Origami Girl
Origami Girl is a piece from the last exhibition I took part in earlier this year, Explorations in Colour, which was about creativity and vibrancy.
It was drawn with ink and coloured with thin layers of ink wash to allow a luminosity to shine through. I was working on several pieces getting ready for the show and I’d had a flicker of an idea about the composition, so did a few practice drafts before getting it as I wanted. I tend to work on two or three pieces at a time and this was done over a couple of days – and late nights – with another few pieces that were in the show. It came together really quickly; I like it when stuff falls into place like that.
I wanted to get across the alchemy of creativity; taking something everyone uses, like paper, and transforming it into something imaginative and amazing. There’ve been some really nice things said about Origami Girl; people find her uplifting, which is a really great compliment.
Working on creative projects is a balancing act; I’m still working full time on top of setting up a creative studio. It’s my passion to make work people get something out of, and to tell stories I’d like to hear. I think if you can’t get energised and buzzed about your work, shelve it and work on something that does. So far this year I’ve illustrated two comic books, designed an EP cover for a great band – Hellabore – and put on a duo exhibition. It’s amazingly good fun and I’m seeing more artistic opportunities open up. 2018 is gearing up to be a good ‘un, so hopefully I can focus on creative stuff full time.
Setting up Magoria Studios earlier this year gave me and my collaborators a focus to keep working hard to get these mad ideas out in the world. We have a bunch of scripts and concept art that is growing our range of comics and illustrated books, and we’re collaborating with artists and writers to make interesting and imaginative works.
If I had unlimited budget and time, I’d have got plenty of comics out by now. I’m working on a mammoth project at the moment, looking at about 100 pages per issue. It’s epic! The dream is to have a full creative studio making animated feature films; think Studio Ghibli, but based in Notts. Give me a few years and I’ll get there.
@adamwillisartist
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