Image of the day: Stained Glass Animals by Barney Ibbotson

Computer Arts: Tell us about the project ...
Barney Ibbotson: The project was self-initiated, but it was in response to being asked to exhibit some work at an exhibition called Made in Mancunia at a venue called 2022NQ in Manchester. The only theme of the exhibition was that all four artists were local. I wanted some new work to display so I gave myself a project. I knew I wanted to try something a little different to the work I'd done in the preceding period, which had been in more of a hand-drawn, doodled style. So I decided, eventually, to create some stained glass-style vector illustrations. I'd originally wanted to do something involving animals in the style of totem poles, in a long vertical format, but it kind of transformed over the course of the project into what you see here. 

CA: How did you put the piece together?
BI: I work in a couple of different ways, really. I draw a lot with felt tip pen and fibre-tip pen, and then scan these drawings into the Mac, and then vectorise and colour them in. I also work directly in Illustrator, improvising around a rough or an initial framework.  For this particular  project I used photo references, then I drew up some roughs, stylising the animal shapes into a very linear, symmetrical composition. I then re-created this framework in Adobe Illustrator and filled in the main shapes with colour. I then improvised the 'stained-glass' linework within each main shape area, using the line and pen tools. I selected a few shades of each colour for each main area and applied these colours to the 'stained glass' shapes.  

The most time-consuming part of this project was the linework. I am essentially 'doodling', improvising the linework as I go along, and then mirroring it. The most challenging part of this project was maintaining a consistent style of linework throughout each piece, and getting the balance right in terms of the level of detail. 

CA: How did you get into design, and who or what inspires you?
BI: I've always been into drawing, from when I was a child, when I would create everything from imaginary worlds, football kits and logos, to grafitti lettering and comic strips. It was a natural progression to study art and design, which is what I did, at Liverpool John Moores University. I'd describe my style as decorative, detailed, fantastical and fun.

I think the imagery that I was exposed to in my childhood and my formative years as a student have had the most influence on me. I love the flat, decorative, linear nature of Art Nouveau, especially Alfons Mucha. I love the bright, vivid colours of Fauvism and Post-Impressionism. My imagination is fuelled by the fantastical ideas of Science Fiction illustration, especially Moebius, HR Giger and Syd Mead. I also like the simplicity of Basquiat, Keith Haring, Parra and Jon Burgerman.  I am also a lover of architecture, science, technology and nature and these can be a never-ending source of inspiration. 

Check out more from Barney at barneyibbotson.com and follow him on Twitter, @barneyibbotson.

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