Mrs Potter — Love Letters to Storybook Illustrations
A Love Letter to Beatrix Potter
Every little world we draw owes something to hers - so it only felt right that our first letter should go to the woman who started it all.
Why we borrowed her name
Dear Beatrix, this column has been sitting unnamed for longer than I'd like to admit, until it occurred to me that it already had an obvious name - yours. Not because we're bold enough to write as you, but because almost every gentle animal we've ever drawn has your fingerprints on it somewhere. It felt only honest to say so out loud, and to sign the first letter with your name before we borrow it for every one after.
A watercolour rabbit that started everything
Long before we knew what a 'style' was, we knew Peter Rabbit's blue coat, and the particular kind of quiet in your watercolours - soft edges, a little imperfection left in on purpose, animals that were never quite human and never quite wild either. That in-between gentleness is the thing we still chase in every little fox and lamb we illustrate. We didn't invent that instinct. We inherited it.
What we hope this column becomes
So this is the first of many letters, not all addressed to you - some months we'll write to illustrators far less famous, or to a single picture book that quietly changed how we draw. But it felt right to start here, with a small, overdue thank you. Consider this column our way of slowing down once a month to notice the craft behind the stories we grew up with - starting with the rabbit in the blue coat.
Gentle art for little worlds. ♡
