Inspiration

Being a creative person I often look at other creative peoples work that inspires me. Some of the most influential have been children's book illustrators. Growing up my mum and dad would read me stories every night before I went to sleep and I remember just looking at the pictures in aww and wonder.

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One of my absolute favourite illustrators is Lauren Child who is probably best known for her books about Charlie and Lola. I love her child like style and the naiveness of her lines. From my sewing I have developed a love for patterns and would love to one day design my own fabric line, I am completely inspired by how Lauren uses pattern within her work, without it taking away from her illustrations.

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Axel Scheffler is the illustrator behind the Gruffalo. I love the cartoon style of his work and the simple characters. One thing that really draws me in is his use of colour and this has helped me in my work use more colour.

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An artist that I only recently discovered is Oliver Jeffers. He is originally from Belfast (my hometown) and I had seen his work but never really taken notice of it until I had to write an essay about an Illustrator and I saw his name pop up. Again he has the same child like style as Lauren Child where his images aren't drawn really realistically but are still recognisable. He uses a lot of negative space in his work, which gives the eye a place to rest and more appreciate the illustrations.

One of the best things about doing Illustration is being able to buy all the children's books and when the cashier gives you the "aren't you a little old for those books" look you can say 'oh i'm an Illustration student' and they nod knowingly. Of course I am only buying them for the pretty pictures!