Artist 14: Natasha Thompson

For Amelia's magazine

For Amelia's magazine

Do you like tea? Then Natasha Thompson is the right illustrator for you. (It probably applies to most English people, yeah?) Her delicate and feminine mixed media/collage illustration would be the perfect sweeties to have with your cuppa. I love her use of typography and colours, it is often subtle but effective and it is something difficult to obtain without natural talent. I believe you will enjoy her interview here.

Who are you:

My name is Natasha, I'm 21, I love drinking tea and painting my nails pastel colours when I'm bored. I have a phobia of butterflies which I've had since I was about 5.

What do you do:

I illustrate and drink a lot of tea!

How did you start:

I've always loved drawing since I can remember. The first day of nursery I took to finger painting with neon paints that smelled like plastercine while others messed about in the sand pits. I told stories through both words and pictures, the pictures being the most important part for me. I've kept visual diaries since I was small, which are nice to delve back into. I studied art at school, then a level and then Illustration at university. Illustration seemed to bring together my love for literature and making pictures are stitched together in one subject.

A Personal statement about you or your work:

I have a bit of an obsession for tea and tea parties. I'm heavily influence by Alice in Wonderland and the idea of making illustrations that have a dream-like, hand made feel to them. I'm inspired by Sofia Coppola movies, fairy tales, floral dresses and pretty nostalgic things like old typography, found photos, deers, vintage books and my own collections. I love to render hand drawn typography and stick in carefully chosen bits of collage that I've kept because I find it endearing. I subtly draw on my own experiences within my illustrations whether it be my phobias, past conversations or the colours, the palette I remember from a film I watched. I love felt tips and pink paper because my illustrations have a playful element to them, the materials I use have to be fun. I have countless pens, I think I could make an entire handmade city out of just my pens, with pink paper windows.

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