Computer Arts Gallery: June 2007

CRAIG ATKINSON
LOCATION Southport, UK
JOB Freelance illustrator/artist
CONTACT www.craigatkinson.co.uk
SOFTWARE Photoshop, InDesign and Dreamweaver

Craig Atkinson, 29, graduated in 1999 with a degree in Fine Art, and will finish his MA in Fine Art this year. "I had an OK amount of success with 'fine art', but then I decided to 'give up' painting a couple of years ago to return to drawing," he says. "Since then I've been getting commissioned by various people. Before two years ago I had never even thought of illustration. It kind of happened by mistake."

Most of Atkinson's illustrations are figurative, but made using abstract processes with each form as a shape or each line as a texture. "I often use the idea of isolation or dislocation," he says. "Some of my work involves celebrities, desirable objects or places. They are all taken from their normal surroundings and drawn alone. They soon become lost on a blank piece of paper."

POETS OF OUR TIME "This image won the Dick Young prize for 'the best Merseyside Artist' and was shortlisted for the John Moores Painting Prize. It's now on show at The Mercury Music Prize competition in Covent Garden."

CRAIG ATKINSON
LOCATION Southport, UK
JOB Freelance illustrator/artist
CONTACT www.craigatkinson.co.uk
SOFTWARE Photoshop, InDesign and Dreamweaver

Craig Atkinson, 29, graduated in 1999 with a degree in Fine Art, and will finish his MA in Fine Art this year. "I had an OK amount of success with 'fine art', but then I decided to 'give up' painting a couple of years ago to return to drawing," he says. "Since then I've been getting commissioned by various people. Before two years ago I had never even thought of illustration. It kind of happened by mistake."

Most of Atkinson's illustrations are figurative, but made using abstract processes with each form as a shape or each line as a texture. "I often use the idea of isolation or dislocation," he says. "Some of my work involves celebrities, desirable objects or places. They are all taken from their normal surroundings and drawn alone. They soon become lost on a blank piece of paper."

THE KIDS CAN'T DANCE "This illustration was featured in The Times' Sunday magazine. It's a piece from the celebrity/isolation series I am making at the moment. A modified version will be used in German magazine Neon."

JOHN LATHAM
LOCATION Skelmersdale, UK
JOB Freelance graphic designer
CONTACT www.monkeyseemonkeydesign.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop

Using Photoshop and creating design has been the main interest for 21-yearold self-taught graphic designer John Latham during the past year. Building up a small online portfolio and contacting concert promoters all over the world has gained him good access to new clients. "A unique style and a creative mind go a long way when you're taking a new career step," he says. "I had very little knowledge of Photoshop when I started out, but I have spent hours reading through online tutorials in the last year to help me transfer my ideas to the screen."

JET POSTER "I love experimenting with just a few colours, finding out which ones work best together. This poster is more about the layout for me."

JOHN LATHAM
LOCATION Skelmersdale, UK
JOB Freelance graphic designer
CONTACT www.monkeyseemonkeydesign.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop

Using Photoshop and creating design has been the main interest for 21-yearold self-taught graphic designer John Latham during the past year. Building up a small online portfolio and contacting concert promoters all over the world has gained him good access to new clients. "A unique style and a creative mind go a long way when you're taking a new career step," he says. "I had very little knowledge of Photoshop when I started out, but I have spent hours reading through online tutorials in the last year to help me transfer my ideas to the screen."

HOT ROD CIRCUIT POSTER "This is for a promotion company in the US called noclubs. I love doing work for them as they always put on the top bands at the time and I can go wild on the design side."

GEMMA CORRELL
LOCATION Norwich, UK
JOB Freelance illustrator
CONTACT www.gemmacorrell.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop

Gemma Correll graduated from the Norwich School of Art and Design in 2006 with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design, specialising in illustration. Since then, she has worked as a freelance illustrator on a range of projects, including work for clients such as Orange and Plan B magazine.

"My influences range from Mexican folk art to 1930s Disney animations, from screenprints to religious iconography," she says. "My style is underpinned by the handmade, with drawing and collage providing the basis for most of my work. I use Photoshop to add textures and found images, changing colours and moving/ resizing hand-drawn elements. Photoshop allows a greater degree of freedom, while still enabling me to retain the spontaneity of the handmade elements."

LUNCH TIME "I have worked as a teaching assistant in a primary school and the children there were a constant source of inspiration for me. I look for humour in everyday situations and try to incorporate this into my work."

GEMMA CORRELL
LOCATION Norwich, UK
JOB Freelance illustrator
CONTACT www.gemmacorrell.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop

Gemma Correll graduated from the Norwich School of Art and Design in 2006 with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design, specialising in illustration. Since then, she has worked as a freelance illustrator on a range of projects, including work for clients such as Orange and Plan B magazine.

"My influences range from Mexican folk art to 1930s Disney animations, from screenprints to religious iconography," she says. "My style is underpinned by the handmade, with drawing and collage providing the basis for most of my work. I use Photoshop to add textures and found images, changing colours and moving/ resizing hand-drawn elements. Photoshop allows a greater degree of freedom, while still enabling me to retain the spontaneity of the handmade elements."

DRUGS "I produced this image for a small publication produced by students at the Norwich School of Art and Design. The theme for that issue was 'drugs', so I had a broad subject matter to work with."

MURILO MACIEL
LOCATION Porto Alegre, Brazil
JOB Illustrator/graphic designer
CONTACT www.grafikdust.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign

Murilo Maciel is a 26-year-old illustrator from Brazil who works as a freelancer under the creative identity GrafikDust.

"I studied advertising in Brazil but when I moved to London in 2002 I realised that what I really loved was illustration," he remembers. "As soon as I got back to Brazil in 2005 I started working on a magazine where I could do the thing I love most."

"My work now consists of a mix of different medias (photos, textures, handmade stuff, vectors, etc) and is heavily influenced by music, movies, psychedelia, nature, London, collages and all the other things that surround me."

INNER MEET ME "A promotional poster that I hoped would translate the mood of a track by the British group The Beta Band."

MURILO MACIEL
LOCATION Porto Alegre, Brazil
JOB Illustrator/graphic designer
CONTACT www.grafikdust.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign

Murilo Maciel is a 26-year-old illustrator from Brazil who works as a freelancer under the creative identity GrafikDust.

"I studied advertising in Brazil but when I moved to London in 2002 I realised that what I really loved was illustration," he remembers. "As soon as I got back to Brazil in 2005 I started working on a magazine where I could do the thing I love most."

"My work now consists of a mix of different medias (photos, textures, handmade stuff, vectors, etc) and is heavily influenced by music, movies, psychedelia, nature, London, collages and all the other things that surround me."

GD AD "This is a promotional advertising piece I created using Photoshop and Illustrator for a magazine in Brazil."

CHRISTOPHE REMY
LOCATION Brussels, Belgium
JOB Freelance designer/illustrator
CONTACT www.nevereffect.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop

At 18 years of age, Christophe Remy enrolled at a cinema school in Brussels because he hoped for a career in sound engineering, but he was quickly attracted by the images, cameras and direction of photography.

"Then I had my first Photoshop lesson, and it was there that I saw Computer Arts magazine and discovered the work of Dave McKean," he remembers. "From then I knew that's what I wanted to do, and I started to teach myself through tutorials and experimentation.

Remy works with traditional media, including drawing, painting and stencils. "I also like collages and things such as old papers and documents," he says. "I'm passionate about 18th and 19th-century history. I try not to use the same technique all the time and always find new ones, even if it means my work could look different tomorrow."

THE HUFFED HUE "This is a CD cover I made for a solo artist in Belgium. This is what I feel about the person and his music. I tried to create a narrow space, like something in time. It's actually the artist's hand."

CHRISTOPHE REMY
LOCATION Brussels, Belgium
JOB Freelance designer/illustrator
CONTACT www.nevereffect.com
SOFTWARE Photoshop

At 18 years of age, Christophe Remy enrolled at a cinema school in Brussels because he hoped for a career in sound engineering, but he was quickly attracted by the images, cameras and direction of photography.

"Then I had my first Photoshop lesson, and it was there that I saw Computer Arts magazine and discovered the work of Dave McKean," he remembers. "From then I knew that's what I wanted to do, and I started to teach myself through tutorials and experimentation.

Remy works with traditional media, including drawing, painting and stencils. "I also like collages and things such as old papers and documents," he says. "I'm passionate about 18th and 19th-century history. I try not to use the same technique all the time and always find new ones, even if it means my work could look different tomorrow."

FOREVER FAILURE "This image is simply a visual interpretation of Eve eating the fruit."