Every so often I get the pleasant surprise of email asking me to take part in an interview, my most recent was for
James Bent of
La Mode Outre. It's always nice to discover when someone is interested in your opinions, especially from the other side of the world! You can read the original interview on James' Asian Street Style Fashion blog
HERE.
Vic, please introduce yourself - who you are, where you're from, what you're currently doing.
I'm a Freelance Illustrator based in London, and in my final year studying Fashion Design at Kingston University. For the past year I've been doing commissions alongside my degree, which is a constant balancing act, but definitely been worth-while!
How have you come to be working with illustrations?
Some of my illustrations were featured on a few fashion blogs in Summer 2010,
Style Bubble was great for exposure! I never intended on it becoming a 'job' to an extent... but praise can be very motivational, so I started taking illustration more seriously the more people said they liked my work. In early 2011 I illustrated my first book, 'Fashion Bites' which has now been published, this was a pivotal point to it becaming professional.
Would you say you have a definitive style and has that been hard to develop?
I don't think you can push yourself into a style that doesn't feel natural... finding your own way of drawing is an organic process, and happens gradually so I would never describe it as 'hard'. It should almost be unconscious. However, it's a challenge to constantly improve, while maintaining a recognizable 'signature' style. Commissions also require you to tailor your skills for the client, which can also be challenging!
Do you get the feel that illustration is becoming more popular these days?
Technology allows us to do so many things digitally, I am a big admirer of photography but it would be a shame if it completely replaced illustration, I don't think it ever will. I think illustration has been celebrated more in recent years, maybe it's a slight backlash against technology... it's hard to tell what the future will have in store for illustration and photography, but I think there's room for both of them.
Any pieces of work that you've completed that you're quite proud of?
It's funny because as soon as I've finished a project I can see all the ways I could have improved it, always too late of course! So I try not to dwell on the work I've completed. Saying this, I'm proud I illustrated a published book in the first year of being an illustrator, and all the travel opportunities my work has given me... I was commissioned to illustrate a wedding in Florence last summer for a magazine editor, and also did a lot of freelance work in San Francisco when I lived out there earlier this year too.
If you had to condense all the things you've learned into a single sentence, what would that be?
Always follow advice, and believe in yourself!
