Earlier this month we caught up with 2019 Mollie Makes Associate Award Winner, Kezia Hulse. The team at Mollie Makes were wow’d by her unique and distinct style so we wanted to get the inside scoop and find out what her creative process is. Find out below how Kezia became an ND19 award winner and who her biggest inspiration is!
What is your creative process? Where do you start?
I always start in my sketchbooks, doing lots of rough thumbnails. This is part of a project that I really enjoy, coming up with various compositions and not worrying the drawings themselves but working out the content and how it all works together. While I create thumbnails I also think about the colour scheme, and think about what materials I’ll need to make the illustration. Then I’ll start arranging bits of card in the space I have, and then start to cut out more of the intricate details. Once I’ve arranged everything within the scene I’ll photograph it and then edit it on photoshop!
What or who is your biggest inspiration?
I think David Hockney is my biggest inspiration for my work. I especially love his landscape paintings and I find the way he uses colour really fascinating. I grew up in Yorkshire and I’ve always loved the landscapes – looking at all the shapes and layers of how the hills, trees and roads all interact with each other.
My parents both trained as Architects so I’ve been surrounded by drawing and design since I was small, and from a young age I always imagined myself doing something to do with art!
Where does the majority of your work take place?
I do everything in my current bedroom/studio set up! It can get quite messy – I end up getting tiny bits of paper everywhere whilst I’m working on a piece.
What have you been up to since New Designers?
I was commissioned by Visit Cambridge for four illustrations for their walking tour leaflets and some postcards. This was a really great project to get commissioned for straight after my degree show as it allowed me to continue to develop my 3D practice and get experience of working with a client. I was also able to make some good contacts whilst at New Designers last Summer and I won the associate prize from Mollie Makes, so I was invited to do an illustration for an issue of their magazine at the end of last year.
Since September I’ve been working as an intern for a Christian Charity based on the south coast, where I’ve been helping out with some art direction and set design.
What’s the next step? Can you share with us a snippet of any new work?
I’m going to be moving back to York in the Summer and I plan on continuing to freelance, and hope to build up my portfolio with some more personal projects. I’d love to get involved with stop motion animation, so I’m planning on contacting some animation studios to see if I can get some experience in that area!
I can share a snippet of a piece for Visit Cambridge which hasn’t come out yet! I had to create a scene with Cambridge’s mathematical bridge which was quite fiddly, but I’m quite pleased with how it worked out!
A world without illustration, where would you be? How would you cope?
Hmmm good question! I love being outdoors and I’m quite a people person, – so maybe something involving travel and research. I love watching the behind the scenes of documentaries like Planet Earth and Blue Planet, and seeing the team that are behind all the amazing shots. So I think that would be really cool to do. I would love to travel around and document the variety of amazing landscapes across the world!