5 minutes with illustrator, Rachel Miller

I get to do some pretty cool things with my blog, but one of the best things I get to do is show off my friends. This week’s post is an interview with a friend of mine who works as a freelance illustrator and is pretty darn talented. I've always been envious of people like Rachel who can draw, so my way of expressing myself creatively was through a lens. I've been lucky to know Rachel for over ten years; we have known each other since we were 10 years old. I catch up with her and talk about the world of illustration, whether doing a creative degree is worth it and where she gets her inspiration from.

How did you get into illustration?

It all started when my Aunt gave me an illustration book for Christmas when I was about 17. I can’t say that I had much idea about the possibilities around illustration and graphic design at the time and the book really excited me! I was studying Fine Art, not fully enjoying the course, so it was definitely an eye opener and from then on my work started to take a completely different direction.

How do you overcome your creative blocks?

The best way is to just keep sketching, sitting and thinking about things for long periods of time will never get you anywhere! Even if you aren't happy with the work you are coming out with the trick is to keep pushing an idea and eventually things will start to take shape.

Where do you gain inspiration from?

I usually find myself endlessly scrolling through the tons boards and pages I follow on Pinterest and Instagram. I have also a few particular illustrators calligraphers that I will regularly turn to.

You went to UWE, do you feel like your degree helped you develop as an illustrator?

Definitely! Was lucky enough to get onto a course which was perfect for me at the time. The course allowed you to be incredibly free with your ideas and you were always pushed to enter competitions so I managed to get fair bit of experience in working with live briefs. I feel like I have come a long way in 3 years.

Who would be your dream client to work for and why?

Harpers perennial is a book publishing company and is a branch off Harper Collins. They publish a large quantity of reprints with re designed covers, which are always beautiful.

Describe your artistic style in three words.

Organic, subtle and exploratory.

Who are your favorite illustrators?

I tend to like illustrators who are either use a lot of ink and watercolour in their work or specialize in collage. Anna Wright’s bird prints, which combine both techniques, are definitely among my favorites. I am also very into more surreal collage artists like John Stezaker and Hannah Hoch. Jasmine Dowling is probably my most recent craze, for her beautiful brush calligraphy! Her work is definitely my motivation to master modern calligraphy.

What's in the pipeline for you?

To keep creative and motivated!

Keep an eye out for more of Rachel's Illustrations on my blog as we're currently working together to create a new header! Something which I'm extremely excited about, as so far it's looking amazing! Check out her Instagram and Website here!