5 Questions With Elizabeth Baddeley

Last summer we hosted a contest to design a new logo for our chapter. The criteria was simple: include the SCBWI kite and keep it NYC-themed.

We didn’t envy the job of Laurent Linn, Art Director of Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, who was tasked with picking a winner from the pool of incredibly lovely submissions. He ended up choosing a playful design that nods at one of New York’s most recognizable symbols – the Statue Of Liberty.

Get to know our logo contest winner Elizabeth Baddeley in the interview below. She’ll be teaching a hand lettering workshop coming up this November!

 

1. Congratulations! Tell us a little bit about the logo. How did you come up with the idea? Where did you get your inspiration? 

I actually got an the idea when a friend of mine, a fellow illustrator and book lover, was being sworn in as a US citizen! It’s original incarnation was in a card for her. I thought it also might make a great logo.

2. What have you been up to lately?

My first illustrated book, “A Woman in the House (and Senate)” was just released in March. Aside from that, I’m working on a fun project with Storybird that I will be able to share at the end of the month, other odd freelance jobs and getting prepared to attend my first SCBWI conference this summer!

3. What is your illustration process like?
It’s always different! Sometimes concepts come very quickly, or come straight out of my sketchbook. And then sometimes I have to come up with several solutions to find the best one (and of course this is required when doing work for clients). After that I typically make a pretty tight sketch, trace over the line work in ink and also add tone with ink washes. For client work, most of my coloring in done digitally. It’s just so much easier to make changes that way. Lately though, in my personal work, I’ve been doing all my coloring in watercolor. It’s good to commit.

4. What/who inspires you artistically?
Many of my ideas begin in my sketchbook. And my sketchbook drawing typically takes place out on location. Sometime it’ll be a scene that inspires me, a conversation I overhear in passing, but sometimes it is just the thoughts that come into my head while I’m out sketching (it’s great for clearing the mind). I try not to look too much at other current artists for inspiration (though definitely purely for enjoyment). When I’m feeling stuck or uninspired I like to get out of the house, cook an elaborate meal, go for a bike ride or visit an art museum.

5. What’s one piece of advice for aspiring illustrators?
Draw what you love. Don’t worry about what’s popular or trendy. When you are creating art that you are passionate about, it will come out in your work. Draw what you love. Don’t worry about what’s popular or trendy. When you are creating art that you are passionate about, it will come out in your work.

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