Bio

I am an illustrator that specialises in creatures - extinct, extant or imaginary. I particularly enjoy creating natural history illustrations and spend a lot of time exploring nature and museums. I work with mainly traditional techniques to add nostalgic character and organic texture to my work, as I'm especially inspired by late 20th century wildlife illustration and textbooks. The natural sciences are also a great area of interest to me, learning and knowledge informs all stages of my work process. My two largest projects this year are The Fossils on Mars and Seabird. The former is a speculative biology sci-fi project exploring the possibility of extinct life on Mars, while the latter focuses on studying Scottish animals from life and my own photography.

A dark photograph of a sculpture depicting a giant fossilised skeleton of an alien.
The First Fossil - a sculpture of the fossilised Xenoparadoxa gigeri, the first fossil discovered on Mars spurring the narrative of the project. Air dry clay, milliput, plaster, rocks, pigment powder and acryllic paint.
The Fossils on Mars

In 2093, the first fossil was discovered on Mars. By 2324, we now have recovered enough remains to glimpse into the red planet's ancient ecosystems.

This project focuses on developing creature designs with a speculative biological philosophy - that is, creatures that are grounded in science but push the limitations of our own understanding of the universe's laws. Complex life is thought to have been near impossible on Mars due to a number of factors, which this project deliberately contradicts. Each creature is described and 'reconstructed' from a palaeontological point of view with a focus on anatomical function and skeletal design from which I could sculpt and depict the fossils in which they came from, with the possibility that the 'reconstructed' versions are not necessarily depicting what the animal would have truly looked like. The project encompasses much physical media with the intention of being exhibited, and additional illustrations which will  be compiled into one book which can go into more detail about the creatures, their presumed ecology and what techniques were used to reconstruct images of organisms from their fossils as well as the limitations of those techniques.

A green insect-like alien creature with long back legs and two others under its body.
Xenoparadoxa gigeri - a reconstruction of the fossil depicted in above sculpture. Watercolour and coloured pencil.
A skeletal diagram of an alien creature.
The skeletal diagram of Xenoparadoxa gigeri, showing its position in life. Fine liner pens.
A winged furry bird-like alien creature sitting on a tree, drinking sap. Another of the same creature flies in the background.
Picusscalprus barlowei - a small sap-sipping flying creature. Watercolour, paint marker and coloured pencil.
A sculpture of a relief fossil preserving a winged bird-like alien creature.
The fossil sculpture of Picusscalprus barlowei. Plaster mixed with sand, milliput, stone texture paste and acryllic paint.
Fish or whale-like alien creatures launching themselves into the air from the sea.
Breach - the Flight of "Qijing kun" - a painting depicting large, serpentine, whale-like creatures launching themselves from the sea to take flight. Airbrush, milliput, texture paste and acryllic paints.
Seabird

This research project involved many trips in search of Scottish seabirds and other wildlife found in areas near the coast. Over 100 pages of a sketchbook were filled with drawings of these animals from life and my own photographs, and later this research was used to create a mini-diorama.

A small diorama situated inside a portrait frame. It consists of many models of seabirds from the Isle of May.
Mini-diorama based on the Isle of May, featuring summer seabirds displaying natural behaviours in their enviornment. Made with many materials but notably air dry clay, card, floral foam and acryllic paint.
Awards
Glasgow Museums Annual Art Competition Gold Award (2013) Glasgow Museums Annual Art Competition Gold Award (2015) Glasgow Museums Annual Art Competition Natural History Award (2015)
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Nature
Ecology
Environment
Geology
Speculation
Time
Illustration - BA (Hons)
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