Laura Greenan

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Psychedelic 1960s style woman with swirling colorful hair illustration

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Psychedelic portrait of Diana Ross with colorful 1960s style, by Laura Greenan

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Psychedelic portrait of Dusty Springfield with colorful swirling shapes by Laura Greenan

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Colorful psychedelic portrait of Joni Mitchell playing guitar, by Laura Greenan

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Pantheon of Pop Psychedelia

"I'm not subtle," says London-based illustrator Laura Greenan.

Training

Laura did a foundation course in art and design at Newbury College, and then an HND in Graphic Design & Illustration at the Kent Institute of Art & Design, which is now part of UCA.

Approach

Taking an intuitive approach to each piece, Laura first researches the subject, then plots out her composition using thumbnails. She loves to explore unique compositions, finding new ways to express ideas with bold shapes and colours. Once she’s planned the artwork, she completes it in Adobe Illustrator using a graphics tablet.

Style

‘Gooey Pop Art’ is how Laura’s style is sometimes described, with hints of Art Deco, Art Nouveau and 60s psychedelia. Full of graphic forms, her work has a spontaneous feel to it. She likes artwork to be fun to look at, and fun to create, and it shows.

Impressions

Interview

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Interview

What led you to become an illustrator?My love of colour and the desire of freedom to do work in my own style.Did you study illustration at college (if so where)?I studied Graphic Design & Illustration at what was then the Kent Institute of Art & Design in Maidstone. It’s now part of the UCA.Where did you grow up?A few different places! I was born the USA and before I was 12 we lived in America, Portugal and the UK for various periods. Some of my strongest childhood memories are from our time living in California and then moving back to Essex.Where do you live now and what drew you there?I live in Kingston, South West London.Describe your studio for us.It’s upstairs in our smallest bedroom in the house. It’s at the back so comparatively quiet, gets quite a lot of light and most importantly gives me enough room to put all my snacks within arm’s reach but without clogging up my desk.Do you have any studio pets?A little Geordi la Forge from Star Trek sits in front of me and keeps me in line.Who or What is your biggest inspiration?The 1960’s. The whole aesthetic, colours, general feeling of people breaking free after being confined for the previous 20 years.How do you get your ideas?Usually from something I see online or in a book can spark something, like a particular colour or shape that I haven’t used before that I fancy trying out. Computer games and TV/movies also give me a lot of inspiration.Do you collect anything?Yoshis. The small, usually green, dinosaur from the Mario computer games. I must have over 25 of them now.Do you keep a Scrapbook?Any stuff I find that I like will go on Pinterest or Instagram.What are your interests outside of illustration?Music, playing computer games, travel, trying out some basic DIY around the house.What is the first record you bought?What’s the Story Morning Glory by Oasis. Bought on cassette for £8.99 from Woolworths. This whole sentence makes me sound about 100 years old.Tell us about a favourite project you’ve recently completed.I completed a couple of designs based on the new Tomb Raider computer game. Both of them were slightly experimental in different ways and it took a bit if time getting them right but I ended up being very pleased with the results.What would be your dream job/commission?I think magazine/billboard advertising for a big name gaming brand such as SonyPlaystation. To be able to see my work large scale would be cool and to illustrate their gaming characters and situations in my colourful style would be great!Why is illustration such a powerful medium?It can get across multiple messages or a feeling very quickly. An image can be far more effective and affecting than words.What is the best use of illustration you have ever seen?Some of the editorial illustrations I’ve seen to do with Donald Trump have been very clever and amusing. They’re able to get across multiple messages in one image which is amazing.What makes a really good client brief?The more detail the better and with a clear vision of what they want to achieve.How much of your work is hand drawn?All of it! The first 10% on paper the rest on the computer.How do you envisage illustration evolving?I think there will be more integration with animation, and with VR and AR as well probably.Who is your design hero?I think what Mary Quant did with 60’s fashion was pretty revolutionary.Who is your musical hero?The Beatles. More specifically Paul McCartney who is a bona fide genius.Do you have a method for dealing with the feeling of having no ideas?Under no circumstance do I stay in my workroom. I need to go for a walk or sleep or do anything not related to work. I then usually suddenly get an idea out of nowhere.If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?Japan.Have you any hidden talents?If I had a talent for anything other than being creative I wouldn’t keep it hidden.If you could live anywhere, where would it be?New York City.

Favourites

Café: Costa – for the hot chocolate. Gallery: Tate Modern Art Equipment/Tool: Wacom tablet – I never want to go back to using a mouse! Food: chocolate - all the chocolate, all the time … Drink: orange juice Shop: Uniqlo Website: Reddit Podcast: The Greatest Generation – a Star Trek podcast Holiday/Travel Destination: Lake Como, Italy