New Artist - 2016__

surface doesn’t feel right, the

pen doesn’t glide across it so

well. You do have to bear in mind

that my idea of a rough sketch is

a lot more detailed than most!

For my colouring-in books,

I try to give plenty of variety

for people to work with – when

there's 90 pages people want

something different – so I include

a range of shapes, textures

and try not to repeat shapes of

leaves, for example. Now (from

my existing books) I can see all

the different techniques and

materials people are using, I try

to make sure there’s variety of

both detailed work and of larger

areas to be filled in with flat

colour, as well as opportunities

for people to add their own

drawn elements or backgrounds.

Essentially, I just want to create

beautiful work and give people

beautiful images and something

more sophisticated to work with!

Working in black and white

Once an illustration is inked up,

the next step depends on what

the outcome needs to be. It

might involve scanning different

elements to bring them together

to create a repeat pattern or

just scanning it and leaving it

untouched. If colour needs to

be brought in, I do this digitally,

often at this stage I work with

a client if they have ideas or

palettes they need to work with.

Obviously, my colouring-in

books are in black and white;

there’s something about

the simplicity of it – it strips

everything else away – and the

illustration is just about beautiful

composition with no distraction

of thinking about colour.

I am lucky that my style of

drawing comes naturally; you can

develop skills but I don’t think

you should try to change your

natural style too much. I wish I

could draw loosely, but I can’t,

I try to keep things neat – I’m a

perfectionist. So I just embrace

it and try to improve on what

comes naturally – I draw what

I draw; when I’ve tried to draw

differently it just doesn't fit.

go on a field trip such as to the

national botanical gardens in

Wales and then use those as a

starting point. Of course, that’s

not so easy with subjects such as

my latest book – Wild Savannah

• although I have been to South
  East Asia and Australia!
  I keep the natural form of
  an animal or plant relatively
  true to life, then I create the
  imaginary elements in the detail,
  developing the illustration into
  something more individual. So
  I’ll focus on the patterns and
  textures in feathers or fur and in
  the habitat, and build up detail
  in surface patterns, textures and
  mark-making.

A simple but detailed process

In a broad sense, my process

is that I make initial preliminary

sketches on loose sheets of

paper; I find loose sheets really

helpful because I can draw loads

of sketches to explore ideas and

then stick them up on the wall in

my studio. From there I pick the

strongest ideas and develop and

refine those with further, more

considered sketches. Then I

produce a final rough.

The materials I use are very

simple: most of my drawing

is done using a very fine

steel-nibbed Rotring pen and I

usually draw on Letraset marker

pads because they have such a

smooth surface on the paper. I’ve

tried other papers, but I’m using

such a fine nib pen that anything

with a slight texture or scratchy

Due out in February 2016, Millie

Marotta‘s Wild Savannah is published

by Batsford. Millie Marotta’s Animal

Kingdom Deluxe Edition is available

now. http://www.batsford.com

Millie’s books

ARTWORK:

BUGS AND PLANTS SKETCH

ARTWORK:

COCKATOOS SKETCH; ROUND INSERT: TOADSTOOLS SKETCH