Presenting one of our wonderful new illustrators Sharon Davey! Below she has been kind enough to answer a few questions for us. From her likes and dislikes to her tip top tips for aspiring illustrators!
I live and work in sunny Surrey but I’m originally from
Stockport, Greater Manchester and we defiantly harbor a northern spirit in the
house. Everyone who enters is fed and no one ever wears a coat.
My desk at home is facing a wall full of pictures, so the
squirrels fighting with the overfed pigeons in the back garden don’t distract
me.
What do you love about working there?
I used to
work from the kitchen table and need to tidy up everyday at 3pm so having my
own space is phenomenal. I like noise when I
work so I love being in the middle of our family space. If I’m home alone
working I have to have music on or I end up talking to our cat, Eliza Doodle
Davey.
I really
don’t like it when toddlers lick a runny nose, yuk! But apart from that I
pretty much like everything about my life. I’d really like to find a recipe for
flapjacks where I don’t just burn a pan of oats.
What do you love most about being an illustrator?
I am so
in love with my job - it’s the best. It’s my dream job and it allows me to be
100% myself. I love the ideas stage; choosing, creating, and goofing around
with more absurd ideas. Listening to writers, art directors and now agents
about their thoughts of what I’ve drawn is great fun. They always see something
I’ve missed and it’s the feedback I require to be part of the illustration
world rather than just drawing for myself.
How do you work – what are your techniques?
I’ve
developed my work over the past year to streamline the process. So, it goes a
little something like this, I usually sketch a page or two of character
drawings, sometimes using reference but mainly right out of my head. Generally
I forget to use my sketchbook and prefer printer paper so I can scan the
images, but I try to go back and tape them into my sketchbook in the right
order. Then I draw and scan, draw and scan for what seems like days;
characters, locations, textures, individual plants, random shapes. Then I
rearrange in Photoshop, either recolouring lines and going to final artwork or
if my line widths are too various I print off this mash of drawings, light box
and redraw everything at a similar line width and start again. I colour
digitally and like to keep my original line work as lively and interesting as
possible.
What is your favourite thing to draw?
Grumpy
looking animals. I like to draw things with attitude problems and distrusting
looks- they make me laugh. I’m much more at ease drawing humor and will sit
like a fool with a big smile on my face laughing at my own jokes.
Are there any tricky parts to being an illustrator?
That cold clutch of your heart you feel when a deadline is approaching
and talking yourself round from freezing and putting it off into a “RIGHT! Let’s
do this attitude.” Also letting go of a really nice layout or character that
you have fallen in love with because no one else likes it. That’s pretty
tricky.
What or who are you
inspired by?
I buy picture books
very often, my shelves would say too often. I love Quentin Blake and would absolutely
have a fan girl moment if I was ever in the same room. I adore Isabelle
Arsenault, Kenard Pak, Chris Chatterton, Fred Blunt, Chris Riddell, Leigh
Hodgkinson and did you see the new book from Richard Jones, The Snow Lion? Oh
my! I cried in the bookshop.
What do you like to do
in your spare time when you’re not illustrating?
If I’m not at my desk or in a
bookshop I like to visit cake shops with my family or friends. I feel like I’m
working on a study of all the almond croissants in the area. Although I’ll have
to start all over again with mince pies soon, shucks! I like art galleries, the
theatre, singing show tunes on long car rides and embarrassing my children by
going over the top at least three times a day.
How did you get into
illustration?
When asked as a child
about possible future professions I always said I wanted to be a draw-er or a
crisp taster. At age 9 I was convinced Hollywood would come knocking for me to
draw on the next Disney movie and by age 12, after waiting by the phone for
three years, I decided theatre was a safer bet. I trained as a theatre set and
costume designer at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and spent 15
years making theatre, props, masks, puppets, anything and everything. I was
pretty late in the game when I realized I loved theatre so much because I was
storytelling and I should be spending my time doing that instead of sewing
feathers on to ugly duckling costumes. I started drawing again with the idea to
entertain my family and really got into it. I exhibited some of my work and got
a lot of great feedback. I moved more into children’s illustration and met
SCBWI people at a short course on book illustration. After that I knew I was
home. At such a young age I knew what I wanted to be, I should have listened to
her. I could have been a crisp taster by now.
What are your three top tips for aspiring illustrators?
Put in
the hard work and get better at drawing hands.
Be on the
look out to learn more, short course, lectures, and new people.
Stick to
deadlines and be business-like about business.
What’s
your ultimate dream?
1.To get
better at drawing hands.
2. To be
asked to be on Strictly Come Dancing ,but
have to turn it down because I have too much work on.
