The next time you enter a bookstore, multidisciplinary artist Rachelle Baker is hoping that you judge a book by its cover.

From Detroit, MI, Baker’s multidisciplinary skills range from relief printing (screenprinting, linoleum, and woodcutting) to illustration, comic art, video art, and music. Her creative inspirations are derived from women in turn-of-the-21st-century R&B music videos, the sound of yawning cats, and Shoujo manga.

While Baker has been drawing for over 27 years, the Capricorn (with a Scorpio moon) is no stranger to experimenting with new creative ventures. In the past four years, Baker has excelled in one of her latest niches: book cover illustration. Her artistry adorns fiction and nonfiction covers including “Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream” by Blair Imani from Ten Speed Press, “Shirley Chisholm is a Verb” by Veronica Chambers from Dial Books/Penguin Random House, and “Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Ibram X Kendi and Jason Reynolds from Little, Brown Young Readers.

Other creative collaborations have included publications and media houses like The New York Times, National Geographic, Variety Magazine, Complex Magazine, MTV, and Playboy. Yet Baker doesn’t exclusively work within the media world; notable clients include NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Ulta Beauty.

You can check out more of Baker’s work here on Creatively and @hellocreatively on Instagram.

What is the first creative project you remember?

I drew a “Frog and Toad Together” comic in my second-grade class for a project. It was the first time I remember being fully invested and consumed by my creativity as a child.

Describe your aesthetic in three words.

Dreamy. Musical. Hopeful.

What was the most fulfilling collaboration you’ve worked on?

Working on “Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb” with Veronica Chambers was amazing. It was my first job working on a children’s book, so I went wild with colors and a different art style. I illustrated the life and story of such an incredible icon. I also drew my niece into one of the illustrations, so it was fun seeing her face when she opened the book for the first time and recognized herself.

What’s one creative project that taught you something fundamental about yourself?

All of my creative projects teach me to value my time and talent more. The more fun and freedom I can have, the more I love the finished product.

Do you think creativity is something you’re born with, or something you’re taught?

I think that everyone is born with creativity, but it is something that can be stunted and lost. Teaching creativity can be hard, but fostering and nurturing it within yourself and others is the best thing you can do!

What’s the last dream you had?

I’ve been having a lot of bad dreams/nightmares lately, but the last good dream I had was a recurring one where I’m riding through the woods on the back of a giant black cat at dawn.

One hundred years from now, what do you hope people write about your work?

I just hope that people can see the beauty that I see in them translated into my work and that it inspired them to make something beautiful of their own.

Follow @rachellebaker on Creatively.

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