Lydia Nichols‘ love of print and paint come into play in the interesting range of marks she uses. She uses these to construct her jolly animal and human characters as a self-professed anthropomorphizer, as well as lover of tea parties and books.
Her unique style reflects her interesting background in art and design. After having studied both illustration and design, Lydia interned at Pixar as a fine artist before completing a Children’s Design Fellowship at Chronicle Books.
Now, Lydia spends her time making these wonderful illustrations full of texture and grit, as well as doing the odd spot of teaching at various places including MICA. She tells us about her process.
Although illustration is my primary cup of tea, I also have an affinity for design, printmaking, and even a bit of painting. No matter what it is, however, I always start with sketches on good old fashioned paper.
Sometimes, they’re nothing more than 1 or 2 inch tall thumbnails— crude and nearly indecipherable!— but that’s fine for me because they’re mostly just a way to work out rough ideas.
Later, I refine the sketches, often with the aid of tracing paper to save time, and when they seem ready, I scan and move onto the computer to apply color and tweak compositions (if need be).
Some people are fantastically diligent about keeping sketchbooks, but I often find them too intimidating, so most of my sketching takes place on scrap paper of reams of computer paper with a soft pencil and my handy click eraser.
Very simple materials, though keeping track of things can get a little tough! (Hence lots and lots of folders.)
Once I hit the computer, I rely on my trusty Wacom tablet to get the job done. It’s not nearly as nice as really drawing, but I get the benefit of undoing things and still using what feels like a pencil (On that note, I hear the Cintiq is incredible, but I’ve yet to try it).
I alternate between Illustrator and Photoshop depending on the project and overall aesthetic. Photoshop is better for a more natural line quality and texture while vectors are the obvious advantage of Illustrator.
These days, I tend to mix the two. And that’s pretty much it! Just a lot of playing and experimenting with line quality and color until I have a final illustration.
© Lydia Nichols, 2014
