First time author and recent graduate from the University of Falmouth, William Grill is a fresh-faced new talent. With a slew of prizes and exhibitions under his belt, Grill’s vibrant colours and cheerful illustration truly bring his work alive.
On the official release of his new book Shackleton’s Journey, we caught up with Will to ask him a couple of questions and learn a little a bit more about the man himself.
What inspires your work?
I try to keep an eye out all the time and appreciate what’s around me, I find that the more I look, the more interesting ordinary things become. Keeping a small sketchbook in my pocket allows me to absorb colour, pattern and instances that I see day to day.
The raw aesthetic and charm of outsider art and cave paintings holds a lot of appeal to me. I also have a soft spot for some of the British mid 1900s painters and designers, like Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious and Paul Nash.
Tell us a bit about your process…
Most projects begin from a rough drawing in a small sketchbook, from there drawings are worked up further on larger sheets of paper where I like to generate lots of thumbnails, colour pallets and sketches. When it comes to the final artwork, I try to continue working in a playful way because usually my best drawings are the ones I haven’t been labouring over.
I work in colouring pencils pretty much all the time, and draw in a painterly way, working in tones rather than line.