Group Portfolio
2019–2021
Group Portfolio
2019–2021
Contents 3
Foreword by Dylan Calder
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Glory Alozie
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Ruthine Burton
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Holly Bushnell
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Chih-An Chen
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Rodrigue Dakouri
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Ria Dastidar
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Rosa Doyle
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Moonlie Fong-Whittaker
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Mina Ikemoto Ghosh
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Sahar Haghgoo
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Chioma Ince
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Lillian Ip-Koon
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Shirin Karbor
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Anne Kotecha
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Zhi Ling Lee
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Hannah Jayne Lewin
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Mekeisha McDonald
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Habiba Nabisubi
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Aleesha Nandhra
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Zaleha Othman
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Nami Ralph
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Jacinta Read
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Jorge García Redondo
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Rumbidzai Marilyn Savanhu
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Maria Sears
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Chanté Timothy
Foreword by Dylan Calder “The Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme is a dynamic new model for art education.” SALVATORE RUBBINO, Illustrator
The pilot Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme, coproduced by Pop Up Projects and House of Illustration, was a crosssector, deeply collaborative venture to tackle the barriers that many artists from backgrounds that are under-represented in children’s publishing, especially artists of colour, face in accessing academic and industry routes into children’s illustration and publishing. In 2019 we recruited 26 mentees from across England and Scotland – aspiring and emerging illustrators, both with and without formal training in illustration, who had ambitions in the field. Over two years and 189 days of tutoring and mentoring from some of the greatest children’s illustrators, publishing editors and art directors, and university lecturers, these artists undertook an incredible journey to discover their potential. Working to briefs set and critiqued by publishers throughout, mentees learned about the craft of visual storytelling, but also about the entire business of publishing to prepare them for possible careers in the industry. The work on display in this very first group portfolio provides a small snapshot of some of the stories they told through illustration, and reveals a real breadth of talent – some at the very beginning of their creative story, all very much in the process of becoming professional practitioners, and some who truly are on the cusp of great success. We dedicate this portfolio, with enormous gratitude, to those at Arts Council England and the twelve publishers and nine universities who invested in and shaped this wonderful project with us – but most of all, to all the brave artists who trusted us to take them on this journey, and who have so many stories yet to tell. “I feel very positive about the future of illustration!” JANE BUCKLEY, Art Director - Children’s Picture Books, Simon & Schuster
Applications for Pathways Into Children’s Publishing 2022–2024 open in the spring – email pathways@pop-up.org.uk to find out more! 3
Glory Alozie Glory Alozie is an illustrator and art department assistant for television. Glory studied architecture where she honed her design and drawing skills and subsequently went on to work in children’s television where she developed a keen interest in children’s content. Glory likes drawing different characters and environments, and illustrating the random and entertaining stories behind them. She loves taking people on journeys with her illustrations as well as experimenting with textures, ink, bright colours and bold lines in her artwork. Glory learnt a lot about the children’s publishing industry through the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme, illustrating for young audiences and developing a unique style. Her favourite illustrators are Vashti Harrison, Sharee Miller and Jon Klassen; she hopes to one day inspire children to read and tell awesome stories like they do.
www.gloryaloziesmiles.com @illustratedwithasmile
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Ruthine Burton
Ruthine Burton is an illustrator living in London. She loves to work on real paper with pastels, pencils or paint but works digitally too. Ruthine has always loved drawing people and once upon a time was a pavement portrait artist. She also enjoys designing characters and environments; this interest comes from her background of working as an artist and animator in the games industry. Ruthine has a BA (Hons) in Visual Art during which she specialised in portraiture. She takes inspiration from the amazing art of Mini Grey and Philip Hess.
www.tametoad.com/ruthineburton/illustration.html @ruthineburton @ruthineburton
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Holly Bushnell
Holly Bushnell is a children’s illustrator and mural artist based in Merseyside. As well as being a mentee on the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme, she is studying a postgraduate degree in Illustration at Falmouth University (online). Holly is a lifelong vegetarian/vegan, and loves illustrating animals, history and imaginative, detailed scenes. Holly is seeking agency representation and is keen to take on book illustration projects for early readers. Holly’s favourite illustrators and artistic influences include Axel Scheffler, Judith Kerr and Nick Sharratt. Her work has been described as ‘little pieces of happy’ by the children’s author Cathy Cassidy, and her storyboarding work ‘dynamic’ by Rob Biddulph.
www.hollybushnellillustration.co.uk @hollybushnellillustration @hollyfbushnell
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Chih-An Chen Chih-An Chen is a freelance Taiwanese illustrator based in London. Chih-An is passionate about graphic novels and considers herself an experienced Japanese manga nerd; she loves making comics and usually finds her inspiration from all the small, lovely things in everyday life. Her works are full of quirky, funny, and heart-warming elements. She thinks pictures and smiles are the two things that can make the world a better place without complications.
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/DeskAnDrawer @deskandrawer
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Rodrigue Dakouri Rodrigue Dakouri is an artist born in Côte d’Ivoire, raised in France, who currently resides in the UK. Rodrigue studied BA in Graphic Design and Illustration at the University of East London. During this time, he joined an art collective composed of artists from different countries. They held multiple exhibitions in London from 2008 to 2010. Rodrigue’s main artistic inspiration is his love for his native continent which he expresses using different mediums such as gouache, acrylic and pencil. He is building a body of work, a presence that will be recognised in the industry as well-crafted and thought-provoking. Rodrigue’s illustrations have been featured in Folktales From Kilifi, the first book published by the Akili Trust. Rodrigue’s art is one of storytelling - and he has a story to tell but are we ready to listen?
www.behance.net/msaani2 r.d_illustrates
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Ria Dastidar
Ria Dastidar is an illustrator and designer from London. By day, Ria’s commercial work spreads across animation, illustration, and product design for clients including WHSmith, Intercom, and the BBC. By night, she loves dreaming up colourful, surreal and funny characters: cuddly monsters, confused rabbits, and apples that remember the good ol’ days. Ria was a mentee on the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme. Her first illustrated children’s book, Magnificent!, was published in 2021 as part of Pop Up Project’s ‘10 Stories to Make a Difference’ collection.
www.uberpup.net @uberpups
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Rosa Doyle Rosa is a London-based illustrator, artist and a graduate of Camberwell College of Art, where she studied Illustration. Rosa draws inspiration from wildlife, natural forms and found objects, and loves working in a range of media including watercolour, coloured pencil and collage. She adopts a playful, yet socially conscious approach to her art, creating vibrant pieces that offer a fresh perspective on the world around her. In her work for children, Rosa aspires to create illustrations designed to delight, comfort and inspire young readers to bravely face life’s challenges.
www.rosadoyle.com @rosadoyleillustrates
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Moonlie Fong-Whittaker Moonlie Fong-Whittaker is a London-based children’s illustrator with a warm cup of tea in her hands. Moonlie is very proud of her Chinese-Malaysian roots; she was born in the Netherlands and grew up in Belgium. Moonlie is enthusiastic and passionate about illustration, and she loves inventing quirky characters and stories. Her go-to mediums are watercolour and ink. Moonlie is especially drawn to colour, textures and expressive lines. She appreciates the wittiness and light-heartedness that centres good illustration. Moonlie’s biggest sources of inspiration (but not limited to) are Bill Watterson, Jon Klassen and Lane Smith. Apart from illustrating and working at her day job, Moonlie is vocal on social justice issues around ethno-racial equality and Chinese diaspora identity. She is also part of the Imperial College Race Equality Charter Group and Imperial As One (BAME staff network and advisory group), and is a volunteer for the BESEAN (East and South-East Asian Network). Moonlie is also writing a blog called ‘The Good Enough Artist’.
www.moonlie.co.uk @moonlie_illo
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Mina Ikemoto Ghosh
Mina Ikemoto Ghosh is a British-Japanese writer and illustrator. Mina’s style incorporates brush pen and bold, dark, dynamic linework, drawing on the influences of the manga she grew up with, Japanese calligraphy, and the fine pen lines she saw in illustrated English books. She admires Chris Riddell and Yoshitaka Amano, and writes stories inspired by natural sciences, Shōwa-era detective fiction and Japanese classical literature. Trial and error over a couple of million words’ worth of manuscripts has taught her enough about narrative to know that she’s got many, many miles to go. She is currently working on the second draft of an illustrated YA fiction novel.
@ikemoto_m @minaikemoto119
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Sahar Haghgoo
Sahar Haghgoo is an IranianEnglish illustrator living in London. Sahar is inspired by nature, people around her and the things she sees during the day and in everyday life. Sahar creates her illustrations through digital and mixed media techniques, and has a love for theatre, making connections between theatrical scenes and her illustrations. Sahar’s first illustrated children’s book, Here Be Monsters, was published in 2021 as part of Pop Up Project’s ‘10 Stories to Make a Difference’ collection.
@sahar__haghgoo @saharhaghgoo www.facebook.com/sahar.haghgoo
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Chioma Ince Chioma Ince is an illustrator and workshop facilitator interested in exploring themes of politics, identity and most importantly, creating and bringing to life vibrant and playful narratives. Chioma was shortlisted for the New Covent Garden Market Vitrine Art Commission 2021 and is published in Penguin’s anthology, Black Joy (2021), edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Timi Sotire.
Work from Black Joy, published by Penguin.
www.chiomaince.co.uk @folu_wonder
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Lillian Ip-Koon Lillian Ip-Koon is a British-Chinese illustrator and UX designer who grew up in East London. Lillian describes her illustrations as, ‘dramatic depictions of otherwise adorable characters who get caught up in fantastical adventures’. She enjoys bringing elements of fantasy and magic to her work and aspires to tell more stories of her own. Lillian mostly works digitally with an art style that takes influence from her love for animation and games – particularly Hayao Miyazaki’s approach to storytelling. Lillian majored in Illustration during her undergraduate degree and later studied a postgraduate degree in User Experience Design. Lillian’s passion for education led her to work in educational technology, where she enjoys combining her skills in illustration and UX design to create engaging digital experiences in educational settings. Lillian founded Cantochat in 2021; she is working with a team to create a narrative-based mobile game aimed to encourage and support learning Cantonese, her heritage language.
www.lillianipkoon.com @lillian_ipkoon
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Shirin Karbor Shirin Karbor is an Italian-Iranian illustrator and designer based in Edinburgh. An advocate of traditional drawing techniques, Shirin’s work features a world of lively characters and humorous narratives inspired by her love for classic animation and Italian comics from her childhood. Shirin studied Graphic Design at Gray’s School of Art, but is predominantly self taught in the realm of illustration. A love for design surfaces in her work as bold and expressive lines, and she has a mild obsession with geometric abstraction in architecture which is often photographed on a whim and stored for future ideas. Exploring the links between creativity and wellbeing, Shirin has worked with various charities and schools using drawing as a tool for building confidence and showing that art is accessible to everyone.
www.shirinsdoodles.com @shirinillo
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Anne Kotecha Anne Kotecha is a London-born illustrator based in Bristol. She uses pencil, gouache, ink, printmaking and digital techniques to create narratives with bold colour and texture. Anne is inspired by observational drawing, mid-century modern graphic design, alternative music and the sometimes uncomfortable but always interesting places where cultures meet. Anne’s picture book and graphic novel work communicates hidden subtleties and difficult themes with sensitivity and humour. David McKee, Jon Klassen, Abner Graboff and Beatrice Alemagna are some of her inspirations. When not sketching, Anne can be found writing songs, playing guitar with her noise band, or programming games for children. Anne recently completed the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme which supported a diverse group of talented artists hoping to be the next generation of children’s illustrators.
www.annekotecha.co.uk @annekotecha
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Zhi Ling Lee Ling Lee is an illustrator originally from Malaysia who now Zhi calls London her home. Zhi Ling’s illustrations are driven by her love of magical and fantastical tales, mixed with a dash of humour. With a background in software engineering and IT, she brings a unique perspective to her art – a duality wherein whimsical illustrations are anchored on thoughtful concepts and solid design principles. A bookworm since childhood, Zhi Ling is excited to now weave her own stories through drawings of charming characters and imaginative worlds. Knowing how much joy illustrated children’s books have brought throughout her life, she hopes her work invokes the same curiosity and wonder in a young reader. Zhi Ling was named as a Highly Commended Illustrator in the Faber-Andlyn FAB Prize for Illustration in 2020 and 2021.
www.curiouszhi.com @curiouszhi @curiouszhi www.facebook.com/curiouszhi
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Hannah Jayne Lewin Hannah Jayne Lewin is a freelance illustrator based in Yorkshire. Hannah attended Loughborough University and studied Graphic Communication and Illustration, graduating in 2018. Hannah’s work is character led and uses vibrant colour schemes. Her work has been used in a variety of areas from licensing designs, to wall murals and children’s publishing with clients including Scholastic, Thortful and Ladybug Magazine. Hannah’s work is strongly influenced by people-watching and observing the shapes and forms in the world around us. Through her time as a mentee on the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme, Hannah discovered she loves to write too. Her dream is to write and illustrate children’s books for people all over the world to enjoy.
www.hannahjayneillustration.com @hannahjayneillustration www.thortful.com/creator/HannahJayneLewin
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Mekeisha McDonald Mekeisha ‘Meisha’ McDonald is a self-taught illustrator of Caribbean heritage who lives in London. Her artwork explores her childhood obsessions, traditional tales, Black history and mythology. Meisha enjoys creating artwork using ink, markers, water soluble mediums and digital mediums to weave the weird and wonderful worlds she dreams up. She has a passion for creating characters inspired by her heritage and incorporating natural and unconventional objects into their designs. Her sketchbooks are her playground. Meisha’s dream is to create an illustrated young adult book and hopes that her work will inspire others to create too.
www.meishamcdonald.wixsite.com/website @mekeisham @mcdonaldmeisha
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Habiba Nabisubi Habiba Nabisubi is a British-Ugandan multimedia artist based in South London. Having lived in both Kampala, Uganda as well as the UK, Habiba draws huge inspiration when creating new work from both sides of her heritage and lived experience. Everything she creatively sets her mind to is a labour of love. In 2016, Habiba graduated from Camberwell College of the Arts with a BA (Hons) Illustration and has gone on to make work that she feels is relevant, usually rooted within topics that are bigger than herself with the hope that they evoke emotion. Habiba would describe her illustrations as highly detailed, inclusive, conversation starters and an opportunity for learning – often by using subtle elements of humour or some sort of social commentary. She thoroughly enjoys the process of creating characters, conjuring up refreshing narratives and trusting her imagination to execute her vision powerfully. Habiba is now represented by Lorna Hemingway at Bell Lomax Moreton and is working on her debut picture book. Watch this space…
www.habibanabisubi.myportfolio.com @habibanabisubi @illustratedbyhabiba @bibanabi www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BIBANABI
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Aleesha Nandhra Aleesha Nandhra is an illustrator and printmaker from London. Since graduating from the Cambridge School of Art she has created work for the likes of Los Angeles Times, Google, The Barbican and has been shortlisted for The World Illustration Awards (2018). Thematically she is drawn to work that deals with nature, culture, mental health, music and everyday life. Narratives and visual storytelling play a huge part in her creative practice, both within and away from commercial illustration. Aleesha also co-runs ‘Mil Ke Chai’, an artist-led cafe which aims to create spaces that nurture friendship and enterprise across class, caste and religion. Collaboration, community projects and creative education are all also very important to Aleesha and these feed back into her work and process.
www.aleeshanandhra.com @aleeshanandhra @aleesha_n
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Zaleha Othman
Zaleha loves painting late into the night and often uses the music of Leonard Cohen to lure an assortment of characters into finding a home on her canvases. Perhaps influenced by her love of the Muppets, Carl Jung and David Lynch, she especially likes it when her artwork becomes a space where the darker and lighter shades of the psyche can dance with one another. Aside from forming a geriatric girl group on the Isle of Bute in her old age, she also dreams of creating children’s books and graphic novels inspired by walking around the world with her own travelling puppet show and a grumpy donkey.
www.corduroyark.com @za_zissou
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Nami Ralph Nami studied Art and Design at art college and moved onto a career in museums and galleries after finding a passion for curating. Whilst working on exhibitions and being surrounded by art, she felt inspired to pick up a pencil again and became interested in exploring illustration. Nami attended courses in drawing at the Putney School of Art and the Royal Drawing School which inspired her to develop skills in illustrating children’s books. Nami was keen on pursuing more formal instruction in illustration and the opportunity to be a mentee on the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme presented itself. Through her experience on the programme, she has been able to enhance her skills further and build a vibrant and energetic portfolio. She has continued to tap into her curatorial background when approaching her illustrations, where she often spent time on research to inform her response to briefs. Nami’s artwork style is playful, colourful and warm. Her love of storytelling is demonstrated through the characters she creates, and the details she surrounds them with. She uses watercolours, gouache, pencils and digital platforms to create her illustrations. Her love of the everyday is demonstrated continuously throughout her artwork, and she often draws inspiration from work by Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell and Judith Kerr. Nami is represented by Lorna Hemingway at Bell Lomax Moreton.
www.namiralph.com @namiralph @namiralph
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Jacinta Read
Jacinta is an autistic illustrator and writer. She loves to use traditional and digital media to make pictures of people and animals, placing special emphasis on expression and gesture. Jacinta is Welsh and Chinese, and feels that her multicultural upbringing and neurodivergence enable her to be quick to find common ground with people from different backgrounds. She believes that storytelling is a privilege and responsibility, and hopes to make books that delight, enlarging children’s worlds while shortening divides. A few of her favourite illustrators include Quentin Blake, Catherine Rayner, and Anthony Browne.
www.jacintaread.com @jacintaread @jacintareadart
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Jorge García Redondo Jorge is a designer and illustrator from Spain who is currently based in London. He started drawing as soon as he could hold a pencil, and hasn’t stopped since! Inspired by a weird mix of elements, such as 90s cartoons, comics, mid-century design and street photography, Jorge works both traditionally and digitally for both publishing and a wide range of commercial projects. Jorge’s work is character-based, colourful, whimsical, and always tells a story. When he’s not drawing or designing, he can be found lost in a bookshop buying more books to read, sketching people in coffee shops, or trying to befriend each cat he finds!
www.jorgegarciaerre.co.uk/children @jorgegarciaerre www.thebrightagency.com/uk/publishing/artists/jorge-garcia
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Rumbidzai Marilyn Savanhu Rumbidzai Marilyn Savanhu is a Zimbabwean-born, Birmingham-based illustrator and writer with a strong sense of colour, composition and pattern. For Rumbidzai, these are the most important elements of her process when approaching visual storytelling. She works mainly digitally with Adobe Photoshop and Procreate but she likes working from her sketchbooks when experimenting with new ideas or media. Rumbidzai’s main interests are fashion, film, history and music; she loves incorporating these elements within her work. She draws inspiration from various artists and filmmakers including Guillermo del Toro, Satoshi Kon, Gyimah Gariba, Sachin Teng and Tiffany Ford. Rumbidzai is passionate about representation and accurate depictions of people within stories and often combines her culture with her art when creating work.
www.marykeepsgoing.com @marykeepsgoing @marykeepsgoing
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Maria Sears
Maria Sears is a self-taught artist and maker living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Maria runs her own business making jewellery, sculpture and prints. As a devoted maker, who loves tools and materials, she creates exciting 2D and 3D work using everything from tissue paper to used copper water tanks. Maria’s love of picture books brought her to the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme, where she has been lucky enough to learn from the best. Maria is passionate about illustration and books; she has experienced first hand the power a book can have in transforming lives, through her work with children who have learning disabilities. She runs workshops in schools and at events, and will be taking her Pathways experience with her into these sessions.
@mariasearsartist
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Chanté Timothy Chanté Timothy is an illustrator who loves experimenting with movement, vibrant colour, character design and storytelling. Drawing for as long as she can remember, Chanté has always been that strange kid who would ask for paper and pens to entertain herself instead of playing with toys. Chanté is an alumna of the Pathways Into Children’s Publishing programme. Published in five amazing titles, Hey You! – by Dapo Adeola, Daddy Do My Hair: Beth’s Twists by Tọlá Okogwu, My Big Mouth by Steven Camden, Happy Here – introduced by Sharna Jackson alongside 10 Black British authors and 10 illustrators, & A Black Woman Did That by Malaika Adero. The one thing she enjoys most about being an illustrator is the wide variety of subject matters you learn about on the job. You’d think most of the studying would be left at school but Chanté often finds herself learning new facts and interesting concepts from given briefs.
www.heychante.co.uk www.facebook.com/heychante @sayheychante @hey.chante
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Acknowledgements Enormous thanks to the brilliant Ibrahim Zanta, Franziska Liebig, Michelle Buckley and Amanda Saakwa-Mante at Pop Up, Emily Jost and everyone at House of Illustration, all our great friends at Anderson Press, Anglia Ruskin University, Birmingham City University, Bloomsbury Publishing, Hachette Children’s Group, HarperCollins Children’s Books, Manchester Metropolitan University, Middlesex University, Nobrow Press, Nosy Crow, Nottingham Trent University, Oxford University Press, Penguin Random House Children’s, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Solent University, University for the Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire, University of the Arts London, Usborne Publishing, Walker Books, and the 100+ professionals who tutored and mentored on Pathways Into Children’s Publishing. And a very special thanks to David Poole and Sharon Sutcliffe at Oxford University Press for donating their time to designing this portfolio.
Printed by ExWhyZed www.exwhyzed.co.uk
www.pathways-org.com
Pop Up Projects
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