Meet the artist reminding us to get hands-on in this digital world
Nostalgia, the internet and tattoos.
[R]achel Louise Hodgson is the London-based illustrator, photographer and tattoo artist merging traditional and digital techniques, encouraging us to not take our work “so seriously, but to have fun”. Using cheap and accessible materials like crayons and pound shop eye shadow, Hodgson encourages us to not be scared off by “fancy equipment or high skills” and to simply get creating. In this digital world, Hodgson is reminding us of ways to make creative work without getting square eyes in the process.
Check out some of her work below and lighten up your Instagram by following her here.
Your work combines photography and illustration, can you tell us a bit about your ideas and motivations behind combining digital and traditional methods?
I naturally prefer working on stuff by hand then through the computer, so I print my photos out and colour them in by hand with crayons and paints. I like to be messy with my work, to experiment and play around with pictures and for it to happen organically. I feel like this is something you can’t recreate on a computer, its too clean and controlled.
You have quite a raw and childlike illustration technique, does nostalgia play an important role in your work?
Yes, being childish and playful in my approach to making stuff is important to me, to not take it so seriously but to have fun. I want to create a sense of joy when people see my images. I want people to be inspired to create too, that they don’t need fancy equipment or high skills, I like to use low tech materials from the pound shop.
Your work considers different methods of working in a digital world, how has the internet and social media affected your work and your mentality as a designer?
I share all my work on the internet and have now for a long time, starting with flickr as a young teenager then tumblr and now instagram, so I am used to this and I feel I have had many positive experiences from this. I have met many creative friends through the internet all around the world that have become real life friends, through sharing work on the internet. Its amazing how it can connect people around the world and create communities for people that may otherwise feel isolated or misunderstood in their real life surroundings. Its gives power to individuals.
How do you go about creating concepts for your work? Do you often work alone or do you work as a team?
I mostly work alone when drawing and painting but its fun to collaborate with people, which I do for photoshoots. Also I like to do street art sometimes, painting murals, which I like to do with other artists, as its just a fun experience to share with other people.
You also design tattoos and tattoo them on people, how do you translate your work to tattoos? What reactions have you had so far?
People started contacting me through Instagram about getting tattoos of my drawings anyway and I guess that motivated me to start learning to tattoo myself. I knew a few self taught tattoo artists already and that also inspired me. I practiced on myself, on fruits and willing friends. My drawings are usually simple crude little line drawings and I think that translates intoo cute little tattoos. Its the kind of style of tattooing that I like myself, I dont really like highly stylised tattoos. All of my own first tattoos were stick and pokes done by friends, and they remain my favourites.
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