Sarah Kilcoyne, author of The Lost Treasure of Clew Bay, talks about her work and life as an illustrator
What brought you to illustration?
I’ve been drawing and painting ever since I can remember, and it always seemed like a given that I would pursue an artistic career. I remember spending countless hours as a child copying paintings of animals and plants from encyclopaedias, drawing pop star portraits from magazines, inventing my own comics and short stories. I convinced my parents to let me paint murals on certain walls of the house, and family and friends are still getting hand-painted birthday cards.
After school, art college seemed like the obvious choice, and I went on to study Fine Art at LSAD
After school, art college seemed like the obvious choice, and I went on to study Fine Art at LSAD. After graduating in 2011 I moved to Berlin shortly afterwards, to pursue my life as an artist, for better or worse! When I started getting commissions to do artwork for more commercial clients, like for magazines and apps, I realised the potential of illustration as a career. I decided on watercolour as my medium and have spent the past ten years honing my portfolio and working on my craft.
What is the most misunderstood thing about an illustrator’s role?
There’s probably a misconception that it’s an ‘easy’ job, that you get to just spend your days doodling and dreaming. The reality is that you’re running a business, there’s a lot more to it than that. Half of my time is spent creating, the other half spent working on outreach, securing work, online presence, contracts, licensing, meetings, social media management, and more. Taxes and invoicing are especially fun in Germany, where I live.
What do you love about your work?
I love the challenges that each different illustration project brings. A lot of the work behind the scenes is problem-solving, trying to align the client’s vision with your own. Moving into picture books was a big personal challenge for me, as I could only be my own critic. But I love that in the end it pushed me to create exciting new work and grow my skills even further.
What do you keep in mind when illustrating for children?
In a technical sense, I don’t approach creating the work in any different way, but of course the subject matter changes. A lot of my other work tends to be more realistic, so in illustrating for kids I get to really play around with characters, I want them to be fun and a bit silly.
What’s the most challenging thing for you about the process?
All of my work is hand-painted, which is just naturally a more laborious process. Watercolour especially is very unforgiving, a single mistake often means starting a whole illustration from scratch. In these moments, I definitely question why I decided not to work digitally, and have access to that sweet ‘undo’ button! It is a labour of love, however, and I do think it’s worth it when I see the final pieces in print.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?
For me it’s been important to push myself, both creatively and technically. This often means creating the same illustration ten times before accepting that it’s the best you can do. During my four years at art college, I definitely learned how to take criticism, so that helped a lot!
What advice would you give to an emerging illustrator?
Draw every day. Keep sketchbooks, messy sketchbooks, scribble away. Be comfortable with making mistakes and learning from them. Hone your craft and educate yourself on what illustration is being used for these days.
Be comfortable with making mistakes and learning from them
Keep trying! Every illustrator’s story is different, but it can take a long time to build up a client base and develop your portfolio. It can be easy to lose motivation in the midst of that. Keep developing your skills, seek feedback from others, and don’t undersell your work.
