Sophie’s playful prints are all about making the ordinary extraordinary
Who
is Sophie J Morrison?
Sophie J Morrison is an Illustrator & Designer currently based in Glasgow, having recently moved from Dundee where she studied Illustration at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, graduating in 2019.
Sophie specialises in digital based illustration, however she also dabbles in other media such as risograph, screen printing, and paper collage. Her work takes inspiration from everyday life and objects like food, flowers, and folk, which she uses to create weird ‘wee’ pictures that can be put on walls or on t-shirts.
Why
did Sophie first get into illustration and design?
Sophie: “I’m not totally sure but I think it was mostly music. I grew up immersed in the music/skate culture of the late 90s and early 2000s and I don’t think I ever outgrew that. I was and still am really into punk/pop-punk and I think what often drew me to a particular band was the visual side of them, even now if I see a really cool album cover or band tee I’ll make sure to give them a listen.
I would always redraw what I saw inside album sleeves and when I played in some really bad bands when I was a teenager, the thing I enjoyed most was designing logos and make-believe merchandise. A few years after finishing school and working rubbish jobs that brought me no joy I decided to have a go at doing an NC, which is a beginner course in Illustration at college in Glasgow, which continued onto a Diploma level course.
My experience at college introduced me to so many options for the type of work an illustrator could do, the projects we did were very varied and they really encouraged us to try new things, which helped me find confidence in my work. I felt like there was still a lot I wanted to learn and experience so then I ended up going to art school and I don’t regret a thing.”
“What I like to do is take one of these everyday things and make them a little bit abstract through my use of colour and manipulating form.”
What
inspires the imagery in Sophie’s prints?
Sophie: “I think everyday things like food, nature, animals, the human body etc. I think my work focuses a lot on colour, so often what I like to do is take one of these everyday things and make them a little bit abstract through my use of colour and manipulating form. A lot of the time I like to limit myself to the size of the canvas so that I have to change the form of an object to fit, usually the end result will be a fun, abstract depiction of an otherwise uninteresting thing.”
How
does Sophie choose which illustrations to make into prints?
Sophie: “The good thing about social media for creatives is the constant feedback you get whenever you post new content. Most of the designs that I sell as prints are things I’ve posted on my Instagram that I’ve gotten good feedback on. Sometimes people will take the time to comment that they’d love to have something as a physical print which is really encouraging as well.
When I was a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, we were lucky enough to have a risograph printer in the illustration department which I took full advantage of. I really enjoy the explorative element of printing with riso, and also how restrictive it can be. A lot of the prints I sell I’ve printed myself using the medium, so often when I’m thinking of making a new print for my shop I consider which of my illustrations would work well if they were to be printed using riso.”
“Usually the end result will be a fun, abstract depiction of an otherwise uninteresting thing.”
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