Indigo Irvine: Rhiannon Archard’s Debut with Tate Publishing

Rhiannon Archard’s debut picture book Indigo Irvine, publishing this September with Tate, is a tender and imaginative story born from a challenging time. What began in her basement studio has grown into a heartfelt story of resilience and the magic children bring to everyday life.

In the summer of 2020, I wrote the very first draft of Indigo Irvine in my damp, dark basement studio—affectionately known as “the cave.” At the time, I didn’t really consider myself a writer. I’d actually always written things—poems, diary entries, short stories—but I never intended to show them to anyone. I was far too self-conscious.

This story was different. I had a lot of encouragement from my family, friends and from my agent at Bright. Although it was very personal, and I still felt self conscious sharing it, I also felt like it might resonate with other families. So many of us go through tough times, specially that year, and I wanted to write something that reflected how families can struggle, but also how children often experience those moments—with curiosity and innocence, and how they can get through those struggles together.

I was finding it all very difficult at the time. I was solo parenting through lockdowns, struggling mentally and financially, and trying to hold everything together. Most days it felt like it was just me and my daughter against the world. Talitha has an incredible imagination. She could turn something as ordinary as a cardboard box into something quite magical. We filled our days with creativity. Dance parties in the kitchen, big messy paintings on canvas, outdoor sketch booking, lots of little adventures. Those moments became more than just fun—it was how we coped, connected, and created joy in the middle of a really hard time.

In the end, it took 5 years from the very first idea to published book. The story and illustrations in the book sort of shaped each other. Sometimes a drawing would inspire a line in the story, and sometimes a bit of writing would spark a new drawing.. It wasn’t a straight line at all—it evolved slowly, piece by piece, draft by draft…in fact, there were so many drafts! I think 6 altogether. The illustrations changed as I developed my style over the years, but the writing was complete by the time Tate came on board.

Tate felt like the perfect publishing home for Indigo Irvine. I loved that Tate celebrates creativity and inclusivity in books that promote understanding, growth and community. Their connection to the art world and their commitment to inspiring, imaginative books made it feel like a very exciting fit.

The team at Tate were easy to work with, they gave me lots of creative freedom and encouraged me to explore and experiment. They allowed me to work in a way that felt natural to me and gave me reasonable deadlines to gently nudge it along. The process felt collaborative, I had a whole team of creative people to help if I got stuck and to give me feedback when I needed it. There was one spread in particular that was part of the original pitch, that didn’t feel right any more. I work on several perspectives before finding what was right. They were very patient with all my reworks!

One of the biggest challenges, and one of the parts of the book I enjoyed making the most was mum’s paintings. She’s an artist rather than an illustrator. At first, the paintings I created for her character felt too polished which didn’t work at all. I needed her artwork to feel different from mine. Freer. Looser and more expressive. I looked at artists that I admire for inspiration, played around, and got messy with paint. I painted jungle plants and tigers in so many different ways, different colour pallets, different materials. The experiment I enjoyed the most, I actually turned into the endpapers.

Although this wasn’t a completely new way of painting for me—I have a fine art background, and this is how I used to paint before Illustration became a thing. Painting with Talitha really helped a lot here, she was the best teacher to teach me how to paint more instinctively. The final spread, where mum and Indigo paint together, was, in fact, a collaboration between Talitha and I. I thought it would be the only way to ensure the painting felt authentically painted by a child. She’s so thrilled that her artwork has been published in a book!

More than anything, Indigo Irvine is a story about finding magic in the everyday, about how creativity and imagination can help things feel less heavy in tough times. I hope it provides space for bigger conversations with children—about mental health, financial insecurity, and the role of food banks—things many families experience but often don’t talk about. If this story helps even one family feel a little more seen, or sparks a meaningful conversation around the dinner table, then I’ll be happy with that.

---

Get your copy of Indigo Irvine here.

To work with Rhiannon, get in touch with her agent Georgia Tournay-Godfrey here.