How did you get started in illustration? Did you always want to be an artist?
I always drew as a child - people fighting, swords, manga... boys stuff - then education incrementally knocked it out of me over the years. I ended up doing media at uni before stumbling into a job as a computer games artist, and when that company went under, I somehow ended up doing editorial illustrations. I can’t exactly remember how I made that leap.
How do you approach a new illustration, where do you start?
I quickly skim read the copy and then I like to sleep on it. I subscribe to the idea that the brain can connect the dots in the most abstract of ways whilst in and out of consciousness.
What inspires you?
I don’t spend much time actively and consciously trying to soak up inspiration to bring to my ‘art’ - I do editorial commissions, and the copy usually has everything that I might need. Film references sometimes make it into my concepts; most often it’s the potters wheel scene from Ghost, but I haven’t had a client run with that idea yet.
What’s been your favourite topic to illustrate / favourite illustration and why?
My favourite set of illustrations were for a piece on the education system within prisons for TES. It was something a little bit different, and had a more serious tone, but the topic itself offered such a rich library of symbols to draw from and that allowed me to really push my ideas.
What’s been your most challenging commission?
Any of the books that I’ve done. I much prefer the fast paced in and out of editorials. I don’t like getting bogged down with drawing details. I like working with ideas.
What is your favourite medium to work with and why?
Digital. I haven’t used any type of traditional media for drawing since school. It’s much easier for me to explore ideas - and rub them out - with a stylus rather than a real pen.
What does your workspace say about you?
That I got into illustration so that I don’t have to be sat at a desk all day.
What bit of kit can’t you live without?
It’d have to be the iPad; I’m increasingly trying to move my work onto that instead of using the wacom (which is stuck to a desk).
Do you have any other creative endeavours outside of illustration?
Not really. I find being a full-time illustrator takes up all that energy. Does gardening count?
Name a favourite artist or an artist who inspires you
Lowry perhaps; I like the little matchstick men, and the ‘it’s grim up north’ backdrops.
Nick's 2 Minute Self-Portrait
In my style - and my defence - I strive to make characters look generic and representative of symbols of people, rather than individuals themselves…
Illustrator Interview: Nick Shepherd
Describe your work in three words
Humorous, conceptual, problem-solving.
How did you get started in illustration? Did you always want to be an artist?
I always drew as a child - people fighting, swords, manga... boys stuff - then education incrementally knocked it out of me over the years. I ended up doing media at uni before stumbling into a job as a computer games artist, and when that company went under, I somehow ended up doing editorial illustrations. I can’t exactly remember how I made that leap.
How do you approach a new illustration, where do you start?
I quickly skim read the copy and then I like to sleep on it. I subscribe to the idea that the brain can connect the dots in the most abstract of ways whilst in and out of consciousness.
What inspires you?
I don’t spend much time actively and consciously trying to soak up inspiration to bring to my ‘art’ - I do editorial commissions, and the copy usually has everything that I might need. Film references sometimes make it into my concepts; most often it’s the potters wheel scene from Ghost, but I haven’t had a client run with that idea yet.
What’s been your favourite topic to illustrate / favourite illustration and why?
My favourite set of illustrations were for a piece on the education system within prisons for TES. It was something a little bit different, and had a more serious tone, but the topic itself offered such a rich library of symbols to draw from and that allowed me to really push my ideas.
What’s been your most challenging commission?
Any of the books that I’ve done. I much prefer the fast paced in and out of editorials. I don’t like getting bogged down with drawing details. I like working with ideas.
What is your favourite medium to work with and why?
Digital. I haven’t used any type of traditional media for drawing since school. It’s much easier for me to explore ideas - and rub them out - with a stylus rather than a real pen.
What does your workspace say about you?
That I got into illustration so that I don’t have to be sat at a desk all day.
What bit of kit can’t you live without?
It’d have to be the iPad; I’m increasingly trying to move my work onto that instead of using the wacom (which is stuck to a desk).
Do you have any other creative endeavours outside of illustration?
Not really. I find being a full-time illustrator takes up all that energy. Does gardening count?
Name a favourite artist or an artist who inspires you
Lowry perhaps; I like the little matchstick men, and the ‘it’s grim up north’ backdrops.
Nick's 2 Minute Self-Portrait
In my style - and my defence - I strive to make characters look generic and representative of symbols of people, rather than individuals themselves…
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