Posted in
on 17th July 2013 by Holly Booth
Chris has recently graduated with a BA Hons degree in general illustration, we caught up with him to find out more about his work.
HM: Tell us about what you do?
CL: I’m an illustrator, I work in black and white most of the time because I like to emphasise the line, detail and pattern. I take ideas and thrive off of illustrating them in unconventional and contemporary ways. Past works include books, prints, zines, crafts, furniture and murals, but most of the time I like to keep it to the traditional pen on paper.
HM: How did you get into it?
CL: It took a while for me to realise what my work lended itself to, through my college days I worked with printmaking, painting and photography because I was just inspired by being creative. I just liked to doodle most of the time and drawing was the thing I enjoyed the most. So I moved to Swansea to study Illustration because I knew that I wanted to become an illustrator.
HM: What are the best and worst aspects of what you do?
CL: The best thing about being an illustrator for me is taking an idea and creating the image. I love the process of drawing my illustrations because the image changes as I draw and I can add in whatever I want. I also like the hand drawn and physical aspect of my work, people recognise my style when they see it and that’s what makes me feel like I’m doing something right here. The worst part of what I do is that I don’t get paid for it.
HM: What’s been inspiring you lately?
CL: I’m always being inspired by what I’m surrounded by, people watching is something we all do and its fun to illustrate the characters and stereotypes I come across. Sometimes I have no idea where my inspiration comes from, an idea will just hit me while I’m in the middle of doing something, usually driving in my car when its awkward to write it down.
HM: Finally, is there anything in the pipeline you'd like to tell Hatch'd about?
CL: At the moment I’m still trying to establish myself as an illustrator, but now that I have graduated I plan on running personal projects and doing what I love which is drawing.
To see more of Chris' work visit his website, or follow him on .