RANGE Magazine is (almost) back and better than ever! Issue Three, a 40-page, full-color newsprint, will launch this summer both digitally and in print, and our team is itching to share its stories with you. This season’s mag will feature an even larger array of unique illustrations and photography than the last, thanks to several talented creatives we admire and hold dear to our hearts, one of them being Christine Mitchell Adams.
Christine is a brilliant artist based in Burlington, Vermont who focuses on creating simple, elegant illustrations. We’re especially drawn to her work because it all starts with a pen and paper, making each piece completely original and handcrafted. Also, her fine art background and attention to detail truly capture the emotions and personalities of her subjects.
We recently caught up with Christine to learn more about her background and creative process, as well as her interest in joining the #RANGEmag family for Issue Three.
Q. Other than being born in Oxford, U.K., you’ve spent most of your life in the New England area of the United States. How have your experiences and lifestyle in the Northeast inspired your artistic style?
A. I would definitely say that my upbringing in New England made me value simplicity in all elements of my life. I apply the same values of classic and quality to my consumption of goods, but as far as the simplicity of working mostly in black and white, that really stemmed from the fact that my aunts and my older sister are all incredible painters. I knew I couldn’t match their talent, so I went with graphite, charcoal and pen instead. As an adult, I regret that punky decision because now color scares me a little.
Q. What is your first memory of putting pencil to paper?
A. Not exactly pencil to paper, more like marker to table. When I was 2 or 3, I drew a little person on the corner of our kitchen table. He looked like a happy potato holding a balloon. My older siblings were obsessed with him and traced over it before my dad re-stained it. Art was important in my family, and my parents really valued it as part of our childhood. My mum paid my older sister to give me art lessons. It was her first job I think.
Q. Why do you opt for illustrating by hand instead of utilizing digital technologies?
A. I was trained with pencil and paper from such a young age that using a computer never appealed to me. We grew up reading, drawing or playing outside, never in front of a computer or TV screen. For me, the tactile sensation of hand, pencil and paper is part of the experience. In my opinion, transferring that into a computer program would ruin it. I was a fine art major in college and of the 20 plus majors, I was the only drawer. Most were graphic designers, but my passion then was using charcoal and working in large scale. That was the ultimate drawing experience for me, covering a wall with paper, using my fingers and hands as tools. I would leave the studio at the end of a long night covered in charcoal. After college, my boyfriend (and now husband) and I moved into a teeny tiny apartment in Boston. It was impossible to make a corner into my own charcoal world, so I started doing smaller scale illustrations.
Although, back to the question of digital, a lot of my projects are destined to live in a digital space. Because of that, I scan them and use Photoshop to tidy them up before zipping them off to the commissioner. I’ve started to play with Photoshop for color projects, but I’m already starting to hate that actually! Too much time in front of a screen, and again, fear of color.
Q. You’ve taken on A LOT of very special projects throughout your career, from wedding invitations to logo illustration, as well as editorial artwork and custom stationary, and you’re also the Content Chief at Ursa Major Vt. Overall, what subjects do you enjoy focusing on, and what sentiments can be seen throughout your work?
A. My favorite subject for fine art is portraiture. My thesis in college was large-scale charcoal portraits of my friends crying. Yup, I made them cry for my own gain. I think that interest in human emotion and connection trails through the rest of my work. With the incredible team at Ursa Major, I try to create content that resonates with our community and connects us with other brands that share the same values. That’s another thing that’s important throughout my work: values. My favorite clients are people and brands I believe in because they have values and integrity, and I believe in what they’re doing or trying to accomplish.
Q. In your opinion, what is the creative value in spending time outdoors exploring our natural surroundings?
A. My brain doesn’t work when I’ve been stationary for too long, and my creativity just dies. Getting outside, breathing some fresh air, and getting away from a screen does the trick for me. My dream has always been to live in a small house hidden away in the fields or on the coast,and to just draw and write all day. Sitting out in the yard or at a desk that looks out the window to a breathtaking view. Nature is the source of inspiration and creative invigoration for me.
Q. Where would we find you when you’re not illustrating or writing?
A. My husband and I have been fly fishing a lot this year. He’s been doing it for years, but it’s my first season really getting into it. I think that has something to do with my new Patagonia Tenkara rod and that we live in Vermont now. It’s so much easier to enjoy the outdoors when it’s in your backyard, and not hours worth of traffic away. My husband is fixing up a Land Rover Series III with his dad right now, so I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of free time in that, too, once it’s ready to hit the road.
Q. You created a stunning illustration for RANGE Magazine Issue Three, which launches this July, and we’re SUPER excited to share it with everyone. Why did you decide to be a creative contributor for #RANGEmag?
A. I love what I do because I find the most incredible people, RANGE founder Jeanine Pesce being one of them. I think I discovered RANGE and Jeanine through Lizzie Garrett Mettler or Jeff Thrope, and the concept just clicked. The content spoke to me and I knew I had to get involved.
Q. Do you have a favorite illustration or photograph from previous issues of RANGE Magazine?
A. I love the photo spread “South of Nowhere” by Halley Roberts in the first Issue. I’ve never been to CA and have been itching to go, and I think this will be the year I make it. Illustrator Lucy Engelman also did a brilliant job for the piece on Yonder Journal in the same issue.
Images by Christine Mitchell Adams.
XX SYDNEY