ARTIST AT WORK

No.56 Dorset Map Rachel Akerman (Gryphon School 2012), Reproduction Print £30

When I’m not behind my desk drawing, I love spending time outdoors exploring in nature – looking out for cute shells, holes in the trees and nests in the ground and thinking about all the creatures that call them home. My illustrations are usually inspired by these outings and hopefully encourage others to get outside and into nature too.

The majority of my work is commissioned projects. At the moment I’m working on a book for the Scouts, as well as a map exploring the accessibility of nature on Portland for B-Side Festival.

When I have a bit of downtime from client work I love to develop personal pieces, this map of Dorset being one of them.

I always start a map project with a list of places I’d like to include, plotting these onto a map and working out the spacing of the spot illustrations. I then have to decide what to include for the locations, making sure the illustrations are varied so it’s not just buildings! I always begin with a pencil and paper before taking rough work into digital, where I choose my colour palette, and then working in layers to produce the map base, illustrations and text.

@Rachelakerman rachelakerman.co.uk

You can find Rachel at The Sherborne Market in August, September, November and December.

The home of Country House opera in South West England featuring renowned soloists, a full orchestra and a large chorus of emerging young artists

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