I have almost completed my first ever book illustrations for “Gilbert’s Boat,” that I am illustrating for North South Books. With just 2 more pages to go I am getting pretty excited, and my deadline is mid June, so I am on schedule, phew! I am so loving doing this, and the more I sketch Gilbert the more fond of him I get. The way I work, means that the illustrations need to be drawn quickly otherwise the ink marks can appear laboured and this then effects the whole feel of the piece. Therefore I have found that if I sketch when I plan to sit down at my desk and work hard, often the illustrations don’t work out as planned, as I guess I can become too precious about it all. I have found for me that the best way to work, oddly enough, is when I have a few minutes spare whilst getting other jobs done or getting my girls tea, or helping them with their homework etc. I work in stages, and build up the layers, so this is very doable. However one wrong mark means the whole piece has to be re done.
This by no way means that I have a carefree attitude about my work, far from it, its my ultimate dream, it just means that the ink strokes become much more free, and the piece becomes more alive, rather than over worked. I just have to ensure that no jammy fingers touch my art, or that Spaghetti Bolognese isn’t accidentally splattered across the piece! Jill Latter Jill's website Follow us on Facebook