We have a chat with awe inspiring young illustrator & animator, Holly Warburton; based in Bath (UK), for our series interviewing incredibly talented emerging contemporary artists, exploring deeper themes within.
We first met Holly Warburton whilst she was studying Illustration and Animation at Kingston School Of Art, and since then she has gone on to collaborate with the TATE Gallery and many incredible projects brought to life in her magical unique style of animation. Her work captures the poetry of every day movements in a beautiful impressionistic colour pallet.
We're completely in love with the animated music video she made for Libellule - a contemporary UK-Italian fusion contemporary folk band.
We were excited to speak with the insanely talented young artist Holly Warburton to find out about how her artistic process is unfolding this year...
What made you want to start illustrating? Who has inspired you?
I realized I wanted to illustrate when I was on my art foundation course. Until then I knew I wanted to draw and paint, but I'd say that year gave me a focus on the illustration angle. I made a project that was all to do with drawings of the city, and I had been going out and sketching all the people and places in my hometown. I can pinpoint that as a time that I felt inspired to use drawing as a tool to record and communicate ideas.
I still make drawings like this today, and it helps me in many aspects of my work. Around that same time I also was exploring the use of colour in my work - I was interested in artists who applied paint with textured and lively brush strokes, such as Cy Twombly and Odilon Redon.
What is your creative process like? Do you have any advice ?
For a lot of my work today, my process relies on observational drawing and recording the world around me. When starting a new piece, I often look at my sketchbooks for ideas and starting points. I'd say that observational sketching is something I'd recommend as a way of finding inspiration and improving drawing skills. It is also a way of letting go of perfection and embracing the sketchy, imperfect qualities of drawing.
Would you agree that animation is magic? Your work puts us under a spell !
I agree that animation is magical, it can allow you to create all sorts of fantastical imagery, build worlds and bend the laws of physics if you want to! I would say that the animating process itself is very grounding, not so magical at times.
That's not to say it's a bad thing - there just aren't many shortcuts with animating, you have to go through the long technical process to reach the outcome. The result is rewarding, once you see things coming together and in motion. The magic is there for the viewers to experience, once the animation is made!
How do you view the role of art in 2020 ?
That's a good question. Of course art has a different purpose for everyone, so it's hard to pinpoint. Saying that, this year I've been able to see clearly that art can be both a powerful medium for addressing important issues as well as a means of escapism. With all this time spent in lockdown, art has been an outlet for many people.
I've seen so much great work emerging online these past few months. Also, animation has had some time to shine too. While filmmaking hasn't been possible, I've noticed a boom in animated music videos and adverts. So creativity definitely has a role to play in these times!
Check out this collection of more incredible illustrations below ~
You can discover more of her amazing work at ~
https://www.instagram.com/hollywarbs
- PSYCHIC GARDEN