Hello! My name is Emma Margaret Simpson and I am a third year illustration student studying at Southampton Solent University.
My illustration work tends to be drawn in quite a detailed style, generally including lots of patterns. My favourite subject matters are nature and animals, and I've recently taken an interest in anthropomorphism. My interest in drawing animals mainly stems from my Final Major Project at college where I produced a children's book about the animals of London Zoo. During that time I spent over 10 weeks repeatedly drawing animals and as my ability increased so did my interest and its something I've enjoyed ever since. I am not sure what made me begin to use patterns in my work, I simply sat down to draw one day and began to add patterned details, and again it is something that has stuck since then. My personal sketchbooks are filled with drawings and quick doodles of all the things that I've mentioned, all drawn in coloured fine liners. I'm also quite interested in typography and often including quotes and song lyrics within the illustrations in my sketchbooks.
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| Pages from my personal sketchbooks. |
I like to take my designs into screen print as I like the painterly texture that it gives, and in fact I run a little shop selling screen-printed cards, prints and other items. Any spare time in between university projects is spent working on and printing these designs, and I also enjoy keeping a
creative lifestyle blog where I share my inspirations and ideas.
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| Screen-printed items |
I don't have may specific artists that are a source of inspiration, instead I like to browse websites such as
Pinterest looking for illustrations that are relevant to my work and that I generally find interesting. Artists that have been popping up quite frequently in my inspirations recently have been
Sandra Dieckmann (1),
Bjorn Lie (2), and
Oana Befort (3). However my inspirations are constantly changing and I am always looking for more artists and illustrators to discover. Generally I will find an artist inspiring if they too have used pattern or typography in their work, or if they simply use a similar subject matter to what I am interested in.
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Three of my current influences.
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| My Pinterest board of inspirations and influences. |
