Welcome to the Family, Kim Hankinson!

Take a look below at our chat with new illustrator Kim Hankinson! 

Where do you live/work?

I live in leafy North London, and have a desk space in Daslton. I like London as you can explore the same city but feel like you're in completely different places.

What do you like about working there?

Mostly the fact that I get to be around talented people and come across so much other gorgeous work. There are lots of screen printers and so I’m looking forward to doing more of that when there's time!

What do you love most about being an illustrator?

I have lots of ideas, so I love to be able to write them down and sketch them up. It's great turning random ideas you’ve had fizzing away into something someone else can understand.

How do you work – what are your techniques?

I’ll often just have an idea and do a very quick sketch. Then I take a pic with my phone and drop it straight onto the computer so I can get it on there as quickly as possible…I always want to get the colours and shapes I’ve imagined down fast. I tend to get ideas when I’m walking somewhere, so I scribble them down as soon as I get to a pen and paper!

What is your favourite thing to draw and why?

I also like drawing girls stroppy faces - because you don't always have to smile! I love blobby shapes and bright contrasting colours too.

Do you have a particular favourite character that you’ve illustrated?

My ninja tigress. I would be a highly ineffective ninja.

What or who are you most inspired by?

Mostly just from life and world around me… if I’m briefed it's the text from an author leads the way, when you get good text to work with you know at and its so inspiring. Sometimes though, I’ll just have a silly thought and just want to illustrate that, or I’ll read or hear about something I want to learn about and think might be interesting to other people, and so work that up into a design.

Do you have a favourite illustrator?

Not really, I’ve always been inspired by Japanese art and love Ryo Takemasa’s work, and then love modern quirky pattern and shape like artwork by Tess Smith Roberts or Lisa Congdon. I love Matisse's shapes and colours, and also cold war graphics from around the world.

What do you like to do in your spare time when you’re not illustrating?

I love a good walk meandering around London visiting museums, cinemas, and galleries. I also went for a walk in the Himalayas last year, thats the other extreme of the walks! I listen to lots of podcasts on politics and science and I like to cook… always happiest when eating! I like a lido in winter and do some yoga to try and stay a bit more zen than I actually am!

How did you get into illustration?

I studied graphic art and design at University where I focussed on illustration and screen printing. I moved into design for children in licensing, then books. Over the last year or two and I put some time into building a new portfolio based on the work I wanted to do for me and really things have grown from there.

What are your three top tips for aspiring illustrators?

1) Start with the work you want to make and work hard at it.

2) Don't be afraid of putting work out there.

3) Remember you can't please everyone.

What were your favourite books when you were younger?

I loved Where the Wild things and really vividly remember Eric Carl's books from being really small. I also loved a poetry anthology of Poems selected by Micheal Rosen. It had some very creepy and detailed water colour illustrations of skeletons in caves and weird creatures… I don't know the illustrator but I was fascinated by those drawings when I was little.

What was the last book you read? What did you think? 

I’ve literally just started the Testaments by Margaret Atwood, but I usually buy books that have some connection with foreign cultures and history, so really like buying fiction from Stanfords in London where you get stories connected with travel

What are your aspirations for the next year?

I just try to work hard and be happy today to be honest!

Welcome to the family, Kim!