Tell us a bit about yourself and how you found your way to a creative career.
I’m an English-Irish artist and illustrator. I grew up in England and now live in Barcelona. I always loved drawing, sewing, painting, any type of craft. I loved textiles and art at school. I studied my foundation year at the London College of Fashion, thinking textiles or designing clothes was where I was headed but I ended up doing a degree at the London College of Communications in Surface Design: printmaking, drawing, product design. I moved to Barcelona after this and after a few years decided I really wanted to study again, but this time focus on drawing and illustration. I went to Escola Massana for 2 years. It was the best decision because I left the course excited about drawing and with my final project, my book, Lemon Yellow, which was later published by Kuš comics. I entered a lot of competitions and open calls during the pandemic and links began to happen and I started getting more jobs from this. My book also was a big catalyst for movement and connections.
How did you find your medium and style, and who and what influenced you?
I felt the pressure to narrow my work into one style and medium before, now I relish using multiple mediums and allowing myself to work with what I feel like using.
My style that I think is most recognisable is my blurry oil pastel work - this came about through classes at Escola Massana where we tried different techniques, one in particular was coloured pencil. I was somewhat reluctant at first but ended up enjoying using them to draw really softly. During the last months of my studies during the pandemic I kept trying to get the soft feeling with other mediums like graphite, hard pastel and then oil pastel. I love using all sorts of techniques and I think if you try tools you enjoy the style will follow.
I’ve been influenced by my dad’s paintings and way of working, my parent’s thriftiness and innovativeness with materials we had around the house. I have a folder simply called ‘Work I like’ and anything that attracts me goes in there; a painting with delicious colour combinations, tapestries, drawings, a lot of impressionist work. Anything! I also take a lot of photos of anything I want to draw later. The most important thing is to let myself like what I like and figure out later how to use it.
What subjects are you most fascinated with?
I’m realising lately that I’ve always enjoyed drawing interiors and houses the most. I love landscapes and portraits almost as much but corners of peoples houses are what calls to me; their trinkets and bookshelves, views through the doorways or windows. I also love shops or museums filled with little second hand or found objects, ceramics, lamps, paintings. I get really inspired by individual stories and the tiny details of people’s lives, especially when depicted in novels or in films. What colour is their toothbrush, where did they get that embroidered pillowcase, why do they keep that broken figurine.
What illustration trend are you either loving or hating at the moment?
I don’t necessarily follow any trends, but lately I’ve been refreshing my mind by catching up with any comics, zines or books I’ve bought but not read, and seeing what else has been freshly published (and updating my long list of books and comics I need to buy). A trend I do hate is AI being used to imitate artist’s work to avoid paying for labour and licensing!
How do you create characters, what inspires them, how do you use colour?
I had some great advice once about starting stories and building characters. You have to imagine every detail of their day: how do they feel when they get up in the morning, what exactly do they eat for breakfast? What clothes do they put on, which street do they take when they go out? If they go to the shop, what do they buy? Do they run into anyone?
When trying to write my book Lemon Yellow I also listened to the Invisible College podcast, it was full of so much wisdom from authors about how they create or how they trick themselves into putting pen to paper.
I try to use colour intuitively based on what I’m in the mood for or the focus of what I’m trying to capture, but it is massively influenced by other work I’ve liked. I enjoy doing tiny tests based on paintings I love to re-calibrate my sense of colours before working on a new oil pastel drawing.
If you had to pick a favourite project, which one are you most proud of and why?
Looking back today I’m most proud of my personal drawings, of the oil pastel drawings I did purely for enjoyment. A few from the last couple of years stand out - I drew a picture of my sister in the car coming back from charity shopping that came out just how I wanted it to, the drawing of the purple wildflowers in my parent’s garden, the oil pastel of a bedside interior of an old house just down the coast from Barcelona that I came across on a rental website. I’m trying to make more time to draw just for me but it can be tricky, so these pieces feel extra precious lately for their spontaneity and freedom.
Describe your dream project.
I’d be invited into interesting houses, museums, independent hotels, and allowed to stay the week or month and draw what I saw fit. I’d make the sets of drawings into books. I want to use illustration as a vehicle to travel and draw what interests me while earning a living.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on a second book that I’ve been building notes and ideas for for a couple of years now. I’m about to get my first space in a joint studio with friends which I’m very excited about! I need a new place to work that doesn’t have my bed within arms reach.
In the next year I want to mostly work on the book, hopefully at a residency at some point, but I also want to refresh my work and really focus on getting in touch with how I want to draw now, and keep this energy going for future commissions.
Rapid Fire Round - Quick answers! And add a few words if you like :)
Morning person or night owl?
Night owl, but I love the morning when I see it!
Favorite word
Llum in Catalan, which means light.
Lunch or dinner?
Both, plus breakfast and snacks.
A celebrity you’d like to have a drink with
Hailey Benton Gates.
If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future?
Past, but not necessarily in my lifetime.
Sweet or savory?
Savory.
Are you a thinker or doer?
Thinker judging by how long I’m taking to answer these.
Go-to karaoke song
I wish I had one! I don’t.
City break or beach holiday?
Depends on the season!
What superpower would you like to have?
Invisibility.
Thank you Laon!
