Sometimes our favourite collaborations happen after discovering a talented artist online – such is the case of illustrator Ash Colin who drew Ariana and the Rose for our first issue. We thought it was about time we found out more from him…
Who are you?
I’m Ash, and I’m an attempted illustrator/portrait artist currently based in Derbyshire.
Did you study to be an artist?
Kind of! I’ve been pretty much doodling before I could even write. It was always my escape growing up and I felt it was the only thing I was good at. I studied art + design in college but was dropped after the 1st year because I would rather ditch class and spend the day in town. I walked away with like half of a diploma, whatever that is.
Who is your main influence in creating your work?
I’d say I’m very influenced by the normal things that happen in everyday life. From the good times to the bad, they each provide food for thought when it comes to creating art. whether that be a rough portrait of a musician I admire or a painting of something/someone that happens to inspire me. My work is a part of me, it’s a medium I can use to express my current thoughts and feelings.
What or who inspires you?
Every now and again i’ll come across an artist whose work just blows my mind, one of these artists is Nicola Samori. I find his work so morbid yet so attractive. I feel like I share a lot of feelings and emotion with most of his pieces. No other artist has drawn me in quite like he has. I feel so frustrated when I’m looking at his work. I have this urge in me to buy a huge fuck off canvas and splash a shit load of paint everywhere…create something beautiful. I’m yet to pick up a paintbrush after quite some years but I’m excited to start painting again.
When choosing a subject matter what is it that draws you to them?
I often ‘illustrate’ my usual muses. Cheryl (Tweedy, Cole, Fernandez Versini) She’s been my muse since around 2009. I don’t know what it is that I’m so attracted to about her but she’s always my go-to face. People often laugh at me when viewing my work as most of it is an illustration of Cheryl. Just to me, she’s otherworldly.. without sounding like some crazed fangirl. Usually the subject is very beautiful to me, or they have something about them that I find interesting whether they be an actor or musician.
How do you choose your collaborators?
I recently collaborated with a fellow artist and good friend James Bell who took one of my illustrations and incorporated it into one of his own gorgeous paintings. The result was stunning as his work is the complete opposite to mine, from big bold colours to abstract brushes of paint. We’ll be collaborating a lot more in the future hopefully.
I don’t think I’ve taken on a commission and enjoyed doing it. Whenever somebody hears you’re an artist, they jump on you and ask for a drawing. Most often this person does not appreciate art, or my work and will ask me to draw their baby, or their dog – and nothing annoys me more. I feel a lot of the time I’m frustrated with my own art but if I feel forced to draw something that doesn’t inspire me then I’ll feel unable to do it.
Self-motivation is key when working for yourself. Where do you find the drive to get your work done?
Sometimes I’ll wake up in a good mood and I’ll feel like I could create some beautiful little doodle to post to my instagram – seeing as that’s the only portfolio I have right now. But other times I feel as though I’m stuck and unable to find any inspiration to create any art at all. I’m quite a poorly motivated person so if I’m not in the mood to do anything I’ll sit in my PJs all day and do nothing but watch my cooking shows on youtube.. Although I’m quite fond of going on hikes – so having the Peak District on your doorstep is quite handy. It’s nice to just find a spot on a nice day with your sketchbook and doodle all day in the Peak.
If you had words of advice to those wanting to illustrate and create what would they be?
Don’t EVER give up. Create art whenever you can. If you’re like me, you come from a working family and you grow up believing that you can never achieve anything from art, and you should settle for any job you can get just to move out, start a family and die in the same old little town you were born in…then say to yourself ‘Fuck that!’ Don’t give in to that system, do well in school, study art and create until you die. Don’t think about the money. There’s nothing wrong being a ‘struggling artist’ as long as you keep doing YOU, and doing what you love the most.
You’re incredibly humble about your talents but you have had several celebrity endorsements along the way (Cheryl Cole and more recently Rose McGowan to name but two) – how does this make you feel?
It puts me on an instant high. I don’t think I have ever felt like a real artist so when somebody you respect/admire so much, Rose McGowan calls you a ‘true artist’ and thanks you for your art then it’s incredible overwhelming.
What does the future hold for Ashley?
I’ve been set back quite a bit these past few months and it’s mentally drained me. I’m about to move down Kent for that quiet seaside life. Hopefully there I can start a new chapter and start creating real art. I’ve always wanted to be down in London but it’s scary to me. I’ve spent quite a bit of time there and I still can’t get used to the tube, I’m either getting lost, going the wrong way and ending up somewhere in the completely opposite direction to where I was going or I’ll give up and sit on the floor and cry. I’ve quite a few friends in London so it’ll be nice to have them as neighbours.
Now let’s say for a moment that Mariah Carey was your divine inspiration. What song of hers would you listen to to get your creative juices flowing?
I’ve just had to youtube some of her stuff because I couldn’t name any of her songs. I’m quite a sucker for a catchy pop song and her ‘Heartbreaker’ sounds good! I feel like I’ve heard it before when I was younger but I never really jumped on the Mariah Carey bandwagon. (Don’t tell Michael)…
