How Freelance Book Cover Illustrator Rachelle Baker Gets Her Inspiration

Detroit-based multi-disciplinary artist Rachelle Baker has been drawing for 25 years, and has worked with a range of clients including The New York Times NYT , The Washington Post, Food & Wine, among others. Over the last two years, she has also turned to illustrating book covers, after being contacted by Dialogue Books to work on her first cover, for 2019 novel The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechukwu Nzelu (Dialogue Books). Baker credits putting her artwork on Instagram and Twitter to helping raise her visibility with publishers.

She’s since illustrated a range of fiction and nonfiction titles, several being published in 2020, such as young adult novels Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson (Katherine Tegen Books) and Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh (Dutton Books for Young Readers), along with 2021’s The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop by Clover Hope (Abrams Image) and Black Girls Take World: The Travel Bible for Black Women with a Sense of Wanderlust by Georgina Lawton (Hardie Grant).

As a freelance book cover artist, Baker works directly with directors and editors at publishing houses. Her creative process begins when they give her a general idea of what they’re looking for, then she’ll provide sample sketches, and they go back and forth with her ideas “until we get a good composition.” Baker works from a character reference and description, and passages from the book “to get an idea of the energy and mood.”

The process typically takes several months to finalize. “Since this is the first thing that people will see when they pick the book up, it’s so important that the cover be the best that it can be,” Baker said. “For that reason, it has to get in front of so many people to make sure that it has that punch, and relates well to the actual story.”

Of her approach to book cover illustration, Baker noted, “I draw a lot of inspiration from the movement and graphic style of comics, and the drama of baroque art.” She doesn’t cater to trends in cover design. “I like to give each cover my personal touch, but I want to make sure that the style, colors, and mood reflect the characters and the story. I want every cover I draw to be as unique as the story that I’m helping bring to life.”

Baker said she’s had fun with all the covers she’s illustrated. Among her favorites is nonfiction title Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream by Blair Imani (Ten Speed Press), for which Baker used a family photo provided by the author, and also drew Imani and her partner into it.

Another favorite is Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb by Veronica Chambers (Dial Books), out tomorrow, an illustrated picture book biography of the Congresswoman and presidential candidate. Since Baker also illustrated the book’s interiors, she said working on the cover was easy because she could keep “the same energy for everything. I had colors and style for the book already, so it was all about creating a vibrant, eye-catching cover that matched. It was also my first young reader book cover, so I got to have fun but be less serious for a change.”

Baker also said she recently “loved working on” covers for young adult novels Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez (Algonquin Young Readers) and One Of The Good Ones by Maika and Maritza Moulite (Inkyard Press). “Yamile sent over a reference photo of her niece for the main character, Camila, and I thought that was awesome because I love using my own nieces as character reference in my own work,” she said. Baker’s dream book cover illustration would be a fantasy novel, because she “loves stories with magic.”

Baker offered advice for those who want to break into book cover illustration. “Don’t be afraid to experiment with different colors and draw your favorite characters from books, movies, and shows,” she said. “Start thinking about your favorite covers and why they made an impact. Do research on covers you love, and on the kinds of stories and books you’d like to draw for. Also, don’t be afraid to use a lot of reference. I have a huge folder of hands, faces, poses, clothes, flowers, and landscapes. You can never have too much reference in my opinion.”