insideKENT Magazine Issue 76 - July 2018 | Page 34

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE:
TIM LAING
FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR, TIM LAING HAS A
UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD. HE
MANAGES TO SIMULTANEOUSLY SEE THINGS IN BOTH
REALISTIC AND ABSTRACT WAYS, AND IT IS THIS
COMBINATION OF VISION AND IMAGINATION THAT
COME TOGETHER SO WELL IN HIS WORK. insideKENT
SPOT TO TIM ABOUT HOW HE WORKS AND WHAT IS
COMING UP NEXT FOR HIM.
If you had to define your art,
how would you describe what
you do?
I describe my work as semi-
realistic pencil drawings. I mostly
receive commissions to draw
portraits, but my passion is for
slightly abstracted reality. I aim
to create visually dynamic and
vaguely unusual images but with
a firm footing in realistically
drawn subject matter.
How did you become an artist?
I had a really influential art
teacher at school who shaped my
early path into visual creativity.
After school, I went to art college
and studied illustration at
university then pursued
illustration commissions from
then on.
How do you choose your
subject matter?
For my uncommissioned
personal work, my ideas usually
stem from what i’ve been reading.
Short stories and novels are a
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great inspiration to me and help
to guide and give some
limitations to those early stages
of creating something.
John Le Carré novels
for the Folio Society
and being able to show
the finished books to
my family. That and
being shortlisted twice
now for the V&A book
illustration awards.
What is the most unusual,
daring, or interesting
commission you’ve ever
received?
To me, the most interesting
commissions are the books. I’ve
been lucky to have worked with
The Folio Society illustrating
books on a number of occasions
now. Those jobs are really
challenging and I get quite a lot
of creative freedom. It’s so
satisfying to hold the book in your
hands when it’s all finished. I’ve
worked on a few mural and sign-
painting commissions that have
been really exciting. It’s nice to
get away from the studio and
translate how I think visually to a
larger scale.
What is it about people
that makes them such
great subject matter?
Although there are a lot
of similarities between
every face that I draw,
they are all unique. It
seems that you can
read more into a
drawing of a face than
a photo of one, so in a
way you get to bring a
new life to it.
What does the rest of 2018 hold in store for you?
What has been your proudest
artistic achievement to date? I’m about to embark on drawing 23 portraits for a new client. I’m also
beginning work on a large drawing for an exhibition a friend is putting
on down in Cornwall called The Cruel and Curious Sea that I’m really
excited about.
My proudest artistic achievement
to date is illustrating a trilogy of www.timlaing.co.uk.