Rat Race is a (almost) totally wordless picturebook inspired by silent films and vintage aesthetics. I created it in response to our silent picturebook brief while I was studying my MA in Picturebook Illustration at Goldsmiths in 2021. The story follows a music hall starlet (who just happens to be a mouse) as she escapes from her life of obligation with a childhood sweetheart, pursued by her villainous manager. Rat Race is hand drawn in pencil and digitally coloured; a technique I have recently returned to as produces images with a rough, lively, spontaneous quality.