Award-Winning Illustrator and Hand-Lettering Artist Lisa Perrin Stars in This Domestika Diary

The illustrator and teacher takes us behind the scenes at her home and studio to reveal her creative process

Lisa Perrin (@perrin) is an award-winning illustrator with a unique style that combines humor with darkness and beauty with strangeness. Her work has been recognized by The Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, 3X3 Magazine, and Print Magazine, and her clients include Macy’s, Anthropologie, Penguin Random House, and Harper Collins. She is currently working full-time as a professor for the Illustration department at MICA.

Join her in this Domestika Diary as she takes us through her creative process and shares some tips and advice for budding artists.

“This area that you see right now is what I call the art cave,” says Perrin, showing us the studio at her home in Baltimore, Maryland. “It’s where I get a lot of my work done and spend a lot of my time.”

Perrin's technique is to draw directly onto her screen, using the programs Cintiq and Photoshop. But before beginning any project, she spends time carefully planning and preparing by collecting a range of images for inspiration. Her book covers can then take from 1 to 6 months to design, depending on her client, although she works on multiple projects at the once. If she gets stuck, a walk in nature is sure to get her creative juices flowing, and she draws on inspiration from the forms, shapes, and colors she sees along the way.

When it comes to giving advice on how to work more effectively, Perrin believes self-care is extremely important. “You’re a person first, and then an artist” she says, reminding her students that little things like getting a good night’s sleep are the best way to be in the right frame of mind to produce high-quality creative work.

What about her personal answer to self-care? This comes in the form of her furry friend, rabbit Blanche DuBun, who helps her de-stress at the end of a long day.

If you’d like to learn how to design beautiful illustrations to create the perfect product packaging, keep an eye out for her upcoming course “Packaging Illustration for the Product of Your Dreams” on Domestika.

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