Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
Expressive animal characters in absurd situations. Blending science with silliness.
What items are an essential part of your creative space?
1- Tea with milk and sugar
2- Pencils and paper for sketching, any kind will do!
3- Drawing tablet - Wacom Cintiq
4- Electric pencil sharpener. Once you get used to them, it’s hard to go back to manual sharpeners or whatever they’re called. Acoustic sharpeners?
Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
I love using watercolours over ink line work, but for most projects I find myself working digitally.
Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Dean Rankine
Gabriel Evans
Andrew Joyner
If I had to pick only three, I’d say that I admire these illustrators for their energy, playfulness, and bold confident styles. They always inspire me to be more confident and playful with my own work.
Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?
The Ukiyo-e era of Japan (18th and 19th Century). This was the birthplace of illustration as we know it today. This style of illustration set the artistic foundations for cartoons and comics. The beautiful woodblock prints of this era are completely mesmerising. Just by looking at a woodblock print you can feel the painstaking dedication and meticulous process that went into creating them.
Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I spent most of my childhood hunched over a desk with a pencil and paper creating weird creatures and characters. I never thought it was something I could do for work, so went off and became a scientist instead. Art and creativity were always something that I did as a hobby but now I’ve come full circle and am illustrating science themed kids’ books. It’s a great way for me to have fun and combine all my interests.
Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.
I have a small wooden studio out in the backyard where I work from home. I built my own extra-long desk out of a timber panel so that I could have a single work surface where I can do digital illustrations up one end, then roll my chair to the side and go straight into sketching on paper. I don’t get to use my easel as much as I’d like to but its there waiting for me for whenever I’m ready!
What is your favourite part of the illustration process?
I love doing the linework after I’ve got a sketch completed. This is where you get to start seeing your rough idea taking shape and turning into something that looks like a ‘real’ illustration.
What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
Make something! Once you’ve got a few skills under your belt it’s time to put them to the test and make something with them. It doesn’t need to be perfect; it doesn’t even need to be your best idea. It could be your own idea for a picture book, a comic strip, . This is when you will learn where your strengths are and what skills you need to develop. More importantly, the fulfilment you will get from seeing something through from idea to completion makes it all worthwhile and will give you the confidence boost you need to tackle your next big idea.
James O’Hanlon is a scientist, author, and illustrator. He has travelled around Australia and the globe uncovering the secret lives of insects, spiders and other mysterious animals. Sid and the Very Hard to find Squid is his first author-illustrated children’s book.
For more information please visit James' website or follow him on instagram.
