Hey Restless readers, check out the typographic, illustrative styling of Adelaide based illustrator, Chloe McGregor.
Greetings readers, I am Chloe McGregor and I am classed under the creative title as an ‘illustrator’! Residing in the eastern ‘burbs just a stone throw away from town, is where I sit slumped in strange and somewhat uncomfortable postures on the couch painting or drawing, without fail spilling and staining myself with said materials on a daily basis. My earliest memories from day dot include me wasting ridiculous wads of paper with my ‘portraits’, spending 50 times longer on titles of cover pages in school over the actual work, making cards for family and friends, sitting slumped in the position on the couch I still do to this very day; I was lucky enough to be born an illustrator. Not knowing exactly how to execute my love for drawing and painting into a legitimate job other than a graphic designer, I discovered the word ‘illustration’ in a different context other than the stigma of just ‘children’s book illustrations’ whilst searching for university courses.
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| Self Portrait |
Mediums
I’m what you would class as a ‘traditional’ illustrator; I use pencil (lead and coloured), paint (previously oils but have now moved to acrylic) felt tip pen and sometimes marker (particularly for my typography work). Portraits, people, objects, and of course typography are what my illustrations consist of.
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| Whatever Hippie Bitch |
Inspiration
As clichéd/lame it may be, music takes a huge chunk of my inspiration pie chart as such; if I didn’t have arty abilities I would be further pursuing myself into a music realm (particularly with my drumming). I find the music I adore really influences visuals and concepts for me. In an ideal world I would love to be always illustrating for bands, to submerge my two greatest assets/passions. I also heavily draw inspiration from all things nostalgic; having a longing for the past (whether it be memories, people, places, objects) deeply influences my concepts, colour palette etc. I am lucky enough to work in the Red Cross’ concept vintage/retro store on Rundle Street, Two 8 Four Rundle, which is riddled with beautiful patterns/styles/objects from the 50s to 80s, which make me melt with ideas every day. Sexy illustrated typography is a great deal of inspiration for me too. Forever have I been in utter love with type, whether it be from a psychedelic 60s poster, traced Helvetica or even a wall of beautiful street art makes me tick. Other inspirations include humour/irony, slickly designed street/arty magazines, current illustrators who display similar inspiration I have, pop culture, celebs; which all sort of intertwine into one big ball through my work. Even small fleeting things I draw inspiration from, just seeing a certain colour, or a blank page in my hip Moleskine can get my mind all mooshy and dreamy, wanting to start something new.
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| Here Kitschy Kitschy (for Tin Cat Cafe relaunch) |
Achievements
In 2009 I did the entire graphic design/illustrations for band Laura Hill and the Tuesday Bandits' debut album, which was such a learning experience for my first legit job; from working very closely with a client and their ideas, to working with a printer. I have also been a freelancer over the past 2 years every so often for Brisbane based clothing brand Klub Retro; these illustrations incorporate digital elements such as colouring which is’nt my usual style, but invaluable experience nonetheless in being given a brief, to making separations ready for print. Recently in the past 6 months I have also made a few contributions to Adelaide Uni’s student rag, On Dit, which has been exceedingly important experience as editorial illustration is just one of the areas I hope to one day break into.
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| The Sartorialist |
Influences
As most illustrators have already mentioned below and I am too getting on the Robin Eley bandwagon; being taught such simple yet key techniques through uni such as colour palette, ways to create concepts, even what surfaces to paint on, will undoubtedly forever have an effect on my craft. Also Geert van Keulen and David Blaiklock, my other two lecturers for giving me countless advice and guidance throughout uni, and not to mention (as already mentioned), the ‘illustration family’; our tight knit class who will forever be buddies, always providing each other with feedback, support and advice. Us illustrators have got to stick together, right?
From a more historic perspective, artists of the Art Nouveau/Art Deco movements intrigue me with their different and bold perceptions of line, which I portray particularly in my typography work.
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| Rage 3am (for upcoming exhibition Sweet Nostalgia) |
What the future holds
Hopefully lots of success in the long term. In the meantime, I’m currently saving for the Illustration Academy in the US for June 2012, until then I’m also having two exhibitions in the shop’s upstairs gallery; ‘Sweet Nostalgia’ for the month of June with fellow illustrator Lauren Graham and jewellery/photography aficionado Sarah Grove. The other being for SALA in August, ‘Sometimes in Technicolour’, with fellow illustrators Gemma Buratto, Daniella Caruso, Brooke Walker, Ned Rogers, photographer Claire Edwards and makeup artist Bec Buratto.
Exciting/stressful/uber busy times ahead!
Advice
Don’t be afraid to try new things; you wont find out what works and what does not. Use every website that showcases illustration; people actually look at them. Accept feedback; it helps you build. Talk to people; people know other people. Give yourself tasks to work towards; not having any can be very unmotivating and uninspiring. Seek the things that drive you; it will help your ideas immensely. Last but not least, don’t ever give up (lameo sounding but very wise).
Ph: 0401 444 772
Web: chloemcgregor.com
