Melanie Chadwick: Philosopher of Sketching

Meet food and travel illustrator Melanie Chadwick and learn why she considers sketching to be a way of life

Melanie Chadwick (@melanie_chadwick) is a freelance illustrator and designer based in Cornwall, UK. She believes that design should be fun, lively, and enrich the lives of those around it. She has a love for sketching and incorporates it into her daily practice.

She specializes in map and food illustration and enjoys mixing analog and digital techniques in her work, working in a variety of media–from traditional watercolors, pen and ink, and collage to digital and vector brushes.

She has worked with numerous clients across various projects, including book illustration, food packaging, restaurant menus, magazine editorials, branding projects, maps, greeting cards, postcards, and more. Melanie's clients include Cornish Seasalt, Foodimentary, Ferment Magazine, American Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.

Inspired by other food illustrators and lettering artists, she is influenced by her area and the food people enjoy along the Cornwall coast. These themes inspire her designs for greetings cards, tea towels, and cushions, and many other projects. She also has a podcast series and a Youtube channel.

Let's get to meet her, learn about her creative journey, the opportunities she's found, and the projects she's involved in.

Getting into art

Melanie grew up in Wales, and her earliest art memory is the enjoyment she felt painting a dragon she had created out of an egg box at nursery. An American cousin introduced her to lettering, and from then on, she was hooked. She loves incorporating it as much as possible in her illustrations.

Melanie believes creativity is inside people and that she was fortunate to have met people along the way that encouraged her to follow her love of art. While she did complete a degree in Fine Arts, her passion for illustration did not get ignited until she moved to Hong Kong and felt inspired to pursue it as a career.

Her first commission came over ten years ago when she created a very grumpy fairy character called Stanley for a children's book.

Sketching as a daily practice

Melanie usually starts her day by going out before breakfast with her sketchbook and drawing from her surroundings. Only then is she ready to get on with her day's work.

In 2020, Melanie set herself the challenge of doing a daily postcard project. Every day, wherever she was, she went out and just drew for 15 minutes, with black ink and a brush pen, and then she posted the result online and put it up for sale in her shop.

Showing up and persevering

"At certain points in your career, you can feel quite lost and alone, trying to find which direction to follow, trying to get a foot in the door and start illustrating for other people," Melanie admits.

"What I would've loved to have heard when I started was to keep persevering, to not give in to self-doubt or criticism, and have a bit of faith in yourself. I think it's important to keep going. If something doesn't work, just stop and try another way. If you are pursuing a career in illustration, don't wait for permission. Just go for it. There are so many possibilities and opportunities available to you. All you have to do is show up and persevere."

Melanie also loves creating videos for her YouTube channel, where she talks about her art practice, shares behind-the-scenes images, and speaks to other artists to find out about how they work.

Melanie's podcast series collaboration with Natasha Newton called Creative Catchup is another way to reach out to like-minded people and discuss the highs and the lows of what it's like to run a creative business.

If you want to know more about Melanie and her work, be sure to sign up for her course, Illustrated Recipes: Making Delicious Art, in which you'll learn how to create an illustrated food recipe using a mix of analog and digital techniques.

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