Start Small, Think Big – Small, Sparkling Raindrop: Q&A with illustrator Lou Baker Smith

Illustrator Lou tells Mama Makes Books about the inspiration for the artwork for Small, Sparkling Raindrop.

A warm welcome to Lou Baker Smith who is the illustrator of the fifth book in the Start Small, Think Big series of books that sets young readers on a journey of discovery! Small, Sparkling Raindrop starts with a raindrop falling from a cloud into the Mekong River in Southeast Asia and so starts the story of the water cycle.

Lou, the illustrations in Small, Sparkling Raindrop are stunning and very evocative – have you travelled in Asia or where did you get your inspiration from?

Thank you, I really appreciate that. I wish that I had visited the Mekong Delta before working on this book! I have travelled to Singapore, so experienced the humidity and sudden tropical downpours. Before working on it I spent a lot of time researching the region. Penny at Mama Makes Books and Mary Auld, the author, have both travelled there so were a great source of inspiration.

Tell us a little bit about the process you use?

I’m not big on roughs to be honest, I do more of a guideline sketch for the publishers for content and positioning and then I can ‘play’ more when I do the artwork. My work is mixed media, collage, I paint in natural media, gouache, watercolour, inks mostly but then work on the spreads on my computer in Adobe Photoshop.

Tell us a little bit about where you work?

I live and work in the West Country, a particularly wet area! My studio overlooks the valley, so we often wake to misty landscapes that hang over the city. I am obsessed with taking photos of the changing light and weather. 

Do you have a favourite image in the book? 

I loved illustrating this book, one of my favourites is the spread with the Brahminy kite flying high above the Mekong with the tiny boats below, rain in the air.

Did you learn any interesting facts when you were illustrating the book?

I did, that’s one of the things that I love about working on non-fiction titles, always researching something new. In this book I loved following the journey of a single raindrop, the way that Mary has written it in the first person, we can see the raindrop as it grows to form rivers and how it affects the environment and people. It helps to identify with nature as singular elements. 

Encouraging us all to take care of our wonderful planet.

Which is your favourite fact from the book?

A fascinating fact, that I didn’t know is that the Mekong is second only to the Amazon in the number of fish species, over 1,100, that it gives home to.

What’s your favourite thing to do on a rainy day?

It depends, in summer rain, a walk with can be beautiful, my dog really doesn’t like rain, so will go to the door look out, look at me with some disdain that I even considered a walk, about heel and go back to her bed! However, when I do encourage her out, she does enjoy it, especially the muddy puddles. Everything smells so alive after the rain.

I love the word ‘Petricor’ which literally describes the fresh smell that accompanies the first rain after a long dry spell, it is also a beautiful Ludovicio Einaldi piece of music.

In the winter rain I’m more likely to be curled up on the sofa watching a film or enjoying hot coffee and cake in a steamy cafe.