When did you start creating?

After working in the Youth Work sector in Dublin for about 10 years, where I
encouraged young people to be creative, I decided to be a bit creative myself and
attempt a career in illustration. In late 2017 I began working on a Children’s Book
portfolio and sending out cold emails to publishers. It was mid 2019 when I received
my first book project and in 2025 I have just finished the 9th book in that series.

How would you describe your artistic style in three words?

1. cute
2. colourful
3. funny

Can you walk us through your typical creative process? Do you sketch first or dive straight in?

I always start with sketches. Sometimes they’re so rough no one could make sense
of them but me and sometimes they’re a lot clearer, either way it’s always a good
starting point.

What creative conundrum have you had in the past six months and how did you solve it?

One tough illustration I had to do for a book this year was a crowd in a circus. I find
crowd scenes difficult.

The scene had 75 characters in total and rather than creating
random extras for the crowd, I included characters from previous books in the series
and I stuck in characters that I created from other books I’ve illustrated over the
years.

It’s a very detailed scene, I was really happy with how it turned out and it was
really nice to see so many characters I designed on the one page.

What can a client do to help you when briefing?

Being very clear is always a good start. If they like specific pieces of mine, explaining
why they like it is a great help. There can be many elements that make up an
illustration and if a client says that they like a specific illustration of mine, there
could be a misunderstanding about what exactly they like about the piece. So clear communication is key to avoiding misunderstandings.

Time for some quick-fire questions…

What is your drink of choice?

12 year old Redbreast whiskey, not while drawing though!

What is a song that makes you want to get up and dance?

Jin – Super Tuna

How would you describe your agent, Lucie Ludds, in three words?

1. Hard-working
2. Enthusiastic
3. Fearless

And finally, what’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an illustrator just starting out?

Fail forward, it took me about 30 rejections from publishers to finally get an offer to
illustrate a book, my goal was to get 50 rejections.