Louise Lockhart
I met Louise at Pick me Up arts festival in May 2015, we did an art swap not soon after. At the time i met her, i was inspired by her use of bright colours; blue, orange and pinks. I was illustrating a barber shop zine and screen printed all of my illustrations. I showed her pictures of these illustrations and she was really interested in doing an art swap with me!
Here are some pictures of my zine i designed back in May!
What i like about her work...
I like the colours she uses and the paper cut out medium of working. She also uses the riso printer in a lot of her work. She takes inspiration from the every day things around her, such as hand painted signs, food packaging and old toys. Her work is colourful, jolly and playful as well as being unusual. She creates her designs by drawing, printing, cutting and finding collage material and textures, then compiles them using a computer.
She has just published her own book called ‘Up my Street’ and its full of independent shop fronts. Its really one of my favourites and i think its hers too.
I asked her a few questions about her practice and how she got started after graduating from university.
Has your work developed over the years and how so?
I’ve spent more time than ever before working on my own illustrations this year, completing my first book Up My Street which was a lot of work and it disciplined me well. I think my work develops every time I do a design. That’s why I didn’t begrudge (too much) having unpaid work at the beginning because it was great practice. I’ve also taken on a lot more business side of things this year which is totally different from drawing, but I like the mixture of work. Illustrating can be a very solitary affair!
When did you start getting noticed?
I only started doing illustration as a way of making products to sell as I couldn’t get any work as an illustrator anywhere. I hadn’t quite found my style when I first graduated and found it frustrating. I worked at it every day feeling like I was getting nowhere, but bit by bit I’d get the odd interesting email here and there asking me to design a wedding invite or a beer label, and slowly I built up a website of work with a strong identity. I want people to see a piece of my work and know it’s by me. Instagram has helped a lot. I love it.
What work do you like to produce?
I love designing for products for my company The Printed Peanut as you have a restricted brief and purpose, which I find more liberating than being told I can do anything I want (which is scary). I like being able to do different things every day. I have a very short attention span so I move onto new things all the time.
What would you do on an average day of work?
It’s different every day depending what I’m working on. I like to juggle lots of things at once but sometimes it’s hard to get your brain to flit between projects. Usually I start working at about 9 or 10am, answering emails and drinking coffee. I’ll then work solidly till about 1 or 2pm where I’ll eat and go to the post office in town to post orders. Then I’ll carry on working till 8 or 9pm depending in how it I’m feeling. The summer is different to the winter!
What is your favourite medium to use?
I love starting with paper cut outs. I find blank pieces of paper a bit intimidating to fill in with drawings, so by restricting myself to drawing on weird paper shapes it becomes more freeing and you can’t ever know what the result will be before you start.
Who is your favourite artist?
I love so many and you need different artists for different inspirations. Are illustrators different from artists? I love Hockney and Matisse because there work is very illustrative. I am always influenced by 1930 children’s books. Those artists seem to get forgotten about, as if illustration isn’t as important as fine art. I don’t like that pomposity.
What has been your favourite project so far and why?
I have made two books now and I loved doing them. They were the perfect thing to do alongside running and making products for The Printed Peanut. I did get very excited when I got my new cups from the factory in Stoke-on-Trent. It feels great to see your artwork on a functional product made in Britain by lots of different skills craftsmen.
How did the printed peanut come to light?
I was working in a great shop in Vancouver in Canada where I lived for a year. I began to see all of these illustrated products in a new light and thought ‘I’d like to do that’! So I’d make little photocopied cards to sell in the shop, and then I made a little screen printing workshop in my bathroom where I could print paper to make my version of Pass the Parcel. When I moved back to Britain I really began to try and work full time selling my own things for a living. It’s a lot of hard work but I really enjoy it. That got me out there and since then I’ve had commissions for illustrations. I think I’ve done it the opposite way round to most people, but there are no rules.
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