I’m in my final year at Glasgow School of Art, where I’m studying communication design. I spend most of my time in my studio, preparing for the degree show in June. It’s my ideal place to work as I’m surrounded by my classmates. I get a lot of support from them and we swap ideas. When I was 18 my flatmate showed me a book of works by Ralph Steadman. Obviously I’d been into art for a long time before that, but this book really inspired me to pursue illustration. His style is incredible: his drawings are frantic and surreal but also extremely commercial in terms of his clients. Seeing those two elements together was really inspiring, and while I wouldn’t necessarily use him as a reference these days, he definitely opened me up to appreciating other forms of art. For a while I was drawing dogs all the time, mainly as commissions and because it’s fun trying to capture the personality of an animal. I also like drawing architecture and strange buildings, but mainly I enjoy drawing people – I like creating characters that are influenced by people in the public eye or people I know. Illustration suits me because I really love working with a narrative.
This is just a taster, you can browse the full article with more stunning photography on pages 167-197, issue 100.
DETAILS
Interviews Judy Diamond
Photography Neale Smith
