Print Shop Chat with artist Sarah Jane Docker
Sarah Jane Docker is a freelance illustrator based in Cumbria. Her playful work is inspired by the natural landscape, childhood and world-building. We sat down with Sarah to chat about her new collection of risograph prints for National Park Print Shop and her love of bringing stories to life through illustration.
Sarah is also a member of the National Park Print Shop team so if you pop into our Ambleside store you might be luck enough to meet the artist herself!
Why do you paint?
I paint because if I didn’t, all of my creative energy would build up and build up inside me until I couldn’t contain it anymore and I would burst into an uncontrollable explosion of colours and lots of tiny, whimsical and unpredictable characters would careen out of me and into the world Jumanji-style and that would be really, really bad for everybody.
Tell us about your journey to becoming an artist.
I started drawing and painting from a very young age. I always gravitated toward art supplies over toys as a kid and found hours of joy (and peace, for my parents) in drawing and painting. I was an avid book worm growing up, so thanks to a wild imagination and not being introduced to the internet for longer than most, I used my creativity to make my own illustrated stories and books out of paper for many years as a kid. I remember first finding out that ‘illustrator’ was a job and knew then that that’s what I wanted to do. After my school years, I went on to study Art & Design at college before going on to gain a degree in Illustration. I illustrated in-house for a children’s toy and book company for a while before going freelance and in recent years I have specialised in children’s books and narrative art. I have also worked on packaging illustration and pattern design professionally and feel super lucky to consider art-making a career!
What inspires your art?
I grew up in and around the Lake District which has heavily influenced who I am as a person, and the art that I make. The natural world, its history and lore is a source of endless inspiration. My childhood imagination has stuck with me, so I see a lot of magic in the ordinary and find it easy to create stories in everyday scenes. I like to imagine that the world isn’t exactly what we see at face value and marvel at the lives that run over and throughout ours (big and small). You will find lots of hidden narratives in even my more ‘standalone’ illustrations. I like to think that it’s possible for everyone to see the world like this from time to time and hope to be able to bring that thinking to not just children, but adults too, who might have lost their younger and more carefree selves to this fast-paced and often stressful world.
Describe your creative process.
I start with an idea usually stemming from an observation I’ve made or a thought or feeling I’ve had. My imagination takes the wheel for a while and comes up with a story, mood or message and then a composition develops from there. I’ll create a few loose sketches to put down my idea onto paper and turn them into more developed sketches. I then create small colour ‘thumbnails’ (teeny messy colour mock-ups) from the sketch and that usually informs the final piece and acts as a guide while I’m painting. I paint until it feels done and usually the final artwork is digital if I’m creating a piece for someone other than myself, or on the go. I still work in acrylic, watercolour, pencils, pens and wax crayons etc, too but I try to keep traditional art methods for my own ‘personal’ work where I am free to make more mistakes and experiment, and to keep the ‘play’ side of my process alive when I’m not trying to succeed at a certain brief.
You do a lot of illustrations for children – does that involve a different approach to creating art for adults?
Yes and no – if I’m creating illustrations for retail packaging, the art will need a different mood and level of sophistication than if I’m creating a scene in a children’s book or for a print. However the overall process and way of painting stays the same but you have to adapt to what different audiences respond to. Often these things overlap – it’s children that I am creating the book illustrations for, but it’s the adults whose taste the book has to appeal to before they want it for their children. All of the art I make for others should be nice to look at and add value to their lives or the product in some way.
Your new risograph collection for National Park Print Shop includes real and imaginary places. Is there a difference in the creative process and which do you prefer creating?
I think that the only real difference in drawing from reality and imagination is that one has to be ‘right’ and the other can be whatever you want it to be! In that way, I prefer drawing from imagination, but I think playing in the space between real and fantasy is my favourite thing.
Had you worked with risograph before? What do you think the process adds to your artworks?
I’ve never had my own work printed as Risographs before so this has been super exciting! The process is so interesting and the bright inks are so fun. I love how the textures came out on this collection. Although I painted these digitally (thanks to Procreate), the Riso printing process has added back in an extra warmth and hand-made feel that sometimes digital brushes can take out.
What is the best advice anyone has ever given to you as an artist?
I remember visiting artists on the C-Art trail in 2012 and one of the artists said “Make a mark every day.” even if it is just a little line or a doodle. For some reason that stuck with me. I think also “Make the work you want to be hired for” is something that slowly helped me develop making art into a career that I love. But I can’t remember who said that either!
Team Dog or Team Cat?
Dog! Sorry cats. You make me sneeze, it’s nothing personal.