Lauren Mortimer — Painterly Botanical Illustrator, London

London artist Lauren Mortimer uses her outstanding skills to create painterly illustrations, and often a deft conceptual twist turns them into something softly surreal. After years of creating intricate pencil drawings, Lauren felt it was time to add a burst of colour to a black and white world. And who knew life could be so vibrant?

Lauren feels inspired and content when she’s sitting in a park, looking at birds through a pair of binoculars, listening to folk music or sketching. However, she enjoys the vibrancy of city life, and is influenced by the Surrealist movement and by the artist Marcel Dzama. Lauren studied Fashion Communication with Promotion at Central Saint Martins, but decided illustration would be her career. Recent highlights include her illustrated series of cocktail recipe books with Running Press.

Approach

Delving into the world of digital painting has ignited a newfound sense of creative possibilities for Lauren. She has a Wacom Cintiq tablet, which gives her an ideal way of sketching and producing her illustrations using Photoshop.

Key Software

Photoshop

Style

Lauren's new colour style is rich in narrative. Each brushstroke and every texture is woven with fun, lightheartedness, and purpose, inviting you to explore dreamy landscapes, succulent fruits and playful botanicals. Her style often maintains a gentle warmth, despite that touch of the surreal.