 |
| Ludo, Ollie, Digit and Nicholas on the lookout! (Image © Michelle Vinall) |
We're very fortunate to be able to take a look at Michelle Vinall's amazing work this week, and we managed to nab a smidgeon of her time for a quick interview too. We massaged our brains and came up with a crop of questions between us to put to Michelle. So take it away...!
Hi Michelle and
thanks for stopping by ReadItDaddy for an email chat.
ReadItDaddy: So tell us a
little bit about yourself!
Michelle: Hi Phil and Charlotte, thanks for
wanting to interview me! I’m a 24 year-old artist from London, England and I’ve
been working in the games industry since leaving art college three years ago.
I’ve worked both as an artist and quality assurance tester at various companies
and I’m loving every minute of it! In my spare time I make childrens’ picture
books and just generally draw other random little ideas.
ReadItDaddy: Your artwork is
amazing! Tell us a little bit about how your process, favourite tools, how you
go about creating such magical work?
Michelle: Aw thanks, you’re too kind. I’ll start
by setting myself a brief and a deadline, then work to that. I favour digital
art tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash, although I’ll occasionally
begin a sketch on paper and scan it in. Photoshop is my program of choice! The
rest is just imagination and hard work. For personal drawings – I mostly listen
to music, play videogames or watch a film/cartoon and get an idea that I want
to draw from those. With client work, they supply the idea and I and make it a
reality!
ReadItDaddy: "Hurricane
Lane" (which is your first children's book, and is soon to be available as
a story app) feels like a really nicely written slice of ordinary life - again
with gorgeous illustrations, what was the inspiration for the story?
Michelle: Hurricane Lane is very much based on my
hometown and memories of childhood. I thought up the story whilst visiting my
primary school and got an overwhelming sense of nostalgia that I wanted to
translate into art. I was also very interested in piano music at the time and
wanted to do a story based on a pianist whose daughter made up stories from his
music, so things just evolved from there!
ReadItDaddy: I see you're a
bit of a gamer - How do you feel that videogames influence your work? Are they
really as bad an influence as everyone makes out?
Michelle: I’m a huge gamer and I don’t think
they’re a bad influence at all! Games offer us the same sort of escapist
freedom that books and films do but to an even greater extent since you have
more influence on your experience with them. I love running/driving/flying
around the various worlds and experiencing things that could never happen in
real life. I think it widens people’s imaginations and games should be viewed
on the same level as other mainstream entertainment since they are living,
breathing portals into the creators’ minds. Can’t recommend them enough! (Hear hear - RID)
ReadItDaddy: Charlotte asks:
"What's the best way to get good at drawing and painting?"
Michelle: Just practice! Draw every day and as
often as you can. Find out what you like to and what you don’t and draw them
both anyway! But also, go outside - explore, experience. Your art will always
be very personal to you and you will create feelings and experiences you might
want to turn into something special later.
ReadItDaddy: Charlotte
really loves the characters in "256 Postcards Ago" (she keeps
switching between Ludo and Digit being her favourite) and the story is fab too. Are there any more
plans for the characters? They're so great, we'd love to see them in more
stories!
Michelle: Thank you so much! I don’t have any
current plans for further books but I did want to make a small game where you
walk around the 256 town, find your friends and play little mini-games with
them! My next book will have different characters but since the 256 cast have
been so popular I wouldn’t rule further adventures out.
ReadItDaddy: Describe an
average day when you're in your creative zone?
Michelle: I’ll normally start by doing various
sketches of the primary character until I’ve drawn one I’m happy with. I often
hit art blocks at this stage and so will simultaneously be browsing other
artists’ portfolios or google search poses when I’m stuck on them. The rest of
the process is just building everything up – neater lines, colour, shading and
then background. I draw what I like first and often jump around the piece
before it’s done but every picture varies! I also normally draw with films
(particularly animations) in the background and might pick up ideas or
inspiration from them as I work.
ReadItDaddy: Charlotte asks:
"Who's your favourite Ghibli character?" (She figures that you must
love Ghibli stuff because you're so cool!)
Michelle: Thank you Charlotte, I do love Ghibli! My favourite character
is probably Baron from The Cat Returns.
I always watch that film for his lines when I need some encouragement
art-related or otherwise, so he’s become quite an inspiration for me.
ReadItDaddy: Charlotte also
asks "Who's your favourite Disney Princess?" (ooh tough question!)
Michelle: That is tough! I think it’s Elsa and
Anna from Frozen because I love that the act of ‘true love’ at the end of their
film is sisterly affection and not a romantic kiss with the love interest. That
part really got to me :’)
ReadItDaddy: One more from Charlotte "What's the best way to start
writing and drawing stories when you're little?"
Start by
drawing the things you like! Since you are a Disney and Ghibli fan I would
recommend drawing those characters to get some good practice in! Then later you
can build up your own characters and stories, but for now just have fun and
don’t worry too much about what you’re drawing – you’ll naturally get better the
more you draw and experience. Good luck!
And a huge thank you to Michelle for stopping by for an email chat. Please take a look at "Hurricane Lane" (and watch out for our upcoming review) and "256 Postcards Ago" on Michelle's story website http://www.hurricane-lane.com