Graham Corocran
Graham Corcoran is one of many exciting new(ish) illustrators to emerge on the Irish scene. We are delighted he could stop by and have a chat…
BB: Do you have a process you follow when you are making your pictures? Research, trawling the internet, books, sketching, materials?
GC: I usually get inspired by looking through fashion and lifestyle magazines, art and photography books. Other artists always inspire me, especially illustrators of the 1950′s and 60′s , so I often look at illustration websites and blogs too. I then take out my sketchbook and scribble down ideas I have floating around my head. I rarely scan my sketches these days however, I draw straight into photoshop using my wacom. I mostly use the pen tool, and a ‘fuzzy’ brush. I like the jagged edges the pen tool gives me. The illustration is created on many different layers, and when I feel the piece is finished I add a scanned texture to give it a hand-painted watercolour effect.
BB: Can you describe your workspace and how important it is to your working process?
GC: My workspace is quite compact, I need to have everything within easy reach. I usually keep some art books or magazines on my desk as sources of inspiration when I get artists block. It’s a very comfortable, bright space to work in, and that’s important when you are working on a tough job.
BB: Describe your timeline of artistic influences and has there been anyone consistently?
GC: I think Mike Mignola was my first big influence, his use of simple shapes pushed me into the direction I am in now. Over the years I have become really influenced by the work of childrens illustrators from the 1950′s and 60′s like Mary Blair, Abner Graboff, Aliki, the Provensens and particularly Miroslav Sasek. The Japanese illustrator Tadahiro Uesugi has consistently been a big influence on me, especially in his use of light and negative space.
BB: What would be a dream project to work on, a fantasy commission, a ‘pinch yourself’, ‘slap me in the mouth and tell me it’s Christmas’ job?
GC: I would love to be commissioned to draw a graphic novel. And seeing my artwork on the cover of a magazine like The New Yorker would be awesome…
BB: If you weren’t illustrating, what else would you be doing?
GC: I would probably just have a random, boring, unfulfilling job.
Visit Graham’s website here. Thanks Graham!
