Laura Barrett Illustration

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This tumblr is an archive, to see my latest blog and news, please visit www.laurabarrett.co.uk/blog!

Image: I thought I’d share a really fun book cover series that I worked on for Harlequin Books; Molly MacRae’s The Highland Bookshop Mystery Series.

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The Little Mermaid picture book is published today by Orchard Books @hachettekids! Beautifully adapted by Geraldine McCaughrean, it was a joy to illustrate her enchanting words. Here are a few spreads from the book, design by the fabulous Sarah Malley #illustration #thelittlemermaid #mermaid #prince #hanschristianandersen #geraldinemccaughrean #fairytale #childrensclassic #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookcover #kidlit #picturebook #picturebooks #childrensbooks #booksbooksbooks #silhouette #laurabarrett (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1dX0I4BcM6/?igshid=7ouv078r0i2k

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Happy Halloween! 🎃 For the first time this year I’ve actually had a free morning to do some personal work- hooray! So I thought I’d draw a quick illustration in honour of one of my favourite films of last year, A Ghost Story. Such a beautifully moving film and soundtrack! More on just what it is I’ve been working on all year soon... 👻 #happyhalloween #halloween #happyhalloween🎃 #silhouette #illustration #personalwork #selfinitiated #aghoststory #filmart #ghost #ghoststory #ghosthouse #spooky #laurabarrett #monochrome #artistsoninstagram (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpme2ZCF48w/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3427zd1jeg80

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The Book Cover Creative Process: Bookworm by Lucy Mangan

I was over the moon to find out that the fantastic Bookworm by Lucy Mangan has been shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag ‘Beautiful Book’ award. The cover features my illustration, with art direction and design from the wonderful Julia Connolly at Vintage Books. I thought I’d show a behind the scenes of how the cover came together!

The Brief The book is ‘A Memoir of Childhood Reading’ so I was commissioned to create a book cover that featured a large, decorative tree with interspersing imagery from classic children’s literature- examples were given such as Charlotte’s Web, George’s Marvellous Medicine, The Worst Witch, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to name but a few. There was the option to include a child reading underneath the branches. First Sketches I tend to start any project with lists and words rather than images but this commission already had such a strong list of iconic imagery to inspire, from the books featured within the memoir. It was simply a case of working out the most visual and striking way of fitting small icons within the overall tree. I’m not very disciplined at keeping a sketchbook so often end up working on loose sheets and tracing paper. Here are some of my first sketches (excuse the fountain pen scribbles from photo 2- I had to revive my pen!)

First Roughs I tend to draw straight into Illustrator, using a Wacom tablet- drawing some things freehand and other things directly from my sketches. I then play around with the placement of everything, almost like moving objects, scenery and characters around in a theatre set. I draw quite roughly at first, as I find just placing elements where they work the best is half of the challenge. I went with oak leaves to suggest the perrenial nature of the children’s books. I had a blast revisiting my own childhood reads and discovering some I’d not read! I came up with a few options to send to Julia who then shared them with the editorial team and author. The first option was a clear winner to move on to the next stage.

Getting to final artwork: Once it was decided to go with a crop of the tree, we decided to extend this across the back cover and it was simply a case of refining and adding detail. Here are a few images as the cover came together.

Final Artwork And here’s the final design. I was so pleased with the way Julia used my illustration, and the use of foiling, not to mention really happy with how well- received the cover was!

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Hello! I haven’t been able to post much recently as I’m busy beavering away on 2 books! So instead, here’s a regram from @anna_annaliv: I designed the logo for the lovely Scandinavia & Nordic inspired children’swear brand Annaliv a while back- if you swipe to the next image you’ll see their Portobello pop up shop with the logo out in the wild! The pop up is open until Wednesday #kidsportobellopopup #annaliv #silhouette #silhouetteillustration #illustration #logodesign #blackandwhite #bw #monochromedesign #scandinaviandesign #nordicdesign #design #children #laurabarrett #laurabarrettillustration

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Hope I’m not too late for #artvsartist! Can you tell I like books, fairy tales, patterns and packaging? Oh and exploring quirky exhibitions- here’s me having balloon-based fun @hayward.gallery’s Martin Creed show a few years ago #illustration #artvartist #artvartist2018 #silhouettes #books #packaging #hi #fairytales #illustrator (at London, United Kingdom)

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The Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh

Last year I had the pleasure of working with design team Studioarc on the refurbishment of Edinburgh’s Museum of Childhood. I was commissioned to create illustrations for a backdrop to an interactive play area for children. Using some of my existing illustrations; Alice in Wonderland, the White Rabbit and the fairy tale Snow White, Rose Red, I also created some new characters. I had a wonderful time putting this together with Studioarc. My illustrations were then CNC cut out and placed over a woodland scene wallpaper. Over Easter I took a trip up to Edinburgh and was delighted to see them in the flesh. I particularly loved seeing lots of children running round, interacting with the space. It’s a wonderful museum, I highly recommend visiting!

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I was super excited to spot my picture book edition of The Snow Queen on @hachettekids’ stand at the London Book Fair. Here’s a sneaky peek of the dummy and a rare glimpse of my face! Thanks to the lovely @junesees for the photo! #lbf18 #londonbookfair #thesnowqueen #hanschristianandersen #laurabarrett #fairytale does this count as #artvartist? #illustration #silhouette (at The London Book Fair)

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Happy Birthday Hans Christian Andersen! How appropriate that the date falls on International Children’s Book Day. His bittersweet stories are a constant source of inspiration for me. Here are some spreads from @taschen’s Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen from 2013, photo credit goes to @ohnicethingsarenice #hanschristianandersen #hcandersen #internationalchildrensbookday #childrensbooks #kidlit #taschen #steadfasttinsoldier #thenightingale #fairytale #fairytales #silhouette #illustration

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I’m delighted to announce that I’m now represented by @theartworks_inc Illustration Agency! For US enquiries I’m also represented by @mendolaartists- you can see more on their websites now! #illustration #illustrationartists #illustrationagency #theartworks #theartworksillustrationagency #silhouette #silhouettes #bookcovers #coverart #junglebook #bookworm #thetoymakers

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Currently working on the picture book version of my edition of The Snow Queen for @hachettekids. Whenever I revisit this tale it always seems to be snowing! Coincidence? #beastfromtheeast #thesnowqueen #snowday #fairytale #hanschristianandersen #whatimworkingon #illustration

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Happy book birthday to @lucy.mangan for Bookworm, her wonderful memoir of childhood reading, published by @squarepegbooks- just in time for World Book Day! I was delighted to illustrate the cover, with AD & design by @juliacconnolly #bookworm #lucymangan #worldbookday #shedesignsbooks #vintagebooks #bookdesign

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It was lovely to be at the launch for Robert Dinsdale’s new book The Toymakers last night. Published by @eburybooks, this wonderfully enchanting book is out this week! #thetoymakers #robertdinsdale #eburypublishing #coverart #silhouette #illustration

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It’s #folklorethursday over on Twitter, and the theme is favourite fairytales, so here’s one of mine- Snow White & Rose Red #illustration #silhouette

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Some rather exciting post: test proofs for The Snow Queen Concertina! Look at those lovely blues. Due to be published by Orchard Books @hachettekids in October. #illustration #bookillustration #kidlit #thesnowqueen

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Driving myself a little bit dotty, moving lots of dots around. It will be worth it in the end hopefully! #WIP #bookcover #illustration #workinprogress

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Here’s Odile the black swan to go alongside Odette. I was so excited to finally get to see a performance of Swan Lake last night, beautifully performed by the Saint Petersburg Classic Ballet @churchill_bromley Theatre. Here’s an old illustration reworked with some added brushstrokes #tchaikovsky #swanlake #ballet #illustration