Can you share a bit about the piece and how you conceived of it:
Star Belly is a Keeper, a guardian of children who leads them through dreams. Star Belly’s charge is a young girl called Ada, and they’re characters in a comic I’m creating with my partner called Astral Airlines.
Could share a page from the comic your working on?
That would be lovely:
All pages of the comic are posted at www.astralairlines.com when they’re completed.
Who or what at are your creative influences?
I look at a lot of other illustrators online, but I’ve always used illustration as a way of resolving whatever mojo is floating around in my brain. I like to be moved by what I experience in art and stories and I try to use my work as a way of provoking wee emotional responses in people.
What’s the first picture you can remember drawing as a child?
I’d love to say it was a mythical beast of some sort, but I think I just drew Princesses over and over.
What’s your process in creating a piece of art?
I procrastinate, and then I doodle, and then I doodle some more, and then I draw it properly, scan it in and plump it up in Photoshop, adding detail and color on new layers.
What music is rotating on your iPod?
Pixies, Kate Bush, the Donnie Darko) and Nightmare Before Christmas Before Christmas sountracks, soundtracks and Bonnie Tyler.
What’s the most unusual thing that’s ever inspired a piece of your art?
I do find music very inspirational, especially songs that have winding narratives that are ambiguous enough that you can project your own interpretation upon them. The “Hips like Cinderella” line from a Pixies song inspired an image of an anthropomorphic cat sat atop a ponycorn (a unicorn/pony hybrid).
What is your favorite color?
Pink.
What’s the best compliment you’ve had to your art?
Gabrielle Pacheco, an artist I admire, wrote a small poem inspired by one of my pictures. Although I might have got this wrong, because it was in Spanish.
Could you share three things in your work space that inspire you?
My furry dressing gown, which I never take off despite the fact it gives me hideous static shocks, my owl collection and Dexter, our cat, because every five minutes I have to get up and stroke his fluff.
What art do you have on your walls?
I have lots! Sand paintings, embroideries, prints from artists such as Betsy Walton, Gabrielle Pacheco, Nicoletta Cecolli, Anne Julie Aubry, Yellena James, Hadley Hutton and Anna Wadham.
What websites do you check out regularly?
I have a lot in my Google Reader list. I like Hi-Fructose, Lost at E Minor, Juxtapoz, Illustration Mundo, Beautiful Decay and Cute Overload : )
If you had to customize anything in your life what would it be?
I have this huge cross trainer in my house that takes up a lot of space. It’s grey and heavy. I think if I could cover it sparkles and pretty things, I’d be more inclined to use it.
What are your most treasured possessions?
My boyfriend, though I don’t think he’d like to be considered as a possession! I’ve got lots of things I like, but the pieces of art I own are my favourites.
What are your vices/guilty pleasures?
ANTM, obsessive browsing of the internet, and I wear pyjamas all day.
Could you share something about yourself that makes you blush!:
When I was 15 me and my friends would wear business suits with shoulder pads, because we thought they made us look older in order to go clubbing,
Any advice to other artists thinking about submitting artwork out there?
Do it, people! You’ve nothing to lose.
Are there any upcoming shows or projects you’d like to share?
I’m working on some new prints/cards which feature a three legged cat named Ginger (I had a three legged cat when I was little) and a gingerbread man named Stealth.
Lisa Evans
