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Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
Atmospheric, colourful, and a little bit wonky.
What items are an essential part of your creative space?
A comfy chair, lots of gouache, a Derwent drawing pencil in Chinese White, my watercolour palette, music and a pot of coffee.
Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
I like to work in gouache and then add detail with either pencils and pastels or digitally on Procreate.
Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Laura Carlin, Raymond Briggs, David Hockney
Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?
I’d love to visit around the time of Cubism to experience the reaction to it and see the way it influenced art around the world.
Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?
My tutors on my foundation degree inspired me as they made me realise that illustration actually existed as a thing, before then I thought all the children’s books I loved were just a type of art that was out of reach for me. From then on it was all I’ve wanted to do.
Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.
I don’t have a designated work space right now (the price you pay for living in London!) so I often alternate between coffee shops and the dining room table. I have the record player and the kitchen next to me which is great, but I often have to bribe my cat down from walking all over my work.
What is your favourite part of the illustration process?
That moment where everything clicks and the image in your head is actually taking shape on the paper. It doesn’t always happen, though!
What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
Draw every day.
Draw every day.
Zoë is an illustrator in London specialising in children’s books. Her work is inspired by food, travel, and nature. She loves to convey atmosphere and you’ll find a bit of teal in every drawing! Her current favourite things to scribble are underwater scenes, snowy lands, the Mediterranean, and falafel.
