Wilson and author Eleanor Spicer Rice, PhD, have teamed up for the second time to produce the latest in the Your Hidden Life series of educational children's books. The first, Unseen Jungle: the Microbes That Secretly Control Our World, was released in 2023. Sharing scientific information without talking down to their young audience, each Your Hidden Life is an amusing, breezy read with little-known facts brought to life by Wilson's spare yet smart illustrations.
"It's very conceptual and clever, what I do," the illustrator says. "Generally, what I do has some kind of wit — those are the things I'm generally hired for. My style has changed from very flat graphics and vector-looking shapes to a lot of linework."
Wilson's stock in trade is saying a lot in a minimal way. His well-honed aesthetic effortlessly toggles from kiddie lit to high-fashion runway while still remaining unmistakably him. The Ralls, Texas-born illustrator spent most of his life doodling and drawing to refine this unmistakable style.
"I had a supportive family who let me do that, as nerdy as it was," Wilson says. "I didn't play football, I didn't play sports. Instead of Friday Night Lights, I was probably watching Dallas, drawing, doing homework or playing with my pets."
He eventually ventured 30 miles east of his hometown to attend Texas Tech in Lubbock, earning a degree in Design Communications with a minor in Illustration. After graduation, Wilson ended up in Dallas, the then-hub of Texan design and advertising.
"There was a Dallas aesthetic from the late '80s and '90s that was very strong," Wilson says of his influences. "Dallas had a world-renowned group of designers and illustrators I was able to learn from and then adapt the style they created. Through practice and lots and lots of hours, your own style will develop."
For the next 22 years, he worked on corporate branding and illustration projects for clients big (Verizon, BNSF Railway) and small (Kitchen Dog Theater). By 2012, he felt ready to take the leap into full-time illustration and quit his day job. He divided his time between Dallas and New York, and eventually relocated to the Big Apple in 2018. His ascent was slow but steady.
"During the time [I was going back and forth], I started to do editorial for The Wall Street Journal, and I ended painting a mural in Tribeca for fun, which is still there," Wilson says. "It got noticed by [retailer] Design Within Reach, and I started a relationship with them that was ongoing for several years."
He also started getting book cover assignments for Harper Collins, including the Welcome to Night Vale series. But it wasn't until the pandemic that his work became known outside the closely-knit design industry.
Trapped at home in his apartment in New York with his dog, Maisie, Wilson drew everything he was experiencing through Instagram @robwilsonwork, creating a whole new body of art that got him jobs from New York magazine and Mother Jones. It was during that time that he started a long relationship with the tony men's fashion line Todd Snyder, drawing imagery for the catalog when live models couldn't be used because of restrictions. This relationship continues to this day, and Wilson has just released a series of T-shirts with the brand.
When he was contacted by science writer Eleanor Spicer Rice for her series of books, Wilson initially wanted to turn the project down until he read the first manuscript.
"She was looking for someone who used linework that was funny and had some kind of cleverness to the drawings," he says. "My initial reaction was, 'No, I don't want to try to realistically illustrate a bunch of microbes, bugs or animals. But after I read her manuscript, I thought it was so charming, so funny, so smart. This was the kind of book I'd love to have as a kid because they're all science, but there's a lightheartedness to them.
"I met her in New York at The Strand [bookstore], and we sat in the kids' book section to find books that matched the tone she was looking for. It was a pretty fluid approach."
Wilson and Spicer Rice will be at Interabang Books on Saturday, June 8, for a discussion and book signing. The event will include fun drawing exercises supervised by Wilson for the pet-loving littles in the house.
Hey, Mr. Wilson
The Interabang visit is a homecoming for Wilson, who has plenty of art around his former hometown to remind locals of his presence. A mural he painted in Victory Park is a favorite Insta backdrop, and a print of legendary Texans he created for the Nasher Sculpture Center hangs over a booth at the hipster eatery Herby's in Oak Cliff. (Fun fact: a reporter recently misidentified Wilson as the father of actors Owen and Luke Wilson, who are portrayed in the art, but the Gen X artist has no relation to the actors.)Even as the Spanish fashion brand Arrels Barcelona uses his drawings as prints for this summer's swimwear and he continues to work in publishing, magazines and design, Wilson feels like he's just getting started. He hopes to create his own book, sharing personal experiences and observations through art, and he's planning on upping his animation skills for future projects.
In the meantime, this artful illustrator is hoping to inspire a new generation of kids to put down their phones and start to doodle. Who knows what might happen?
"I feel like there's a lot of things pulling at kids' attention right now, and hopefully this book can be one of them," he says. "It's educational, it's funny, you will learn something about these creatures that influence your world every day. Hopefully, it will inspire kids to be more curious about the world and maybe explore things in their life they hadn't thought about doing, whether it's creative or scientific or just the enjoyment of actually reading a book."
Eleanor Spicer Rice and Rob Wilson will talk about Your Pets' Secret Lives at 2 p.m., Saturday, June 8, at Interabang Books, 5600 W. Lovers Lane, No. 142.
