Artist of the Month: Laura McKendry

It's our pleasure to focus on the work of illustrator Laura McKendry this month. There is an energy and personality to Laura's work which sets it apart. Her draughtsmanship and quality of line is exceptional and clients are drawn to the charm and wit of her work.

Laura is "fascinated by our relationship with the animal kingdom - how we are entertained, comforted, enchanted, amused by these critters, how they enrich our lives. My drawings, created in a combination of ink, charcoal, watercolour and pencil, pay tribute to the role of our furry, feathered, scaly friends".

We are also delighted to announce that we have invited Laura to be Yellow House's new guest blogger. We are looking forward to sharing her first blog post later this month. Having recently moved with her young family to Cadiz, in Spain, for six months of inspiration and adventure (and her work with Yellow House keeping her very busy!), it's an exciting time in Laura's career.

Laura's distinctive, playful style captures the individual mannerisms and quirks of animals in bespoke commissions. Her designs are currently licensed onto greeting cards (to leading publishers including Card Mix & Museums & Galleries) and her expressive 'Dalmation' series as open edition prints (to Whistlefish Galleries). Also available for editorial work, she is currently working on a book jacket for Profile Books featuring fifteen different breeds of dogs - the perfect job for Laura!

We talked to Laura to gain more insight into her artwork. Successfully and happily working in the charity sector, Laura realised that drawing motivates her the most. She has worked as an out-reach co-ordinator for The Samaritans, at the central London branch, and managed a network of 600 volunteers during her time working for The Art Fund, including co-ordinating a conference for 150 delagates at the British Museum.

Now a full-time professional artist, Laura sells her sought-after animal portraits under the name of 'Bird and Beast'. Read on to find out more...

What's your favourite design/piece of work and why? A picture of a King Charles Spaniel called Kuba. After sketching and experimenting all day, I put my son to bed and came back to stand at my desk. This image seemed to emerge on the paper very easily after a frustrating day. It took me by surprise and I really enjoyed the accidental nature of the final drawing.

What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date? A Christmas card series which is due to hit the shops and trade fairs this year (so sales as yet unknown) but it’s prompted the client to commission a follow-up range of Everyday designs based on the same theme. The Christmas designs are playful pen and ink drawings of animals wearing woolly bobble hats and scarves on knitwear patterned backgrounds.

What part of the process do you like most? When I’m fully immersed in drawing, when playing around turns to something unexpected. Never knowing exactly what’s going to come out.

Which part do you like the least?! Getting started. Knowing I’ll probably discard the first few things I produce until I warm up and ideas start to flow.

What would your dream project be? I’m happy in my own company but I can find illustration quite an isolating occupation. I’d love to collaborate with another artist who inspires me. I haven’t done that since college and I miss the energy of working with someone else.

Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration? Living in London, finding nature amongst the cityscape - green spaces, dog walkers in parks, city farms. The human-animal interaction in a bustling city like London amuses and inspires me.

Which is your favourite fellow Yellow House artist and why? The playfulness and line in Alex T Smith’s designs makes his images some of my favourite. He creates very simple, but expressive, characters.

Do you have your own work at home? Only in my studio.

When designing your studio, what was the most important factor? Light. Space to move around a drawing. Being able to shut myself away from my (noisy) family – but also be accessible when needed.

What's been your biggest mistake? When we moved house I accidentally threw away a pile of sketches that were bundled in with some old papers. I only realised they were gone when we unpacked.

What's on your drawing board right now? Currently I have an ink and charcoal drawing of a Staffy called Molly on my board, a series of watercolour pattern designs spread out across the floor, and pen and ink drawings of animals for a series of birthday cards on my desk. I’m juggling a few (very) different projects, which is really exciting.

What is the last book you read and how would you rate it out of 10? I’m currently nearing the end of The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, but also piled by the bed is Toddler Taming, Being Mortal, a free Stylist magazine I picked up on the tube and Oliver Jeffers’ beautifully illustrated and hilarious, Stuck. Ironically the last book I started was Mindfulness but I didn’t have the attention-span to finish it. I’ve really enjoyed The Spirit Level. Despite being quite graph- and stat-heavy for bedtime reading, it’s been eye-opening. 7/10

What is the last exhibiton you went to? The BP Portrait Award at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. I find depictions of other humans absolutely fascinating. They say so much about both the artist and subject. I was also very taken with Jenni Desmond’s illustrations in their Family Trail leaflet, playful and hugely characterful. 9/10 for both exhibition and leaflet.

If you could own a masterpiece, what would it be?A Jenny Saville sketch – one of her mother and child drawings, like Study for Pentimenti I

What's your proudest achievement? Having my first set of images licensed. And my children (not necessarily in that order)

What's been your biggest challenge? Making the leap to pursue my career as a freelance illustrator and leaving behind the certainty of paid employment in a totally different sector.

What attracted you to/attracts you about working with Yellow House? So many things have been fantastic at Yellow House in the short time I’ve been working with Sue and Jehane: Their knowledge of the industry, insightful feedback, respect, friendly support, encouragement of new directions, patience and understanding of my erratic work schedule – to name a few!

Thank you Laura, it's fascinating to find out more about your work and we were interested to read that you also play the harp!

Image credit for all photographs of Laura McKendry & her London studio - Adrienne Pitts

Artist of the Month: Liane Payne

It's our pleasure to introduce our Artist of the Month for March 2015 - the talented illustrator Liane Payne whose work consistently attracts attention for a wide range of product areas. Liane's best-selling images include her range of naughty dogs, read on to find out more!

Have you always wanted to be an Artist/Illustrator or did the vocation find you? It was inevitable I think, rather than a conscious career choice. My Dad was a commercial artist (as they used to be called) so I was introduced to the dark arts of graphic design and illustration from a very young age. The intoxicating smell of Magic Markers, inviting blank layout pads, ranks of Rotring pens…there was no escape!

How did your style evolve? Having a fine art training meant I experienced all sorts of mediums and disciplines so after art school, when I realised that being an illustrator seemed more fun than starving in a garret, I had lots of creative strings to my bow – particularly printmaking techniques. For many years my commissions were for my linoprint style but things really expanded when I started using a Mac at the end of the 1990s.

Where were you born? Croydon.

Where were you brought up? From the age of three I grew up on Mersea Island on the northeast Essex Coast. Lots of sun, sand, sea – and mud!

What was your favourite subject at school? I only did it for a year, but I absolutely loved metalwork. I came top of the class with my trowel! Maybe that’s why I later loved the steel plate preparation in etching and also became a keen gardener…Strangely enough, I didn’t really enjoy art at school. It was a very unimaginative curriculum; as I recall, it chiefly focussed on drawing bowls of fruit from life and making dodgy coil pots.

What piece of your work are you most proud of and why? Some years back I wrote and illustrated a series of picture books all about a busy little Rabbit called Warren. I really enjoyed creating a little world of adventures and friends for him. It’s a corny confession, but it’s feels nice to know that children enjoyed the stories at bedtime.

What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date? Anything with dogs in seems to be striking a chord at the moment.

Which part of the process do you like most? If it’s a fairly open brief, I love the early stages of brainstorming; gathering reference, working out concepts with thumbnails, etc. Then seeing things come to life as the layout and composition is worked out, adding colour perhaps, and then the final tweaks to get things perfect and ultimately having a happy client…hang on, that’s the whole process, isn’t it?!

Which part do you like the least?! Micro-managed, unnecessary changes.

Do you carry around a sketch-book at all times?! Ideas and thoughts always seem to occur to me when I’m either on the bus or out walking along the street, so a sketchbook is essential – not just for drawing though: lists, notes, books to read, errands to run etc. all get jotted down too. It’s a much better system than backs of envelopes and knots in hankies.

What’s your favourite thing to illustrate? The natural world and decorative subjects are my natural leaning, but it’s good to be dragged out of one’s comfort zone now and then. For instance, facing up to using accurate perspective!

What would your dream project be? I’ve created a little gang of animal characters who are all waiting in the wings. It would be great to get them out in the world into books or onto products of some sort.

Who would be your dream client? I’d love to be commissioned by someone from the past; say an art director from about 50 years ago. I’m curious to see how the briefing process has changed over the years.

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art Licensing artist & why? Jane Human. For many years I’ve admired her accomplished paintings, but it’s her more recent printmaking that really makes my mouth water. Her compositions, use of colour and sense of place are simply masterful.

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art artist & why? www.yellowhouseart.com is our closely-associated site selling original artwork. I think that Melanie Porter’s knitted upholstery is sensational! So witty, smart and original. I love it when knitting moves away from the world of pastel bunting and cute bootees.

Do you have your own work at home? There’s stuff all over the place – piles of paper, disks, hard drives, old portfolios, a loft full of lino blocks I can’t bear to throw away…nothing actually framed and on the walls though. That would be weird.

When designing your studio, what was the most important factor? I don’t have a studio as such but depending on the task in hand, work in the most appropriate spot. For instance, I usually draw in one of the upstairs rooms where my lightbox is, roll up ink in the kitchen area, scan drawings in the computer room, and then there’s a separate room full of my wool and fabrics if I’m doing something crafty. I work at home with my partner who is a product designer/modelmaker, so our entire house is a workshop/studio really!

What's been your biggest mistake/cock-up?! Accepting a job as an art director and getting sucked into corporate office life for five years.

What's on your drawing-board/ in your kiln / on your easel / etc. right now? More drawings of naughty dogs, ideas for an allotment-themed book, and I’m just about to start some decorations and maps for an historical novel. And a lovely cup of coffee.

 

What is the last exhibition you went to? Marks out of 10? I tend to veer towards permanent collections rather than exhibitions. The V&A, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford and the Grant Museum of Zoology in Bloomsbury are all places I’ve wandered around in awe over the last year. Sometimes the best shows are in the least expected places. There was a fantastic collection of children’s drawings in my local library recently – jaw-droppingly fresh and inspiring. I gave that 11 out of. There’s a street artist in north London famous for painting pictures on tiny spots of chewing gum. He’s often working in my local area so there’s a perpetual pavement exhibition whenever I go up the road!

What’s been your biggest challenge? To try and specialise in one style.

As well as being an amazing artist, do you have any other hidden talents? I can do some astonishingly bendy things in my yoga practice (although bendiness isn’t what yoga is all about per se), plus bake perfect scones. I’m also a bit of a whizz with knitting needles and the crochet hook. You can say that again! We've seen your amazing knitted cacti and wedding couple (for The Accidental Proposal book cover).

Do you have any top tips for being an artist that you can give us? When you’re not working, get outside and do something physical – sitting down indoors all day is so bad for you!

Do you have a favourite paintbrush or tool? An old-fashioned ruling pen. In the old days they were used for drawing clean straight lines, but held the wrong way and overloaded with ink, I can give my drawings just the right grungy feel I’m after – perfect for earthy subjects like gardening and grumpy dogs! Am I allowed to have two favourites? I’d obviously grind to a halt without my Mac.

What attracted you to/attracts you about working with Yellow House? It’s great to be represented by an agency whose client base is such a good fit for my work. And I really value their personal touch; e.g. you get lots of feedback and suggestions on how to develop your work, so it’s a much more collaborative relationship than I’ve had with previous agents.

Is there anything you would like to ask us? Your website always looks so fresh, you’re always out meeting clients and keeping connected, coming up with ideas and keeping on top of admin – how do you find the time to sleep?! Good question!

What’s your favourite joke? Trying on wigs with a group of friends. Anything that Harry Hills says.

See more of Liane Payne's portfolio here, Liane is available to commision - contact us for details.