some description, and then build it in Photoshop or illustrator. I’d definitely describe it as hands on, and I always prefer to have something physical at the end of it.
I don’t like working solely in digital form, things feel distant and sterile to me. When it’s on the Mac that’s when the most changes happen to my images and I can go off on tangents or end up with something that’s close to how I envisaged it. Sometimes I prefer it when things grow unpredictably as you can end up with something better than what you’d thought, but I also like to be in control of my work and not let things run away with me. Especially when you’ve got deadlines.
