Artist Inspirations A collection of illustrators who have inspired me this year.
Jim Kay ‘In addition to illustrating books, I have also produced installation pieces for galleries, and concept work for film and television. I love museums, old books, David Lean films, creepy crawlies, gardening and just about any music from any century. I now live in Northamptonshire with my partner who assists me full time, and designs and makes hats too.’
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Refection - Jim Kay has long been an inspiration for me, ever since i began using texture and lino print. Although visually my practice is currently quite removed from his work, i still draw a lot of inspiration from him. - I’m envious of how effectively his images evoke such dark and mysterious themes. - I love the complexity of his images - he uses a range of processes combined including monoprint, lithioprint. pencil, charcoal. - my practice is continually evolving and his brave and experimental approach to image making reminds me that there are no rules to stick to & you are free to continue experimenting and exploring. - I would like to return to playing around with combining monoprint into my linoprints - and perhaps other hand made textures? - to build more layers and depth to my illustrations.
Mike Schultz
- Mike Schultz is an artist I discovered on Instagram. - His monochromatic images remind me very much of how I am currently working in extended practice and caught my eye. I love his bold and detailed line work & with his large following its clear to see that this kind of work appeals to a lot of people. - Some of my favourite pieces of his collection are from his travels around Thialand. Its lovely to see the depiction of the beautiful landscapes - so different from a lot of lino prints I've been seeing focused around the english countryside. Reflection - Travelling is something I would like to do in the near future, and I would love to take my practice with me. Seeing the success of Mikes work has inspired me to consider creating a project whilst I travel. Perhaps set myself the challenge of creating a zine of lino prints depicting where I go? It’s clear to to see that people have an interest in the out of the ordinary of daily life so this could bee an appealing project.
Linocut boy 
 - Nick Morley
Tips for Hand Printing!
• It’s exciting to see how broad Morleys practice is. - He creates lino prints for book illustration, editorials, advertising and print exhibitions. - which is something I aspire to achieve. Sometimes it can feel like lino printing could limit some of these goals - the quick turn around for editorials for example… but I think it’s about honing your practice to fit various briefs.
• Nick’s style varies across different applications. He often used intricate lino work, but also jumps between that and printing in block colour.
• I love his use of shape and texture additionally. - I would like to expand my lino skill set, to broaden my visual ‘style’
Ink Print Repeat - Andrea Lauren
- Andrea Lauren has become such a big influence over my work this year. I discovered her prints near the start, and her colourful and beautifully intricate prints inspired me to get back into printmaking. I greatly admire her use of colour which I often struggle with incorporating into my prints. - archiving different colour reliefs in the print process can be difficult, and her work makes it look effortless. - As I was involving nature more within my practice I got the urge to start creating patterns from the imagery was creating - Andreas pattern collection guided me through my own compositional development. I love her use of scale and composition.
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On her website Andrea not only showcases her beautiful prints, but also shares advice and tips about lino printing. She has released a book which explores her process in more detail which I would love to study. As much as I feel that I have progressed in lino printing over the year, I know that there is so much more to learn. There are many processes which I haven’t mastered such as colour block printing / aligning different blocks using acetate etc.. - which I am determined to try in the near future.
Pattern Research •
- When creating a pattern - I have been collating my images in photoshop. Although I have achieved some lovely designs this way, it has proved to be quite difficult and time consuming. creating a seamless pattern has been my biggest struggle, with a few attempts needed to get it right. Even then you can often tell where I have repeated the design.
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How to make a successful repeat pattern? - As I have begun to really get into pattern making I decided to do some further research and look into different process people use. From doing so, I have gathered some great advice from experienced professionals and improved my technique!
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Illustrator has been the answer to all my problems. - The method I am now using is a much more effective way of creating a successful pattern design. The process summery: 1) Creating a square image in illustrator and arrange your pattern across two of the sides. 2) Duplicate these layers at the same positioning on the opposing edges - so they will meet up precisely when repeating the square! 3) Fill in the middle with other elements of your design. 4) the basis of your pattern is created - duplicate and align.