We have had such a great response to our recent Instagram post introducing talented illustrator Lewis Brownlie that we thought you’d like to find out more! So, we borrowed Lewis away from his current Carlisle Homes artwork project for a pot of tea and chat to find out more about the man behind the pen…
You don’t quite sound like a local yet, where are you from?
The accent always gives it away! I was born in Rochdale, Lancashire which is near Manchester in the UK. I came over to Oz last year on a bit of a working holiday and ended up finding the love of my life and we are currently living in Geelong together, along with our puppy Poncho, who does feature in a few pieces!
How did you get into illustrating?
I have been captivated by classic line drawing from a very early age, have always loved the purity of the black and white line, no hiding, it’s simple, yet can be complex at the same time! I studied fine art at John Moores University in Liverpool and have travelled a fair bit throughout Europe and Asia, Drawing all the way. Keeping a visual diary is a great way to really get the true essence of these places and this quickly snowballed into an obsession. Since settling in Victoria I’ve been able to get into thorough studies of the colonial buildings throughout Melbourne which is a great way to really get to know a city. I’m actually working on a culmination of all my Melbourne work for a book publication just before Christmas, so add that to your pressie list!
Tell us about your tools of trade?
That’s the great thing about my artwork style, you can be pretty spur of the moment, as long as I have my sketchbook and pen with me I can set up anywhere. For my sketchbooks I tend to use a ring bound Derwent sketchbook with acid free, off white 160gsm paper and Uni Pin pens varying in size 0.1 to 0.5. If I am working on a bigger size project I switch to marker pens or paint brushes.
You have a time lapse video of an illustration to show us, tell us about the process involved in that?
The project is for Uber Victoria at their head office in Richmond, it’s a huge piece, 5 metres all up. The initial drawing took a few months, but that’s also because I had a little break and went fruit picking in the middle! I did it in sections and it was all created on location from Princes Bridge near Flinders Street Station, taking in the city, one building at a time, recording everything down into an A4 sketchbook. From that, many hours were spent scanning and digitally stitching it all together so everything was in alignment. The easy part was actually getting it onto the wall! It took 14 hours over two days to trace from a projector in marker pen directly onto the wall. There were some technical challenges getting the projectors set up to take in the full scope.
We have some stunning Lewis Brownlie original illustrations featuring in our upcoming displays, stay tuned and we will let you know where you can check them out. For more information about Lewis’ work visit his artwork blog, Facebook and Instagram pages.
For a behind the scenes experience and to get the scoop direct from the design team, be sure to follow us on Instagram, @Carlislehomes.
