Biddy Maroney

I emailed this illustrator mainly just for the one piece, above. I found it online, & tho i work in a very different way, I love the way hes used fabric as a texture and the richness of the colours, also the pattern in the background adds a further decorative element to the piece. Im eager to find out more about illustration in other countries so thats another reason for contacting him. Heres the answers to the questions i sent:

1. I particularly like a piece of yours called ‘silver spangled Andalusian’, I was wondering what techniques have you used in this piece?

Thankyou, that one is almost completely digital.
I drew the chicken with ink and a brush so I could use some of the inky lines for its feathers. (I didn’t end up using the outline of the bird in the end though, just some of the feathers) I used the brush and ink stuff as layers of texture in Photoshop, mixed in with a lot of fabric and string that I scanned in, and found photos (the birds eye and cricket balls) I drew the text, and various lines in Photoshop with a Wacom.

2. In the last few months, since this global recession, have you noticed any difference in the design industry, for example in the amount of work you get?

Between the stuff I do through the Jacky Winter agency and the stuff I do with my partner as Webuyyourkids I’ve been flat out working for the last two years and haven’t noticed any change to this recently. But it’s hard to say as I’ve only been with the agency 18 months, and WBYK is also relatively new – so I’m lucky to be involved with growing businesses which keep getting busier. I have heard that budgets are tighter though, so I’m now very wary of turning down work.

3. Are most of your jobs within Australia, or do you get work from other countries via the internet? If so, where, and do you notice much difference between the type of work coming from different countries?

Pretty much all the work we do as Webuyyourkids is from within Australia, and that is a huge percentage of my work. The Jacky Winter Group is different though – the initial point of the agency was to get Australian illustrators working with overseas clients – so I’ve done a fair few things for US clients through that now, who would never have known I existed without my agent. It’s been mainly editorial illustrations for American magazines, but theres also been jobs for Australian clients through JW as well – mainly Australian advertising agencies. I guess they are just the sorts of companies that have reacted well to whats in my portfolio. I couldn’t say there was any trend I could pick to do with the different countries or anything.

4. What have been the main influences on your style of illustration?

I love to draw in brush and ink but lately have been doing so much digitally – drawing with the Wacom straight into the computer and then layering textures in Photoshop. I do like black murky inky things so I guess that’s a big influence. Working with Sonny as Webuyyourkids has influenced me heaps as I’m usually working as a duo so Im being infuenced by his style which is so much more clear and uncluttered and he has great compositional skills I’m trying to learn from. I like a lot if kitchy spooky things. Being able to rework things / correct things / compile different things on the computer is seriously the biggest influence on how I work though. Other illustrators I love are Shary Boyle, Raymond Pettibon, Charles Burns, Steak Mountain, Milton Glaser, Alan Aldridge, Zeloot, Edward Gorey and I love Tim Burton too. And old movie.