SPOTLIGHT

Á: Tell us a little bit about your work. 

RD: I love documenting the things that I’m interested in through drawings. I currently work within the practice of illustration and through my practice I try to convey a sense of emotion, energy, and authenticity. 

Á: What are some of your earliest memories of illustration?

RD: I remember I used to draw a lot in this youth club that I went to after school. I would sit there for hours copying drawings from Disney books (101 Dalmatians in this memory) and be completely immersed. I loved the process more than what I ended up with. After I did the drawing, I would bin the work because I could just draw it again if I wanted to. In hindsight I wish I did keep my work.

Á: What inspires you to create art?

RD: The differences in the world. The difference in people. The unique things that exist. Ordinary things that happen in daily life. Regular places you would visit on your way to work or other local journeys. Ultimately, it’s storytelling. Storytelling is a beautiful thing to actively partake in through image making. 

Á: What does your creative process look like from ideation to execution?

RD: The process differs between a commissioned piece and personal piece. For my personal work, it begins with me seeing something in my mind. It doesn’t need to have lingered for a long time, it could be a memory from years ago or something from just a few minutes ago. I then figure out what I want to draw out of the memory and consider how I think the composition could work in my own way. I find that working in a knee-jerk quick-fire way helps my workflow, so I try to get started as soon as possible. Next, I draw separate components. Depending on the mood, I do a rough sketch but for the most part I just get into the details as soon as possible. I work on composing and re-composing, hoping the piece looks as good as I wanted it to.

Á: How does your creative process differ when working with clients?

RD: When I have a positive and collaborative relationship with the client, these are the best projects. The client and I work on what the end goal is. After that follows a brief. Then I work up options for what the final piece could be, with different choices of subject and compositions. Once the client makes their choice, I work it up according to the deadline. I love working in this way as it gives me rules and parameters which I think suit me quite well in a professional sense. 

Á: Who are some of your artistic influences?

RD: It ranges from music, film, art, and everyday things. Examples vary from Hype Williams, Romain Gavras, Pharrell Williams, Spike Lee, Safdie Brothers, Guy Ritchie, David Hockney, Bhupen Khakar, Robin F Williams, Nina Chanel Abney, The process behind animation, Early Disney films, NBA Jerseys, Football Culture, Indian truck art, Green spaces, People’s faces, Channel U and more. 

Á: How has technology and new media technology affected your relationship with art and design? 

RD: It has changed it in both a positive and negative way, and I’m not sure which side I’m leaning towards at the moment. In terms of creating work, it’s been incredible. It means I can immediately translate my thoughts into a space where I can apply colours and remove lines without the physical layering of components, not worrying about the workspace preparation. The negative has been the mindless addiction side. I found myself looking at so many images and videos from talented practitioners, overloading my brain with so much stimulus. It almost becomes ‘another artwork’ that I can’t fully grasp because of the pace of new information I’m seeing. 

Á: What software do you use to create your illustrations? 

RD: I use Photoshop, Procreate, and rely heavily on my physical sketchbooks for my drawings.

Á: How has the rise of social media influenced your creative career?

RD: It’s influenced my career massively. I graduated around the time that Instagram had started to gain a lot of traction, while Tumblr was very popular. Searching for art that was illustrative and did not follow the ‘leading commercial style’ trend, felt a bit like record shop crate digging or finding musical gems on Limewire or Napster. Having social media as a tool to explore other practitioners’ work for the first time was so eye opening, it allowed me to gauge the direction I wanted to follow. It affirmed what not to do and highlighted areas I want to explore in a creative sense. 

 Á: Have you noticed any differences in your work when looking at what you have created both pre and post pandemic?

RD: I think so, yeah. The Pandemic period vol.1, 2 & 3 (was there a three?) allowed me to look at my work as if I was not the one making it. It helped me dismantle parts of the work that I didn’t enjoy so much, areas that I loved doing and tie in a lot of the positive aspects from various pieces of my works into my individual compositions. 

Á: What do you enjoy most about digital illustration? 

RD: Layers. 100%. I can draw so many things on so many layers and then rearrange them to make a considered composition?! Yes to that. 

Á: What is the most challenging aspect of digital illustration?

RD: Keeping away from the ‘flavour of the week’ approach. It’s something I grappled with for years and then I stopped caring about what people thought about my work, or how many likes it received and then found freedom in finding my own tone of voice. 

Á: If you were to experiment with your artistic style, what style of art would you attempt and why? 

RD: I think a natural next step is to work in a physical way. Painting, sculpture or other ways of physically making work. 

Á: What advice would you give for digital creators and artists that want to get started with illustration and design?

RD: Have fun with it, make lots of stuff, try to become more comfortable with being out of your comfort zone and embrace the idea of ‘failing’, as the lessons for progressing forward are often in the ‘failings’.