What's
this illustration for?
I
made this illustration for fun; I was experimenting with painting a pencil
drawing in Photoshop.
Do
you have to wait for a flash of inspiration - how do you
start?
With
this particular illustration I was inspired by a graphic style on a postcard a
friend gave me and an old photo of my grandfather (Opa) dressed up as a horse
for a pantomime. He had a broken foot at the time - which would have been in the
1930’s when he was a boy in Holland.
How
did you get your start as an illustrator?
The
first ever job I had as an illustrator was to design a CD cover for a friends
band, I was at art school at the time and he thought I would be good at it
because my paintings were pretty illustrative. That was in 1995 and since then,
I’ve done all sorts of odd jobs like activity books, magazine covers, and
brochures, most recently I contributed illustrations to 3 children’s books for
National Library of Australia. I feel like I’m just beginning my career as an
illustrator now.
Who
or what has influenced your work?
I
love anything vintage, particularly 50’s graphics. I am inspired by art, I love
going to galleries and looking through art books. All sorts of things including
objects, images and places influence me.
What's
your favourite media for creating pictures?
Pencil
is probably my all time favourite media, but I love painting with oils the best.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a studio at the moment, just whatever scrap of bench
space I can find around the house so oil painting is on hold and watercolours
are doing the job for the moment. Painting in Photoshop is also great fun, I
started doing this as a background artist for a 2D animated television series a
few years ago and I’ve loved playing with it ever since.
Do
you experience illustrator's block - if so, what do you do about
it?
I
like to dress my kids up and take photos of them – it’s funny my mum used to do
this to me and I didn’t like it one bit – there are a lot of photos of me
dressed up as a sewing gypsy or in a kimono with a scowl across my face! The
other thing I do is flick through old photos and favourite books, go see an art
show or go for a walk.
What's
the worst thing about being a freelancer?
The
worst thing is not knowing when the next job is going to be. It’s also terrible
when I have a good idea or am feeling really inspired and creative and I can’t
do anything until the kids are asleep or I have to wait until night time, but by
then I’m usually completely knackered.
And
the best?
I
love dictating my own hours and having my two kids at my ankles, being able to
be there for them while they are very little is
great.
What
are you working on at the moment?
I
have quite a few projects going at the moment - four children’s books by two
different authors and a graphic novel.
Where
can we see more of your work?
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