Harp Maiden
Earlier this year, I was approached by the lovely Irish writer Jackie Burke, to illustrate her new children’s book trilogy, Harp Maiden. Set in 1899, the story draws on Jackie’s love of music to tell the story of young Evie Wells who discovers she can play a magical harp. Her unique gift leads to adventure and danger in equal measure as she discovers her destiny as the Harp Maiden. When Jackie told me about the story, I was hooked straight away. My mind began dancing with ideas and imagery as to how the cover could look.
I have a keen interest in history - especially from this era - and a curious fascination with historical fashions. I love to study clothing and hairstyles and guess the periods from which they were popular. Combining this little hobby of mine with illustration was just a perfect combination, and made this project a real treat to work on.
My rough sketch of the idea for the front cover. I love this part of the process - sketching ideas and brainstorming thoughts, it’s how I really ‘connect’ with the cover and explore all its visual possibilities.
I have been using my iPad and Procreate for client work since the beginning of the year, and this was one of my first big projects that I decided to trust with my new ‘artistic medium.’ I was a bit nervous at first as I was so used to working with Photoshop, but I had to start using this new programme for client work, and so I gave myself this exciting challenge. I tend to work with lots and lots of layers in Photoshop, but Procreate doesn’t facilitate the use of hundreds of layers for print-ready files - so - I have had to learn to reduce my use of layers and work with a more minimalistic approach! Not easy…but I’m learning and adapting. Sometimes challenges and constraints make a welcome addition to work life.
I love the luminous candy-coloured glow of a sunset. What a delight it was when I found the perfect sunset to photograph my copy of the book against - it looks just like the one behind Evie! I’m already illustrating the second cover in this compelling new series. Harp Maiden is available in all good book stores right now, so please pick up some copies and support Irish writers, illustrators, and small independent book stores.
~ Rachel x