We’re back with another Monograph — our behind-the-scenes video series where we interview illustrators in their studios.
When we met Owen Davey in June 2016 in his Leicester studio, he was working as a freelance illustrator juggling editorial, client and personal work.
He spoke with us about his positive experience at Falmouth university. The pains of pricing and how he gets around it. The values of being represented by an agency like Folio, and the benefits of being a member of the AOI. We also touched on his fascination with geometry and simplification.
Last year, Owen won ‘Best of Show’ at 3×3 International Illustration Annual Awards. He also collaborated with Domestika to create the course, ‘Stylised Vector Illustration with Color and Character.’
We asked Owen for an update since the interview:
2016 feels like an age ago in so many ways; my personal life has changed rather radically in the last seven years. I’m now a parent and I’ve moved from Leicester to Worthing with my partner and our kids. Because of this shift in circumstances, my working life looks very different. I have had to set firmer boundaries with when I’m working and (crucially) when I’m not. Weekends and evenings are usually dedicated to time with my family and I’ve found that this time away from work is necessary to keep myself from burning out too. Breaks have become almost as important as the time I actually spend working.
I’ve worked on many books in that time and am embarking on the ninth book in my ‘About Animals’ series with ‘Flying Eye Books’. I’m also dipping my toes back into the world of fiction with a book named ‘Can I Come Too?’ which is being released this year under the new publisher ‘Rocket Bird Books’. It was fun to create, not only because it’s based on my direct experiences watching how my kids interact with one another, but also because I created it with the team I made my first picture book with in 2009; Editor (Libby Hamilton) and Art Director (Mike Jolley). I’m also still working on the TwoDots app (we’ve just had the eight year anniversary of its launch). I’m very lucky that I’ve stayed busy and mostly motivated, especially around all the ups and downs in recent years.
— Owen Davey
@owendaveydraws on Instagram and @owendaveydraws on Twitter.
