Vaughan Flanagan
Illustrator
Biography
I had never seriously considered drawing and painting as a career because I had been told that illustration was a tough way to make a decent living. I was 25 and two years into a degree in Industrial Design, when I decided to switch to a Bachelor of Illustration.
As much as I enjoyed designing products, my real passion was in drawing of the objects themselves. Although it took a while for me to realise it, now I can see that, even from a young age, illustration has always been a passion of mine.
Growing up as an only child to a single parent, I often had to entertain myself. Perhaps for this reason, imagination has always been an important factor in my life. I was a very visual and tactile learner, so drawing was a natural inclination for me. However, drawing itself wasn’t my first medium for expression. Like many other kids in the 1980s, I had a serious Lego addiction. Lego wasn’t only a building material but a medium through which I could tell the stories in my head. In many ways, I miss the immediacy of Lego when compared with the more complicated tools I use today.
I was introduced to Learning Media through an illustration competition run by Massey University, which I was lucky enough to win. Since then, I have had the privilege of working on several other exciting projects. Most of the stories I’ve illustrated for Learning Media have involved realism or figurative work. However, I also enjoy the challenge of designing my own stylised characters and worlds.
I am a huge fan of the cinema. I often draw inspiration from films for my compositions. Filmmakers are really amazing at finding the most dramatic way of telling stories visually, and that is a quality I always look to have in my work. I am also inspired by many talented contemporary illustrators such as James Jean, Tomer Hanuka, Wesley Burt, and Enrique Fernandez. I find that these artist’s styles can be very seductive, and I have to constantly pull back from their influence to insure that they serve as only a springboard for my own style. It is important to me that I continue to develop my own voice as an artist – rather then becoming a carbon copy of someone else.
For most of my finished colouring work, I use Adobe Photoshop CS4 because it is the fastest way for me to produce work of a publishable quality. Digital media, in that sense, can be very liberating. It offers you an entire arsenal of painting tools, as well as the opportunity to edit your work to your heart’s content.
With regards to advice for young illustrators, I have to admit I feel fairly unqualified to give such advice – being so new to the industry myself. However, I can speak from my own experience when I say that professionalism and good communication skills are paramount when it comes to working as an illustrator. All the talent and skill in the world doesn’t exempt anyone from the need to be a professional. Taking the time to visit a client in person, or to send them a courteous email, can make the difference between their choosing you for the job over the many other talented people out there.