Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist

Maisy Summer

Instagram / @maisysummer
Featured Artist / #104 ScrawlrBox 

Maisy Summer is an Illustrator and Animator working closely with clients big and small to help them communicate their stories personally and thoughtfully often around themes of heritage, community, food and culture. Maisy has worked widely within branding, publishing, animation, and editorial, as well as designing large-scale murals and narrative wallpapers.

With a playful approach to her practice, Maisy creates layers of delightful textures, bold colour combinations and joyful compositions. Within Maisy’s toolkit is a mix of techniques and materials which she adapts to each project. This can be handcrafted techniques such as paper cutting and drawing with scissors, bold mark-making with pastels, paints and pencils, to carefully intertwining digital drawing programs suchas Adobe Fresco. All of which Maisy is more than happy to document the process to enrich client projects, workshops, to playful personal projects such as ‘Drawing Diaries’. Clients include: Google Arts and Culture, Adobe, Kew Gardens, Bookshop Day, Kings College London, Whitworth Art Gallery and Hatworks Hat Museum.

Maisy’s projects have been shortlisted in the V&A Illustration Awards, AOI World Illustration Awards & STACK Magazine Awards, as well as received features in It’s Nice That, Creative Boom & Creative Review. Alongside freelancing Maisy currently guest lectures across the UK. She also is the founder of international creative hub Small Fry, which hosts creative events, projects, talks & workshops across the UK and beyond. This space allows the sharing of personal insights and expertise, brand collaborations, as well as curating and designing talks and workshops with creatives locally and internationally.

What do you love most about using the Inktense Pencils from Derwent?

I love the versatility of them, being able to create rough textures when dry or adding water to blend and layer them together. You can also use themon various other materials too such as fabric and ceramics which I’m excited to try out

What do you think works well with this medium?

Intertwining the Inktense with the white gouache is great as you can add little highlights and accents on top of the darker colours. I also use the inktense pencils alongside Caran D’Ache NeoColor II crayons or Inktense Blocks for thicker mark making.

We adore your style, it’s so unique andbursting with character, how did yougo about developing this?

Thank you! It’s something that I feel is continuously changing and adapting which I like to embrace. As I get introduced to new materials and techniques I like to experiment with the process of crafting my illustrations. During my final year at uni was the first time I felt things click a more in terms of my illustration process. I starting playing with paper cuts - drawing with scissors to create objects, scenes and people. I found through this method I could move things around and mix up the compositions and play with scale. I then started drawing and adding textures on top of the paper. These handcrafted papercuts are still a part ofmy illustrations, but has transitioned more small elements of larger pieces. I’ve also been exploring digital textures and live brushes in Adobe Fresco and playfully integrating them into my scanned physical work.

Do you like to get out and create? Or do you work better in your own home/creative space?

When I can I love to get out and create sketches on the go alongside gathering reference imagery and observations. During my illustrated travel series Drawing Diaries I’ve started on my Instagram, I usually partly create things on the go then come back and curate and design the larger pieces in my studio. I think I need to be back in my own space to be able to properly filter and process how my observations can turn into more refined outcomes.

Did you study art or design at college/ university?

I did a Art and Design Foundation courseon at Loughborough University - I really recommend the foundation courses. The course is a mix of different creative subjects so you can test and see what you like - 3D, Design, Illustration, Textiles, Animation. It was there that I decided I loved the storytelling aspect of illustration. I then went onto study BA Illustration with Animation at Manchester School of Art.

Once I graduated I taught back on the course part time for 5 years. I also founded Small Fry Collective in 2018 (@smallfrycollective)- where we host creative workshops, talks and events. I think it’s so important to keep learning, networking and feeling a partof a creative community post university. Additionally there’s lots ways to learn and develop as a creative outside of a university setting also via online courses and workshops.

What do you typically get up to on a weekend?

Since myself and my partner recently movingto London we’ve loved using the weekend to explore and go on big long walks in different areas and parks. Getting outside on a big wander is my favourite!

Important question... Your Favourite snack?

Guacamole + tortilla chips! We’ve recently acquired a Molcajete to make it in fresh - and it’s the best, ahh!

Have you ever experienced ‘imposter syndrome?’ What do you do to talk yourself out of it?

Most of the time! I like to work 8:30-5:30 approx - shifting and changing slightly depending on what I have on that week. I also have to have movement part of my rountine - there’s a lovely little community at my local gym. Being an Illustrator there’s a lot of accidental hunching over when drawing so I find carving out this time as nice reset and space to move. Additionally it’s great way to meet people when you’re freelance and working on you own a good amount of time.