Sarah Fountain

Sarah Fountain

Hi!

I am Sarah and I have been working in the children’s publishing industry since 2007, and it is a world in which I feel totally myself. I completed a BA (hons) in Illustration from Camberwell College of Arts in 2006, where I was really drawn to colour and shape and foxes!

In January 2007 I began working with Redan Publishing in Shrewsbury as an editorial assistant doing both design and editorial. After that I went to John Brown Media in London and worked as a designer for six years, really learning the craft of design for children. I would commission other illustrators and I learnt what is expected of an illustrator, and what a really good illustrator does! In 2013 I took a role as senior designer for Pearson Education and spent three years working in primary educational content development and production. With this knowledge I built up a great list of contacts and a wealth of publishing insight into what you need to create great books for children.

In June 2016 I began my freelancing career and have spent my time since then working as both designer and illustrator. I love both sides of the coin, and am proud of my ability to specialise in two really prestigious areas of a fantastic industry.

When you work with me as an illustrator, you also get my design knowledge, so you can be confident that the files will come in as you need them to, and there will be enough space for text, and that the two will work together seamlessly!

Drawing is one of my great loves, and I draw either directly onto my Ipad, or for picture books I draw onto A2 paper and scan in the roughs for colouring. I think drawing animals might be one of my superpowers, as it is something that comes so naturally to me, and brings me so much joy – especially when you can get a little bit of personality into the fur or the tilt of a head. For my 2024 Christmas card I re-wrote the 12 days of Christmas in pets, and created a crazy search and find image of them all! You can see how that turned out on my LinkedIn feed here.

When I’m colouring my images, I will pay close attention to what you need, and want to show. I love to use Adobe Fresco’s Live Paint tools, which enable fab textures, and I also have now found some brushes which give some fab flat, grainy finishes, which give a feel of print-making – something that makes me really happy.

If you’re interested in working with me, do get in touch! I’d love to discuss your project and am happy to have a video call or produce some samples to see if we would be a good collaboration!

Thank you for reading,

Sarah

Links

• instagram.com/sarahfountainpen
• linkedin.com/in/sarah-fountain-1082aa3a
• fountaincreative.co.uk

Contact

By email