Painting-Factory - blog*spot

We receive so many lovely compliments about our beautiful website and it's time to give credit where it's due. Victoria Ball is our fantastic illustrator, here is a bit more about her.

Victoria graduated from Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall, with a first class BA Hons in Illustration. Having spent time illustrating in-house in London and Bath, she now works from her Gloucestershire based studio. 

Victoria has produced artwork for a broad range of clients and markets both in the UK and Internationally. She continues to enjoy illustrating for children's books, magazines, merchandising, advertising and packaging. 

Her mixed media style is achieved by digitally combining, through the use of Adobe Photoshop, hand drawn and painted elements with photography and sourced pattern.

We found her at [www.illustrationweb.com] ,they represent her and here Vicky from Illustrationweb chats with her:

Vicky: What drew you to illustration/design? Victoria: I have always loved art and drawing, it just seemed like a natural progression. My parents are both artistic and were very encouraging. My Mum has a keen eye for design and has been making jewellery for many years and my Dad is a talented draughtsman. Vicky: Do you have any formal design training? Victoria: Yes, I studied illustration at Falmouth college of Arts, Cornwall. I have many happy memories from my time there. Vicky:Where are you originally from? Victoria: Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK.Vicky: Where do you live now & what drew you there? Victoria: I moved around a fair bit after leaving Falmouth, but decided a couple of years ago to move back to the Cotswolds. It's a beautiful part of the world and I love that I can hop on a train to London and be there within a couple of hours.Vicky: Where is your studio and can you describe it for me? Victoria: I have a studio at the top of my house, which is lovely and light. I've recently started renting studio space at a converted paint factory in Bristol, too. I work from there a few days a week and the rest of the time from home. It gets me out(!) and it's inspiring, being around other creative people. Vicky: Do you collect anything? Victoria: I love typography and collect shop sign letters. I have them dotted all around my house. I also collect vintage hardbacks and antique greetings cards and postcards, as much for the handwritten messages inside as for the design. I love some of the kitsch graphics and typography you can find on book jackets from the 1950s and 60s, it's a great place to find interesting colourways, too.Vicky: Do you keep a scrapbook? Victoria: I keep notebooks, where I jot down my ideas and doodles. Any drawings found in these are like short hand, for me to remember an idea. I don't keep a scrapbook but my computer desktop is awash with images that have caught my attention. The top drawer of my plan chest holds lots of miscellaneous snippets too.Vicky: Tell us about a favourite project you’ve recently completed.Victoria: I was asked recently to produce a series of food illustrations for the Sunday Times Style supplement, I really enjoyed working on these. Who’d have thought painting a poached egg would be so much fun?!Vicky: What would be your dream job/commission? Victoria: To have the opportunity and plenty of time to write and illustrate my own children's book. Vicky: Who is/are your illustration hero/es? Victoria: Eric Carle, Charley Harper, Quentin Blake, Lisbeth Zwerger. Vicky: Who is/are your musical hero/es? Victoria: Paul Kossoff, Free. Vicky: If you could travel back in time which period would you visit & why? Victoria: August 1970, for the Isle of Wight festival.

It was a great pleasure to meet and work with her and see our little world come alive. Visit her site for more of her magical work : [www.victoria-ball.co.uk]