Claire is the talented artist behind Claire Heffer Design. I came across Claire's work through blogging and i'm so glad I did! I'm not usually attracted to artworks which are reworkings of existing pop cultural marketing such as magazines and album covers. However, Claire has some work like this in her shop and for me it works really well because she has stripped back the original work to a basic outline along with the occasional pop of colour which gives it a completely different feel from the original. If you check out her website you can view her diverse body of work and also link to her shop and blog.
Claire was kind enough to answer some questions for us...
1. Why did you choose drawing over other mediums?
I chose drawing as my favourite medium as an accident really. I was spending a lot of time writing and every now and then I would get stuck and to release the creative juices I would doodle. The doodles became more and more intricate and I loved that the result was instant (opposed to writing which was a longer and arduous process). I enjoyed the way that you could create things that would appear from nothing and just be interesting to look at without a backstory or too much to think about.
2. What inspires you in your work?
The subjects I enjoy the most fall into two categories. I love nature, natural shapes and the beauty of something, which at first seems simple and can be so intricate at the same time. I also love faces. I enjoy simplifying them to their basic shapes and looking at the beauty of a line of a cheek or the fascinating nature of the human eye. My favourite artist happens to be Francis Bacon which is unusual because he has nothing in common with my work (except that he also likes faces). I get so much creativity from seeing how much emotion he can portray in a brush stroke. I'd love to paint more, that's something for the future.
3. Can you give us an insight into your creation of a product from start to finish?
In terms of process my line drawings are so much fun to produce because the outcome is always unplanned. I pick the picture I want to make, say a crow or an owl and I look at pictures to find the best kind of pose or the best type of owl for example. Then I decide where in the picture I want to start. I usually start from the top left, like one does when we write, but I can start from anywhere and that will create a change in the finished piece.
4. How do you keep yourself organised?
Keeping organised is particularly hard because I am not a full time artist. The breaks in between creative work are hard but sometimes useful because the less time you have sometimes the harder you work. I usually get the 'boring' things out of the way in the morning. Things like accounts, emails, bills and such because they are the sort of things that when you put off they are so easy to dismiss. Then I do the work I've been paid to do and then its time to have fun and be creative anything from doodling to playing about on Photoshop and seeing what you can make with things you've already created.
5. Do you ever get creative blocks? How do you get through them?
Creative blocks should never be something to be afraid of. They are signs that you're ready to move onto something new. These are the times I get to research things and read, Sometimes reading a totally unrelated book on something will give you an idea for a new project. It doesn't take much to give you a new creative spark if you are open to learning new things.
No comments:
Post a Comment