How did you get involved in art and illustration?
I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember, inasmuch as I doodle all the time. But I started thinking of drawing as a thing that I did, like a hobby, in my teens. I was inspired and emulated Marvel and DC comics back in the early eighties as well as British strips like Warrior and 2000AD. By the time I left school my interests had broadened into “art” in a fuller sense.

What inspires and motivates you to create?
I think at root for me drawing is all about communication. I’ve been a professional communicator one way or another all my adult life and moving back into drawing has been a way of continuing that fascination for me. More specifically I chose to pursue a BA in Illustration rather than fine arts because I like the duality of being set a brief by a customer which one then negotiates out into a finished piece. I also like the idea of being paid to draw wink

Are you a full time working artist or do you have a day job, or neither?
I am a full time student studying a BA(Hons) in Illustration at the North Wales School of Art & Design in Wrexham. I am in my third year now and (hopefully!) graduate this summer. After that I hope to find a career in Illustration, possibly in the book illustration or greetings cards elements of the industry but I’m keeping all options open.

How did you develop your unique style?
I don’t know that I could identify what it is that makes my drawings unique, but I suppose that like everyone else they reflect a confluence of my experiences and influences.

I love pushing a pencil, or a biro or especially a dip pen and brush and I think that the process of drawing itself guides the development of ones style. Nothing beats the feel of pen on paper! I have a Wacom tablet and some of my most recent drawings have been done completely in Corel Painter, but it still feels a bit like cheating.

The pictures of you guys making and burning the wooden horse were awesome, do you do that every year?
We do ? The Welshampton Festival of Fire, to give it its full moniker, has been happening each October for six years now. Welshampton is a small village in North Shropshire which has only about 300 people living in it. We moved here in 2003 and I have been involved since then. The Festival is funded by donations made by the audience on the night and some support, both in cash and equipment, from local companies. This years was the most successful with about 2700 people attending and our raising £5000 in the buckets at the end of the night.

Volunteers come from all over the country to help us with specialist skills like costume making, bonfire construction and theatrical skills but there is a core group of people living in the village who have, or have learned, the skills needed to put on the show. For myself, I organise the candle lantern making workshops which are really popular with the local kids and families, make some of the more visual advertising materials (posters etc) and, my favourite bit, design and make giant puppets. It sounds a lot but its really only a small part of the madness that is the Festival.

Ref: http://www.welshampton.org.uk/

What is the greatest challenge you have faced to become an artist?
There were two really. One that held me back and one that, bizarrely, pushed me back again.

Firstly, when I was 16 I made the amazingly stupid mistake of allowing myself to be browbeaten by a careers advisor teacher. When I told him I wanted to be an illustrator or graphic designer he told me there was no call for it, and that only the best could get into the profession and that I should go be a nurse. So I did.

Secondly, after spending eighteen years in nursing (mostly in mental health) I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and the NHS retired me with almost indecent haste. Although sometimes I found drawing difficult I began to doodle again, decided to do a diploma in art (as much to stop me from becoming compost at home as anything else) and the rest is (ongoing) history.

What do you like best about Amateur Illustrator?
Its nice and clean, visually which makes appreciating the work easier than some other similar sites. Also, because the focus is on illustration there is a much more cohesive sense of being part of a community than I have found elsewhere.

In one word? Friendly.

What would you like to see on Amateur Illustrator that we don’t have at the moment?
Hmmmm… How about free candy and beer? wink

If money were no object what would your typical day look like?
I’m content with my life as it is these days and for me money IS no object (I don’t HAVE any) so I don’t worry about it. A good day for me is plenty of chill-out time, plenty of illustration work that needs doing so I can fret a little bit about it while I am avoiding it and enough time left at the end of the day to actually do it. Throw in a few friends and my wife and son and it becomes a perfect day.

To check out more of Phill’s work check out his galleries on ai.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 10:31 am and is filed under MemberZoom, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.