Interview with George Chislett

We also interviewed new member George Chislett to find out a little more about what inspires him and his proffessional practice:

● Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work?

I am a Bristol based illustrator who has recently joined Drawn In Bristol. I graduated from UWE Bristol in 2012 with First Class Honours in Illustration and since then I have been freelancing whilst also working on my own ongoing children’s book projects.

My work is very texture based with no outlines; I like to build up depth within my characters and their surroundings with many different layers, marks and opacities. All of my work is hand drawn and all the textures I use are hand made by myself, and I use Photoshop to merge the two together.

To see more of George's work see his Drawn in Bristol portfolio.

● Apart from creating illustrations what else do you do?

Apart from illustrating, I am also launching a clothing line, and I have a part time job to help support my work, but its easy going, pretty creative work with awesome people, so I don’t mind it at all. 

Around all this, I make sure I keep time for friends, drinks, music and exercise. I spend a lot of my time being very busy and quite tired!

● What do you love most about working in your chosen discipline?

The fact that it doesn’t feel like work. It’s just something that you want to do more than anything else. When you are working on a piece that you’re so involved in, you don’t even realise that hours have passed.

My favourite quote is from the late Maurice Sendak, when he says ‘You’re doing the one thing you want to do, and you do it well, and you know you do it well, and you’re happy’. I think it perfectly describes why anyone follows their passion.

● Where does your inspiration come from?

It nearly always comes from or involves animals, the sea, or machinery. They are three things that seem to fascinate me; I also get a lot from lyrics and inspirational quotes. Sometimes I don’t realise what inspired me to do some work until afterwards, for instance I didn’t clock how similar my mechanical giraffes were to the shipping cranes on the harbour side until my friends told me!

● If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or craftsman 

(dead or alive), who would it be?

It would have to be Alex Pardee. Although his work is much darker than my own, he is the reason I decided to become an artist, ever since I got the album artwork for ‘In Love and Death’ by The Used I was hooked. I would love to see his studio and his mind at work!

● What do you when you are stuck in a creative rut?

I get outside, exercise, look at books with nice pictures or get a change of scene. It sounds really cheesy, but going to new places, trying new things is the best way to keep inspired for me. 

● Which is your favourite local independent shop or eatery in Bristol & why?

At the moment, hands down, Grillstock Restaurant on the triangle. I was a big fan of their hatch in St. Nicks Market but their new restaurant is awesome, sociable, and full of music, incredible slow cooked meat and whiskey, and it’s dangerously close to my flat!

● Where would you like to be in ten years?

In ten years time I would like to be a well-travelled, well-known illustrator, with line of published books, a successful clothing label, and some great stories to tell. I had better get cracking!