Ben Rothery Illustrations
We caught up with Ben Rothery, the successful illustrator behind our ever popular Natural History and Dog Yoga greeting card collections. We fired 12 questions Ben's way to find out more about his life, aspirations, and inspirations behind his incredibly skillful work.
1. What was the main pull factor for you getting into the creative environment?
I've always wanted to be an illustrator, well that or a dinosaur... or David Attenborough / Indiana Jones... Or all the above. I think the real answer is that ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with the natural world and I always sought to explore that through drawing it. And that Love of nature became a love of drawing and that love of drawing became my job.
2. What do you enjoy most about your work?
Seeing something come to life that was in my head, that didn't exist before I created it. Or when working with a Natural History illustration for example, there's something really exciting about trying to put life & movement into a two dimensional drawing, I like the challenge of that.
3. Where do your major inspirations come from, and why?
I get most of my inspiration from my peers, particularly other illustrators, I know how hard they work and looking at what they do drives my standards, I always want to be better, I don't find myself particularly inspired by famous artists / designers, I look at the people in the trenches like me and that inspires me.
Other than that I would have to say that it's people like Sir David Attenborough, he inspired in me a love of the natural world which has stayed with me to today and on which I have based my whole career.
4. Are there any particular materials you like working with the most? And Why.
Really hard pencils, specifically Faber Castell 9000s. For me there isn't a better drawing pencil. I like the pencils hard so I can sharpen them into really fine points - like a needle almost and so that I get really clean lines. There is no soft smudgy graphite between the linework which then allows me to get really vibrant colours when I come to colour it later as there is nothing to muddy the image.
What is your favourite thing to draw?
Birds, hands down.
6. In terms of Greetings Cards, what occasion do you find yourself buying the most cards for? e.g. weddings, new job.
Every day cards I think. I tend to be drawn to really beautiful or funny every day cards on which I can write my own message, rather than ones for a specific occasion, I collect em whenever I see ones I like and I give them for all sorts of reasons... or for no reason at all.
7. What’s your biggest achievement so far?
I'm working on a book at the moment which has been something I've wanted to do since I was 7 and I'm finally doing it. I decided that this was the year I would do it and I'm in a place career wise where I can afford to do it on my terms which feels like an achievement.
8. If you could choose to go to one country on an all-expenses paid trip, where would it be, who would you take, and why?
Papua New Guinea to see Birds of Paradise with Sir David Attenborough (I might have to smuggle my girlfriend in my luggage too as she'd never forgive me.
9. You’re walking down the street, and find a £50 note on the floor. What would you spend it on?
20 Flat Whites (All for me)
10. You’ve been told you’ve got to move to a desert island for a year, food and water is provided, but nothing else. And you only have space for three things... what would they be?
A Barbell and some of weights.
A poster of Arnold Schwarzeneggar in the original Predator
Pencils and paper
11. Can you recommend any TV series you’ve been watching lately?
Planet Earth 2
12 What are you looking forward to for Ben Rothery Illustrations in 2017?
Seeing how my card collections with The Art File perform and working on / finishing my book.
For more information on Ben and his collections with The Art File, follow this link :
http://theartfile.com/shop/greeting-cards/ben-rothery
