Artists : Mike Davidson

Growing up in Gloucestershire (Stroud and Cheltenham), I spent most my time drawing things and getting into tantrums when I couldn’t do it right. This is pretty much how I am today… I studied Illustration at the Birmingham Institute of Art, and then Brighton University. After graduating in 2005, I made the rash decision to move with my partner to Taiwan and spent nearly 5 years there. I taught English as a foreign language and worked on various illustration projects.

Now back and living in the UK, I devote as much time as possible to illustration for children’s books and greetings cards, whilst also taking pride in teaching part-time and working with kids on reading, writing and art. The act of teaching and analyzing things also really feeds into my work as an illustrator; and I’d say I owe much of what I know to the advice of children.

I always begin working on ideas with nice ink pens and retractable pencils; I try to embrace my contradicted love of simple bold things and overly complicated and detailed things. I then go on to develop my line drawings either digitally or using silk-screen printing.

I’m inspired by all sorts of people, particularly Modern artists such as Léger, Miró, Matisse, Picasso, Saul Bass… I’ve also come to really appreciate Asian graphics, with the overwhelming amount of packaging, T-shirts, toys and Japanese silk-screens, etc. There are also so many illustrators, designers and writers that I admire; but I find I work best when I go into my own world and try to forget everything I’ve seen before (and try to avoid tantrums).