From Forest Trails to Editorial Tales: Grace Russell’s Journey to Illustration
An illustrator and animator based just outside London, Grace Russell brings rich atmosphere and emotional depth to her work, often using animation in unexpected and imaginative ways. Her award-winning practice spans editorial, publishing and science communication, with clients ranging from the BBC and Penguin to The Lancet and the Financial Times. Grace’s creative journey has also taken her across North America, where she led art workshops and found inspiration in the wilderness.
Why did you decide to take up your creative trade?
I think like most creatives, drawing just seemed to be almost an extension of my identity. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing or painting or making. My grandfather was a really talented artist and maker, sadly only in his spare time and not profession, but he encouraged me to make it part of mine.
How do you get past creative blocks?
Lateral thinking is something I always try to do with any brief. Creating the right environment is also key, chilled focused music while I write and sketch out thumbnails really helps initial ideas to lead on to more exciting or developed ideas.
What is your creative process?
Rereading the brief is always the first step, making sure that I haven’t missed anything and then also just being able to think about the information a little bit more. I then sketch a lot of thumbnails with lots of annotations generally leading on to more thumbnails. And then sketch the best one(s) digitally in procreate. After that, I’ll create a few different versions showing rough colours to choose from. Once the client is happy with the roughs, I’ll refine the sketch and colour digitally, sometimes bringing in textures that I’ve painted or coloured physically to add more depth.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Lots of different places, but nature is a big one for me, be that the atmosphere when walking through the woods, or the colour palette of a lake at sunset or the small details on a leaf or twig.
What are you reading or listening to right now?
I’m currently listening to Ripple, a podcast about the BP oil spill.
How do you switch off?
Exercise is super important to me. I think when you do a challenging workout or go for a hard run you can’t really think about anything else, other than what you’re doing right there and then. So once you’re finished, your mind is clear and so much more refreshed.
A big thank you to Grace Russell for contributing to our series of creative conversations with industry experts.