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.
Notebooks
I’ve always loved stationery and collected lots of lovely notebooks. Before I went freelance I wasn’t really sure what to use them for but now I have so much to do I need to write lots of lists so I remember to do everything! I find writing a list really helpful and it’s satisfying checking things off when you complete them. Now I have loads of notebooks in the studio full of lists! I couldn’t not write lists now.
Avocado
I’m not very good at being hungry so I like to keep lots of snacks around. My absolute favourite snack when I’m in the studio is avocado on toast with wholemeal bread, butter and a bit of salt and pepper. It’s so tasty and fills me up for ages so it’s great for when I’m working. I am a big avocado fan!
Computer
My computer is essential, I finish all my illustrations on Photoshop so I couldn’t work without it. I love having a laptop because it means I can take my work anywhere, I guess this can be a good or a bad thing as I can sometimes find myself working on holiday but it’s great being able to be flexible. I would like to go back to a more simple way of working and try to use it a bit less but for now it’s staying firmly by my side!
Podcasts
I enjoy listening to music while I work but sometimes when I have been listening to music all day I can find it really tiring. This is when I enjoy a good podcast, it’s nice to tune in and out to the conversations and stories. My favourites are This American Life and Radio Lab, they cover really interesting topics. My absolute favourite episode so far is called The Living Room, you should definitely listen to it if you can! It’s such a moving and fascinating story, I even cried talking to a friend about it the other day! Haha.
Cretacolor
These are my absolute favourite pencil, they are incredibly dark and quite soft and I love the line they create. I do a lot of sketching using these and also I write out all my Flow How To’s using them too. It’s great when you find some piece of equipment which is just perfect for what you want. I discovered them a couple of years ago and used them ever since. My studio is full of tiny Cretacolor pencil stumps, I use them up really quickly and the last bit of the pencil is hard to use when it gets short!
