Ruby Taylor (2/4)

London-based illustrator Ruby Taylor creates a diverse range of work—from typography to patterns with fruits and vegetables. You will probably have come across Ruby’s work in Flow as she is regularly featured in the magazine. For our Dutch Vacation Box special, Ruby illustrated the journal section within the holiday book, as well as two sheets of stickers. This month, she tells us more about her life on our blog.

Studio Day – behind the scenes
I wake up about 8. Some mornings if I have new projects I will get up and work from home. There’s a big table in the living room and it’s really light and airy so it’s nice to sit there. I will write a list of everything I need to do for the day. I find lists really help when you have lots to do, plus its really satisfying ticking things off! I always start the morning with a strong coffee too.

Today I have a Flow How To to do!

I start by sketching out lots of ideas. Then once my ideas have dried up I’ll look back through them and choose which illustrations I like best.

When I have painting and computer based work to do I always go to the studio. My scanner and paints are there and I have a big desk I can get messy on. This is my cluttered studio. Its not very glamorous but I really like it! We have lots of plants in it at the moment which is lovely. My Illustration collective and I put on a Jungle themed show and had to fill the venue with jungle style plants which have now all ended up back at the studio!

These are my essential materials. Dark black ink, fine acrylic brushes, Cretacolor Nero pencils, a graphite pencil and Golden acrylic in black. This little kit and my computer is almost all I use for my work!

I use tracing paper over my original drawings and paint all the shapes in black. Then I scan them and add colour in Photoshop. Its quite simple really but I love the effect. I like working on two screens, it give me lots of space and I can look at my scans at the same time as working on my main piece.

Here’s a shot of my desk! I haven’t quite finished my piece today but I like to give myself evenings free when I can so I’m off home about 7pm. I find being tired is bad for being creative so I like to get rest and also find time to get inspired!