Zoë More O'Ferrall — Pen & Ink Illustrator, London

London illustrator Zoe More O’Ferrall uses her immediate and instinctive drawing skills to create contemporary imagery that’s perfect for clients in fashion, food brands, retail, advertising, publishing and more. The hand of the artist is always there in her deft line work, and she also creates impactful hand-rendered text.

Zoe’s studio is situated in Notting Hill, which is a prime position for an illustrator who loves markets. She’s right next to Golborne Road Antiques Market and minutes away from Portobello Road with its famous stalls selling old papers, postcards, vintage clothing, furniture, prints and more. She trained at Wimbledon School of Art, London College of Communication and Central Saint Martins, with David Hockney a key influence.

Approach

Zoe usually works in pen and ink – she has a broad collection of pens to choose from – and loves to draw by hand. She only uses a computer to plan compositions and to touch up the handmade images. Now and again she’ll experiment with collage and screenprinting too.

Style

Depending on the atmosphere she wants to generate, Zoe varies her line work from the strong to the whimsical. Her use of colour is often constrained, using splashes and marks to highlight areas of a piece. She knows just when to keep it simple, and when to concentrate on intricate detail.

Client list

Zoe has clients including Vogue, Topshop, Harrods, National Geographic, Tesco, J Crew, the BBC, Stella Artois, More Than, Radley, Mother and many more.