Computer Arts Gallery: May 2011

Natalie Wood
Location Manchester, UK
Job Freelance illustrator
Contact www.nataliemwood.co.uk

Natalie Wood is a 24-year-old freelance illustrator. After graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2008 with a degree in Design and Art Direction, she went on to attain a first in Illustration at Stockport College last year.

Wood has a particular passion for working with symmetry, pattern and texture, and uses her skills to create designs for posters and greetings cards. She also regularly produces surface print designs for T-shirts, and in 2005 set up her own T-shirt printing company, Livid Thorn.

Heart Based on an article in a 2010 issue of New Scientist, 'Heart' features highways, chimneys, cars and pollution, and asks the question: are cities breaking our hearts?

Natalie Wood
Location Manchester, UK
Job Freelance illustrator
Contact www.nataliemwood.co.uk

Natalie Wood is a 24-year-old freelance illustrator. After graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2008 with a degree in Design and Art Direction, she went on to attain a first in Illustration at Stockport College last year.

Wood has a particular passion for working with symmetry, pattern and texture, and uses her skills to create designs for posters and greetings cards. She also regularly produces surface print designs for T-shirts, and in 2005 set up her own T-shirt printing company, Livid Thorn.

Frog Wood's 'Frog' poster formed part of a self-initiated project to promote New Scientist magazine. "It was a very personal project," she reflects. "It's a bold and intriguing image relating to an article in the magazine, intended to draw people's attention."

Pip Johnston
Location London, UK
Job Freelance illustrator
Contact www.pipjohnston.co.uk

"Drawing is fundamental to everything I do," says Pip Johnson. "Straight from school I enrolled at Central Saint Martins, and after my foundation course I studied for a degree in Fashion Design and Marketing." Johnson says it was a fascination with the female form and the intensity of faces that led her to specialise in fashion design.

"My tools are very basic: paper, pencil and watercolour," she explains. "But recently I've started to explore the impact that Photoshop can have on my artwork. Having completed a Parson's photography course in New York, I've been really enjoying integrating my photos with my drawings and creating art that keeps the viewer looking."

Mary-Kate Featuring American style icon Mary-Kate Olsen, this piece began life as a hand-drawn illustration for a magazine. Johnson continued to work on it and, using Photoshop, was "able to transform a serene photo I'd taken of mottled lily pads into an almost hallucinogenic vision."

Pip Johnston
Location London, UK
Job Freelance illustrator
Contact www.pipjohnston.co.uk

"Drawing is fundamental to everything I do," says Pip Johnson. "Straight from school I enrolled at Central Saint Martins, and after my foundation course I studied for a degree in Fashion Design and Marketing." Johnson says it was a fascination with the female form and the intensity of faces that led her to specialise in fashion design.

"My tools are very basic: paper, pencil and watercolour," she explains. "But recently I've started to explore the impact that Photoshop can have on my artwork. Having completed a Parson's photography course in New York, I've been really enjoying integrating my photos with my drawings and creating art that keeps the viewer looking."

Alexa Using only pencil and watercolour, Johnson embellished Alexa Chung's image with the simple yet effective style that she epitomises.

Anna Pujadas Baqué
Location Barcelona, Spain
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.annapujadasdisseny.com

Hailing from Barcelona, Anna Pujadas Baqué followed her studies in graphic design with a Masters in Motion Graphics at the BAU School of Design in Spain. She currently works as a motion graphics designer, but what she enjoys most is illustration and character creation. "For this reason, I'm combining my job with a Masters degree in Traditional Animation, and collaborating as a freelance illustrator for a number of projects in illustration and animation," she explains.

The Party Created in Illustrator, with details and colour filters applied in Photoshop, 'The Party' was Pujadas Baqué's contribution to an exhibition of illustrations with a prawn cocktail theme. "The piece recreates the interior of a club, with musicians playing bossa nova," she says.

Alice Rebecca Potter
Location London, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.alicepotter.co.uk

Alice Rebecca Potter's passion lies in re-imagining nature. "I enjoy drawing the natural world," she explains, "and with my technique of combining hand-drawn and digital elements, I end up with quite a unique and recognisable style".

Potter spent three years at Chelsea College of Art and Design, where she studied Digital Textile Design before graduating in 2008. When she realised fashion and interiors were not what really motivated her, she re-branded herself as an illustrator. "As well as looking into creating colouring books for kids and grown-ups, I'm also working on more typography-based projects," she reveals.

Winter Wolf Created during the Christmas period, Potter says this is one of her favourite designs. "I find focusing on the head gives the animal a really strong look, and they almost become a motif design - which is transferable in so many ways."

Alice Rebecca Potter
Location London, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.alicepotter.co.uk

Alice Rebecca Potter's passion lies in re-imagining nature. "I enjoy drawing the natural world," she explains, "and with my technique of combining hand-drawn and digital elements, I end up with quite a unique and recognisable style".

Potter spent three years at Chelsea College of Art and Design, where she studied Digital Textile Design before graduating in 2008. When she realised fashion and interiors were not what really motivated her, she re-branded herself as an illustrator. "As well as looking into creating colouring books for kids and grown-ups, I'm also working on more typography-based projects," she reveals.

Red Kite One of the more recent additions to Potter's folio. Each and every feather is drawn separately, and Potter says she has a pencil copy to prove the hard work that she put into them.

Rutger Paulusse
Location Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.gwer.nl

Rutger Paulusee is a graphic designer from Eindhoven in the south of The Netherlands. Since graduating 18 months ago, he's been working as a freelance designer under the design alias 'Gwer'. "I'm a complete sucker for lettering and corporate identities," he admits. "I like to sketch letters with paper and pencil and then digitise them." The Pen tool is his best friend - "in sickness and in health, in poverty or in wealth" - and all his designs are made with pencil, paper and Illustrator.

Life's Good Paulusee created 'Life's Good' as a celebration of life during the excited days before he was due to go to Ibiza on holiday. It may have been a red rag to easily-tempted fate, as unfortunately the trip was later cancelled…

Matt Glasby
Location Nottinghamshire, UK
Job Graphic Designer
Contact www.mattgillustration.com

Matt Glasby freelances out of an attic in an old renovated cottage. "As far back as I can remember I've always made pictures, and so my journey through life has brought me here, where I'm now trying to make a living from conjuring up pictures for other people." Along the way, Glasby has gained a National Diploma in Graphic Design and a first class Illustration degree. He's since designed tour merchandise for the band Muse, as well as painting murals for HMV, the MOBO awards, Crimestoppers and Fabric nightclub.

Zombie Part of a series, 'Zombie' began when Glasby tried out new materials and explored the effect they had on his work. "What began as a portrait quickly turned into a twisted zombie caricature," he recalls, "so I decided to develop the style and use it to create a series of illustrations."

Matthew Doyle
Location Manchester, UK
Job Freelance designer
Contact www.mattdesign.co.uk

MattDesign is "the visual pollution" that spills from the mind of freelance designer and visual artist Matthew Doyle. His influences range from graphics on skateboards to loud, "in-your-face" street art, clothing and tattoo culture. "I love this style of work," he says. "It's a soothing release from the unforgiving mundane reality that people conform to."

Doyle works across a wide range of disciplines, including conceptual thinking, type treatments, identity and branding, illustration and print. "I approach each brief that I take on with an equal amount of enthusiasm to form effective design solutions," he says.

Kings and Queens This is a depiction of, as Doyle puts it, "love, hate, struggle and strife. It's the epitome of the journey taken to grasp hold of your dreams; the things we want and need in our lives."