what is your name?
harriet gray
how would you describe what you do?
a mixture of contemporary illustration, hand made products and crafted items
what are you currently working on?
Quite a few things actually, probably my main focus at the moment is getting my website finished I took the hard route and decided to make it myself by using online tutorials and books to teach myself dreamweaver, I’m quite proud of the results at the moment but i’m still learning. I have a few personal illustration projects on the go including helping a friend with his album cover, and am also developing some new products to add to my range of items for sale.
what has had the greatest influence on your work?
I get a lot of my inspiration from nature and the human form, and generally the little random things that happen around me
what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
when I say I’m an illustrator some people assume I draw cartoons
what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
I really like the hand drawn/made element of my work and the delicate textures I can achieve with my pencil … one thing that really frustrates me sometimes is that my work never looks the same once it’s scanned in to the computer.
how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
I don’t really use much technology when making my work as most of it is hand drawn, I generally just use photoshop to clean my images up a little and to make them more screen friendly.
technology has certainly made self promotion a lot easier, I use social media sites which help to direct traffic to my work on the web.
What’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
Exercise fuels the mind!
Where can we find you online?
I have a blog where I post about my work, news and events : http://harrietgray.blogspot.com/
and also my soon to be completed website : http://www.harrietgray.co.uk/
what are you reading at the moment?
‘the c word’ by lisa lynch
what are you listening to at the moment?
I am a bit obsessed with Florence and the machine at the moment, or any random music that happens to be playing in the studio!
anything else we should know?
I am part of the creative network SOUPA which is full of lots of other talented folk, and we also have a shop … go take a look see …
http://www.soupa.co.uk/