The Little Things
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
~ Vincent Van Gogh
I was delighted to be asked to illustrate the cover of the Irish Examiner Weekend magazine. This particular issue is an annual title where the whole magazine is devoted to articles about sustainability - something which is very much close to my heart and to my ethos as a small business owner. To create an image promoting such an important topic was an exciting undertaking…
The lovely editor allowed me to take the reigns with no defined brief, and draft an idea based on the theme of sustainability. It’s a huge subject, with plenty of avenues to take regarding imagery. So, to make things more manageable, I decided to explore ‘the little things.’ I looked at how we are already using sustainable practices with our everyday decisions (even if we may not realise it), and how these little things result in bigger changes.
For example, we may all have a biscuit tin that's reused as a sewing supplies container. We make seed pots out of newspaper to grow new seedlings. We reuse existing and vintage pots and jars as decorative vases. We can grow our own vegetables. We use wooden dishwashing brushes which is a more sustainable means of hand washing dishes. We can shop second hand, and we can mend our clothes with a needle and thread.
I chose a still life composition, as I love collecting vintage and used items. I also like to draw miniature people, and whimsical stories. This idea suits the ‘little things’ narrative, and is also a fun way to depict an often overwhelming topic. With the focus on sustainability, reuse and recycling, I decided to create the illustration using paper scraps from my studio, which I’ve collected over many years. I love paper crafting. There’s something so grounding about the imperfection of it. I used a variety of media including watercolours, acrylic gouache, pencils, crayons and lots of PVA glue!
Each part of the still life was painted first and then hand cut. I layered certain elements to build depth, such as the peas in the pod. This was incredibly satisfying to make, from the sewing notions tomato, to buttons, nasturtiums and biscuits - I loved every minute of creating these little things. I used a paint palette to store them, as you can be sure it’s very easy to lose pieces throughout the process with the amount of paper cuttings! I lost a bee a few times, and eventually found it on the very last day - it was fate I guess!
I also included the Irish Examiner within the image as a nod to the paper. I made these ‘pots’ from vintage newspapers I had collected (I scanned the pages and printed them out), and placed each pot on a little ‘terracotta’ dish. I added faux gold leaf to the biscuit tin also, to emulate a real tin, as well as using tin foil to create a thimble and sewing needles and pins. It was a bit tricky to make sure everything was layered accordingly, and I had to consult my sketch several times in case I glued something in the wrong place.
Once each component was glued together, I then created a background with painted lengths of paper which were created to resemble an old wooden desk. I made sure the background was the correct size for the magazine, with a bleed to insure the whole image would fit perfectly into their digital template. I stuck everything down once I was happy with how they were laid out. This was the most nerve wracking part of the process as I was worried I may have miscalculated the size of the objects and the spacing. Luckily it all came together without any headaches.
I included tiny bees and a butterfly to reference the importance of our eco system and pollinators. I’m not sure why, but a bee usually appears somewhere in my illustrations, it has become a sort of mascot! I only have an A4 sized scanner, which was just a bit too small for this piece….however I do have a twin sister who is a photographer! Thankfully she photographed the illustration for me and she achieved a super defined image which I think resulted in an even better copy than a scan.
And here’s the final cover! It’s always so exciting and rewarding to illustrate a front cover, and this is my very first magazine cover. For me, this illustration was largely devoted to the process - the time involved in creating, the enjoyment I experienced in making everything from scratch, and the love of the subject matter. Thanks for reading ~ Rachel x