What led you to become an illustrator?My whole family is creative, with my own mother also an illustrator I’ve been very interested in it from a young age. However it wasn’t until I did my foundation course a few years ago that I really found a passion for it and decided that I wanted it to become a career.Did you study illustration in college? Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), Graduated 2019Where did you grow up? LondonDo you have a childhood memory relating to drawing/art that you hold dear? Any activity I did as a child always revolves around art. One way my mum used to keep my younger sister and I occupied was by getting these giant rolls of paper from Ikea which would last months and we would roll it out on the kitchen floor and we’d be distracted for hours on end. But one time we decided to turn our bedroom into a jungle, so we cut out long strips off this roll and drew lots of jungle type things on there and then hung them up on our walls and bunk bed, it was such a clever idea.Where do you live now and what drew you there? Still living in London, after moving away for uni I ended up really missing a big city and I find London so inspiring as it’s so diverse and there’s constantly something going on.Describe your studio for us It’s just a small room at the very top of the house, with some of my grandparents and great grandparents’ beautiful old furniture. A lovely desk and cabinet, and the walls are slowly being filled with my illustrations as I get new commissions. (Or sometimes my studio ends up being my bed)Do you have a studio pet?I have my two cats Pearl and Deano and a cockerpoo called Ruben.Describe the view from your window I live on a main road so it’s just the street and the houses opposite, but recently some of the buildings have become cute little cafes where I would go to get some coffee when I needed a break.Who or What is your biggest inspiration? Definitely my parents. A designer and an illustrator they really helped push my practice and watching them do so well in their own careers it gave me a really positive outlook on my own future and made me really excited to become an illustrator. How do you get your ideas? I love reading stories about people’s lives, my work is often anchored around real people.Do you collect anything? I always save things from really special days I’ve had with people, whether it’s tickets, notes, photographs. I have a huge photo album filled with all sorts of things from days I never want to forget.What are your interests outside of illustration? I am really passionate about oil painting, still very creative but it’s very different to my stylised illustrations as they tend to be a lot more realistic.What is the first record you bought? I’m not entirely sure, it was probably a Now CD of all the top hits when I was a kid.What was your favourite assignment ever?It was actually an assignment I had set myself. I made a book about some travelling I did in America for three months and it was a real turning point in my portfolio. I had the best time making it and would love to create more books like that.What would be your dream commission?I have a few… I would absolutely love to do work for magazines like The New Yorker or The Economist. But another dream would be to do something with branding, I would love to have my illustrations be ‘the face’ of a company or something, a big job but I think I would love it.What is the best use of illustration you have ever seen? I can’t think of anything specific but any illustration that communicates anything incredibly complex is always amazing to me. Whether it’s mental health, systemic racism, politics. All things that are quite complicated to talk about but I’ve seen some illustrators communicate issues in such a clear way with just one image. I think that really shows the power and importance of art in society.What makes a good client brief? Something really clear and concise, also referencing any work of mine that a client particularly likes is incredibly helpful because I can then get an idea for the kind of feel/style they’re going for. In some cases, if a client has a very fixed idea of what they want sending over a little sketch, even if it’s just a doodle or stick figures can be really handy just so I can get an idea of what they’re imagining in their head.How much of your work is hand drawn? I do all my work on my IPad with Procreate, but if I ever do anything hand drawn it tends to just be initial sketches.How do you envisage illustration evolving? I see it becoming a lot more about making a comment, being used to help educate people more on complex issues rather than just being used for decoration. I can also see it feeding more into animation as well.Who is your art hero? Norman Rockwell, definitely was one of the reasons I fell in love with illustrationIf you were not an illustrator, what would you be? Acting was always my second option if I didn’t become an illustratorWhat’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? Everything happens for a reason, very cliche but it’s always got me through any difficult patches and I’ve always come out the other side with a new perspective, so it just helps me get on with life even if it’s a little tough for a bit.If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? JapanHave you any hidden talents? I used to do a lot of singing when I was at school, it’s something I was always really passionate about but I haven’t been doing it as much since I left. It was always a really good stress buster. How would someone who knows you well describe you?Very relaxed, my friends have always told my how they don’t know how I manage to stay so cool in stressful situations. Inside I’m probably just as stressed as they are but I’ve always been good at managing it. I’ve also been told that I am a nice person and I like to believe that’s true.If you could live anywhere, where would it be? AmsterdamIf you could travel back in time, who would be the one person you would want to meet and why? I would meet my Aunt (my mum’s sister), I never got the chance to meet her but I’ve always been told how similar I am to her and I think we would have got on really well. My mother and her sisters relationship was very similar to me and my sisters, which is very special.What themes or content in the world inspires you?A lot of my work is inspired by social issues. It always sparks something in me when I hear about things going on in the world and I’ve always seen art as being an amazing way to communicate these issues to a wider audience.How do you keep on trend and up to date in our quickly changing industry?Instagram is definitely very useful when it comes to keeping up with trends. In my final year of uni it actually became very important for us all to have an Instagram account to help keep up with the changes in trends.What movie can you watch over and over?The Iron GiantWhat do you listen to when you’re illustrating?All kinds of things, but recently I’ve been really enjoying listening to Tame Impala’s album ‘Currents’. But sometimes you’ll find me listening to musicals, classical music, rap, some super cheesy songs too.What is the last show you binged?Breaking Bad was the last big show I binged, but now I’m currently watching modern family because I felt like something a little lighterWhat was the last exhibition you saw and loved?Olafur Eliasson’s ‘In real life’ at the Tate. What was the last concert you went to?Rex Orange County. Although I could barely see him because I was stuck behind one of the tallest people I’ve ever seen! But it still sounded amazing.What is your favourite book?The GoldfinchWhat do you do when you have creative block?I do what I call angry drawings. I just get out a piece of paper and usually some charcoal and just go crazy, drawing anything as fast as I can. I usually do about 10 or so and it really helps clear my head and come up with some new ideas. I’m not usually angry but it just helps me create things in a different way to my usual, controlled style of drawing. It also really helps breaking away from doing digital illustrations, I have to remember to be a little more free with my work and accept any little mistakes that might happen because sometimes it makes it better! Taking a different approach is a great way to refresh your brain.What is your favourite way to fill free time? Any hobbies?My hobby always used to be drawing so it’s a strange feeling having it as a career and trying to find things to do when I need a break but if it’s nice out I’ll usually go for a walk, or I would make time to go and see my friends (pre covid)What is your go-to karaoke song?I could never do it alone but whenever I’ve done karaoke with my friends ABBA has always made an appearance.What is your favourite quote?Not necessarily a quote but ‘C’est la vie’ seems to be my go-to lately.What is your favourite ice cream flavour?Ben and Jerry’s fudge brownie or coffee flavourIs there any random thing you consider yourself an expert on?I’ve always been fascinated with psychology and it makes me very good at reading people, which has definitely scared a few. And also Russian history used to be something I was randomly very knowledgeable about.
