The Curious Treehouse: Design

Showing posts with label Design. Show all posts

Thursday, 20 October 2016

Feature Friday: Essi Kimpimäki Illustration

Where do you currently practice your artwork?

I'm originally from Finland but I have been living in Glasgow, Scotland, for over nine years. Currently I'm renting a desk in a shared creative studio space near my home.

Are you self taught or have you completed any training?

I studied Illustration at the Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 2011.

How would you describe your artwork/process?
I mainly work digitally nowadays as it is just so much faster and lets you edit

the art work painlessly - which is essential with tight deadlines! I do however still like to have some organic hand drawn feel and textures in my work. My medium of choice is a Wacom graphics tablet and a nice selection of Photoshop brushes, these make the process pretty similar to actual drawing and painting.
I also, whenever I can find the time, love to do some screen-printing!

What is your biggest influence/inspiration?

Inspiration can come from anywhere really and often hits when you're not

looking for it. I do love looking at other people's artwork however I find

more inspiration just by looking at what's happening around you - the light, the

colours, the scenes, the people. I also love travelling and get very inspired by

looking at pictures of faraway places - or ideally of course visiting them myself!

What are you working on at the moment?
I'm currently finishing off illustrating a second children's book for the Quarto Publishing.

Where can people see your work?
Website: http://essillustration.com/

Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/essillustration
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/essillustration/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/essillustration

Thursday, 14 July 2016

Feature Friday: MaggieMagoo Designs Contemporary Homeware

Where are you from and where do you practice your work?

I’m originally from the North East of England but I’ve lived in Leeds for over 20 years. I have a small studio at home. I work as MaggieMagoo Designs, the name was inspired by my scruffy little terrier Maggie - she’s a total character and it’s lots of fun having her as my mini helper!

Are you self taught or have you completed any training?
I studied printed textiles and surface pattern design at Leeds College of Art but I would say I’m also self taught to a certain extent. I’ve worked in the greetings card industry for a number of years but decided I wanted to get back into textiles and surface pattern design.

How would you describe your artwork/process?
I have a passion for pattern and am always doodling on scraps of paper, lots of my initial designs also come from mark making. I tend to rework and recolour my sketches and drawings on my Mac. I love being able to create a pattern in Illustrator or Photoshop very quickly. My design work often begins as hand drawn doodles which I then scan in to my laptop and develop into patterns - adding colour, texture etc. The doodles and sketches can be something as basic as some splodges drawn with a stick and some ink to something more detailed such as drawings of flowers and plants. I’m inspired by nature and I also take inspiration from my huge collection of vintage fabrics, ceramics, crockery and glassware. I love mid-century design and Scandinavian style as well. I try to put my own take on these influences to create something that is my own unique style.

What is your biggest influence/inspiration?
I love mid-century art and design and I’m also very inspired by nature, spending a lot of time walking my dog Maggie in the Yorkshire countryside

What are you working on at the moment?
I’m really enjoying making embroidery hoop art at the moment, I’d like to explore this medium further and see where it takes me. I’d also like to make repeat patterns for fabric from some of my current tea towel designs.

Where can people see your work?
I have an Etsy shop where I sell some of my designs and I also sell through a number of independent design shops across the UK. I enjoy doing craft fairs and this is where I have my more handmade designs such as my embroidery hoop art. I’m also a big fan of Instagram and Pinterest. I regularly post images of my work on these forums.