Stuart Simpson

Illustrator: class of 2013

Stuart Simpson graduated in 2006 from Gray’s School of Art. He has been self-employed as a fine artist for the past five years working mainly with printmaking and pyrography. Picture Hooks has provided his first opportunity to enter the world of illustration. It has been a steep learning curve! Stuart hopes that a life-long passion for drawing will form the basis of a promising career in the discipline. He lives and works in the inspiring Tay valley.

Stuart was mentored by Natalie Russell during our 2012/13 mentoring scheme.

“Making a dummy to write my story and plan the spreads was a new experience for me. It took four attempts, three central characters and most of the programme, but was fundamental to the creation of the artwork. This later stage presented its own challenges but was a great opportunity to experiment and to develop a digital collage process. The work was created using painted, lino-printed and cut paper elements, which were manipulated and compiled in Photoshop.”