{"id":218198,"date":"2022-03-31T10:10:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T09:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wonderbly.com\/imagine-that-an-inspiring-interview-with-illustrator-adam-hancher\/"},"modified":"2023-01-17T12:53:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T12:53:40","slug":"imagine-that-an-inspiring-interview-with-illustrator-adam-hancher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wonderbly.com\/en-gb\/news\/imagine-that-an-inspiring-interview-with-illustrator-adam-hancher\/","title":{"rendered":"Imagine that! An inspiring interview with illustrator Adam Hancher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wondering who dreamed up all the delightful illustrations in our new bedtime book, Dream Big, Little One<\/a>? They\u2019re the work of Wonderbly\u2019s in-house illustrator, Adam Hancher! Not only is Adam a wizard with a pencil, he\u2019s also a first-time dad to baby Miles. Read our interview to discover how he created his magical illustrations, and his hopes and dreams for his own little one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

What was your favorite bedtime story as a kid?<\/b><\/h4>\n

I remember my Dad reading The Secret Island by Enid Blyton to me, one chapter a night. I can barely remember what happens in it now, what\u2019s clear in my mind is being excited about bedtime. To find out what happened next, and to have my Dad read to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did you approach illustrating Dream Big, Little One?<\/b><\/h4>\n

What a joy it is to go to sleep and experience the exciting wonder of dreams. This was the concept presented to me by our story team. The plot doesn\u2019t unfold through dialogue, it\u2019s a very visual story, so the focus needed to be emotion and atmosphere. With all this in mind I sketched ideas, made notes and produced some rough artwork to explore the mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a first draft of the manuscript in hand, I began drawing thumbnail illustrations for each page. Creating a visual narrative that didn\u2019t exist in the text, but that worked with the text to tell a complete story. As a team (writers, producers, designers) we used these sketches to narrow down what each section represents. We cut scenes, created new scenes and merged ideas together to make the entire book stronger.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"sketches<\/p>\n

How did you create all the dreamy landscapes and characters?<\/b><\/h4>\n

Dreams are strange experiences with disconnected logic, and the best dreams are exciting. To communicate this I chose to loosely paint backgrounds with expressive brush marks full of movement. I wanted to emphasise that sense of rhythm and movement on each spread, to keep pushing the reader on. So I made use of flowing mist, falling stars, flying birds and so on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a magical world full of color, so planning how the color palettes would progress through the book was important. I also made the very important decision to throw a lot of stars and sparkle at every page, to really hit home that it\u2019s a moonlit dreamscape.<\/span><\/p>\n

I added the elephant early on, because a heavy animal walking on these light clouds felt very dreamlike to me. The Unicorn, too, made complete sense. It\u2019s a creature of magic, stars and sparkle!<\/span><\/p>\n

There are certain bedtime stories that you can\u2019t help but let influence you on a project like this. Artists like Windsor McCay, stories like Peter Pan. I also found inspiration in background art from anime, Sailor Moon in particular. Dreamlike, cosmic gradients and moonlit watercolor backdrops. The character designs are a little more figurative in their proportions, so I used pencil and watercolor brushes in Photoshop as a nod to traditional storybook illustration styles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"illustration<\/p>\n

You recently became a dad for the first time \u2013 congratulations! Do you have any tips for a cosy sleep routine?<\/b><\/h4>\n

Our son is 6 months old, so we\u2019re not quite at a cosy routine yet. The first few months were incredibly difficult, we didn\u2019t get more than 4 hours sleep a night. Now is definitely better, but sleeping through the night isn\u2019t a thing yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a list of things that have helped us:<\/span><\/p>\n