Artist in Focus: Claire Coxon

Ever since I learnt to hold a pencil I have had a love of drawing and painting that led all my relatives to buy me art related gifts at birthdays and Christmas for years to come – which was very much appreciated! This interest grew throughout my school years so that pursuing these skills was the only option that would satisfy me. At Art College my eyes were really opened to the possibilities of a career in art, and so I continued on to Swansea Metropolitan University and gained a First Class Degree in Illustration. Whilst in my third and final year at University I was delighted to be amongst 10 students from Welsh Universities selected to meet Prince Charles for ‘Tea at Highgrove’. We were chosen for being ‘outstanding achievers’ in our individual subject areas.

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Although I never lost sight of my goal to be an illustrator, after University I found myself in need of a ‘pay the bills’ type of steady job. Graphic Design seemed the obvious area to go into and I am very pleased that I did as I learnt a lot – both in design and computer skills – and it led me towards digital art. Although I have always really enjoyed painting by hand, digital art seems to me to have more to offer, namely the speed of working, the flexible, experimental approach that it allows – and not having to wait for paint to dry! I do, however, use scanned in textures and samples of natural media regularly in my work. My inspiration is drawn from the natural world around me (I live in the picturesque Cotswolds), traditional and vintage art, and from the exciting world of fashion and contemporary art and design.

Happily, I am now self employed as an illustrator with Image Source as my agent. This working relationship has turned out brilliantly as the advice and support that they offer is invaluable, and their knowledge of the greetings card market second to none. I am also very pleased not to be on the ‘Sales’ side of things as I will be the first to admit that this is not my strong point, and it gives me more time to spend on my real work, which is constantly evolving and offering new challenges that make it all the more satisfying.

‘Festive Fun’ for art licensing agents Image Source

Image Source – Art Licensing currently represent many talented artists who offer inspiring, traditional and contemporary Christmas designs available to license worldwide.

With over 500 festive designs available from Paulo Viveiros’s archive of art, this fully digital showcase of designs brings a strong, contemporary library to Image Source. Paulo’s inspirations lie far and wide with his visual cues coming from the world around him, from urban architecture to the natural world, from fashion to the human form. His palette of colours comes not only from contemporary life, but also from the colours he least expects to see, the blue in human skin and the red in freshly cut grass. His library includes Print & Pattern along with Typography designs plus much more.

Paulo Viveiros - Contemporary Christmas

Christmas artist Molly Graham designs for a number of product categories which include Christmas partyware and tableware. Thanks to the endless possibilities of digital design Molly is able to create variable styles. She writes “I enjoy chopping and changing between traditional, contemporary and vintage styles. Keeping up with trends in stationery, homewares and fashion on the High Street and on-line keeps the work fresh. Image Source are keen to ensure their designers continue to evolve creatively – I am continually encouraged to try new things, briefs are varied and I am kept supplied with an eclectic mix of good quality commercial visual reference by them to refer to should inspiration run dry”.

Molly Graham - Tableware Christmas

Simon Treadwell is a self-taught digital artist who uses the traditional painterly styles with a vivid finish to his work. His portfolio consists of traditional detailed scenes incorporating Father Christmas, Fluffy Snowmen, Puppy Labrador’s and Children.  The clean lines with bold colours are on trend, proving very popular on a variety of products that include greetings cards, prints and calenders.

Simon Treadwell - Traditional Christmas

Please visit www.image-source.co.uk to view our online portfolio of Christmas artists and Illustrators.