Meet Josh, a very talented Illustrator from Surrey, London. I first came across Josh through his Instagram account @joshbristowillillustration and was blown away by his colourful illustrations that are full of personality and energy! Josh kindly illustrated some of his favourite pieces from the BEDOUIN SS15 collection and the result was so exciting! I couldn’t resist discovering more about the man behind these abstract and fabulously elongated ladies!
B: Josh, tell us a bit about yourself
J: I grew up in Surrey, UK, Surrey is the suburbs and about an hour outside the centre of London, Ive always lived here since I was little and still live here now commuting to London daily.
B: Tell us about life in and around London!
J: Life in London is great, When i was younger I used to think London was a big scary place, but since studying at Uni there and now working there and finding myself here 5 days a week, the city seems a lot smaller to me, I also feel I know the city really well. London is a great place just to walk around, I prefer to walk than get the underground or a bus, its a great chance to admire all the different styles of architecture in the London streets.
B: If you ever moved abroad where would it be?
J: In 2014 I was lucky enough to be able to work in Geneva Switzerland, Geneva is such a beautiful city! I was in awe of the chic style and beautiful simplicity or extravagant look that the city had. Seeing Geneva in both the winter and the summer is definitely something I recommend!
B: How did you get into being an illustrator?
J: I originally studied Fashion Design at Secondary School and then at College (before uni). It was here that my teachers really encouraged my approach to drawing. I found that I preferred and was stronger at the design process rather than the practical side of producing a garment, preferred drawing the stylised clothing and beautiful figures etc. It was here I learned about the medium of fashion illustration and how it is used within lots of industries.
B: Tell us about your ideal work space
J: My studio at home, my studio is a creative mess! A selection of anything and everything, I have lots of old desk lamps as its important to have good light when drawing and numerous piles of paper all over my desk. I prefer working in a cluttered atmosphere rather than a clinical empty room, but its still good to organise and know where everything is!
B: Good to hear that my studio isn’t the only chaotic one! What inspires your style of drawing?
J: Ah such a cliche question! Inspiration can spring from anything and everything. At this moment in time, I’m quite inspired by typography, as my day job lies more in graphic design. I enjoy looking to the past a lot for inspiration too, Im really into Brian Stonehouse archive illustrations for Harpers etc, and of course the illustrator talents like Erte, Vertes, Erickson, Keogh
B: What about your style, how would you describe it?
J: I think I have a signature look to my illustrations that I nurtured at uni, but I find my style is constantly changing, depending what mood you are in or what you are inspired by at the time, thats the fun thing about illustration, you can change your style up for one client etc and another for a different one, but its important to have a cohesive look to your illustrations too, so it can be recognised as a whole.
B: Being a freelancer you must have some weird and wonderful jobs – tell us about some of the exciting ones!
J: I have worked on a mix of editorial, fashion clients and lifestyle projects over the last 4 years,
Ive had illustrations in magazine features for titles such as Notion Magazine, The Evening Standard, Deluxe Magazine, Elle Hungary to name a few etc,
I’ve also done a lot of product and point of sale work for beauty brands such as Wella, Clairol and Londa, Proctor & Gamble were a fantastic client. Im currently also working on some illustrations for a new book launching later this year for a London publishing company.
B: Where can we purchase your artwork? Is it available online and where do you ship to?
J: I dont’ have my work available to purchase prints online, If anyone is interested in buying original work or prints please contact me via my website contact section!
A big thank you to Josh for these fabulous illustrations and his patience during my string of somewhat cliche questions! 😀 Please visit Josh’s website www.joshbristowillustration.com and contact him for any enquiries.
Check out Josh’s Instagram gallery here @joshbristowillillustration
Wishing you all a fabulous day and thank you for reading! x
BEDOUIN 