rubyetc

I am a 20 year old artist(ish) from London. I draw cartoons, illustrations, visual diaries and general head burps. I love exploring my identity and turbulent states through art and I work with immediacy, so mistakes become assimilated rather than removed.

Have you always been creative and artistic?

I was always encouraged to draw and paint as a kid and drew a lot of sheep on skateboards. All my Beano comics and art by Herge inspired me to draw my own cartoons and I always made silly birthday cards for my family and friends. I hated art at school and after leaving at 17 I really found my own style and a way of working that brought me happiness, not frustration and boredom.

How would you describe the style of your work?

I'd say it's funny, honest (this sounds like I'm bigging myself up now) and simplistic. I believe that simplicity does not limit expression, and in fact often enhances it. So I love seeing how much feeling I can get out of a single line or brush stroke.

What’s in your pencil case and what’s your favorite tool?

I recently bought a cool muji pen box whilst I was staying in Berlin. It has a muji fineliner, a faber castell waterproof liner, a muji brush pen, a unipin white gel liner. And also a posca porcelain pen which I am experimenting on some ceramics! My favourite pen is definitely the muji liner, I buy them 5 at a time and go through them like nobody's business!

Who is your favorite superhero?

Bartman! I'm a huge Simpsons fan

If you could have one super power what would it be?

spontaneous sandwich actualisation

Where do you look for inspiration?

This is a really tricky question! I regularly peruse through the blogs of lots of online artists, there are so many brilliant and creative people it can be overwhelming. I also spend a lot of time just focusing on what's going on for me in my head and how I can extract that honestly onto paper. I have a very funny family and dog, so I am often picking ideas up from their antics and I've also found buses to be a great source of inspiration. Between the conversations you overhear and the long journeys spent musing it's a goldmine!

Who are your favorite artists or comic book authors?

I don't think I could begin to list them all! So I'll just mention Quentin Blake - I read a lot of Roald Dahl growing up whose books were full of his fantastic. I strive to emulate his amazing vitality and expression he conjurs up again and again. His work is so easy on the eye and really accessible, he was one of the artists that made me realise I could just pick up a pen and start creating.