Hovey started work on The Great British Bake Off television show by chance. He had experience working on broadcast television and got hired to help in post-production on the program. When his bosses mentioned they were looking for illustrations, they didn’t realize that Hovey was also a talented illustrator. They began using his illustrations during the show.
“The look we were going for was something homely and nostalgic,” Hovey said. “We wanted it to look like the bakers had sketched out ideas for the cake in their baking sketchbook at home.”
The pictures are bright and simple, perfect for conveying the color and shape of each cake.
“The secret I guess is to not get too involved in drawing every detail as they won’t be seen anyway,” Hove said. “The images are only on screen for about six seconds, so the details need to be exaggerated sometimes to get the essence of the bake – rather than a photo-realistic drawing.”
Tap into your skills as an illustrator by taking a drawing class. Experienced teachers will instruct students on everything from sketching using pencils, charcoal, pens, and markers to exploring the use of color in drawing. Once students gain a basic understanding of all of the unique mediums available in drawing, they can select which tool works best for their ideas. This could be anything from colored pencils to traditional pens and inks.