Why did you decide to take up your creative trade?
I’m lucky, drawing has always been the thing that I do and love. As someone who grew up in various trucks and caravans, there wasn’t always lots of room for toys, so drawing was always the best window into my imagination. It didn’t really solidify as a career choice, though, until one of my A-level teachers quit to become a comic book artist. It was probably the first time I knew someone who made a ‘proper’ living off their art, and then that was it.
How do you get past creative blocks?
On a deadline, the best thing for me is to just keep the ball rolling in some way. Even if it’s a load of drawings that don’t necessarily feel productive, one thing can lead to another. Failing that, or if it’s more existential, I try to switch gears, usually by trying to learn something new or digging into something I’ve not tried before.
What is your creative process?
It’s not unusual for me to have to get going on a project without the full picture or specifics. So typically, I start exploring ideas in my sketchbook. The hope is to get to some more universal and relatable idea that reads at a glance. Once I have a few of these, I hand them off to the Art Director, and it’s usually downhill from there. I’ve recently moved my entire workflow over to Blender, developing a hybrid 2D/3D style that lends itself just as easily to animation as print.
Where do you look for inspiration?
My Pinterest is full of stuff from this great sweet spot of 70’s comic books like Moebius, and then lots of 90’s Ghibli-esque anime. My studio is full of arts and crafts bits, bobs, pots and tiles, which hopefully bring it all back down to earth a little.
What are you reading or listening to right now?
Since becoming a dad, I’ve found it super hard to make time to read like I used to, unfortunately. Music-wise, it’s a workday, which generally means Lofi girl. Anything with lyrics really throws me off when I’m trying to percolate on an idea. On weekends, you can usually hear Idles blasting out from the kitchen hi-fi.
What does your typical day involve?
I usually help get my kid ready for nursery, and then about 3 cups of tea and YouTube videos later, I get going on commissions. I try to block out time in 2-3-hour chunks before taking a break, whether it's sketching up ideas or making final artwork and/or animation. I usually finish my day off by replying to some emails before going and picking my kid up again.
A big thank you to Kyle Smart for contributing to our series of creative conversations with industry experts.