Artist, Digital Illustrator & Qualified Art Teacher, teaching and mentoring art to all levels

Find out more about Rebecca

• When did you start practising? How did this passion find you?

  I have always drawn, from the day I can remember. When I was a kid, I was fascinated with how to make things, and my family wasn't creative at all, so I had to figure it out on my own. But I think this also gave me an abundance of freedom to discover what I wanted to make and challenge myself from the start of what was important to me.

• Which artists or works affect you the most?

  Where the Wild Things are, The Little Prince and The Snowman are my favourite works. I love dream-like stories, so naturally I have fallen in love with Surrealism in captivating dreams and other worlds to fall into. In recent years, I have started working with visual comic books, mainly inspired by Maria Medem.

• What are the qualities and skill required to succeed in this area?

  Drawing from your imagination to create your own art is not an easy feat, but if you have ideas and you don't know how to draw them, that is still a great way to start. The technical skill of drawing is something I always bring into my digital lessons. The art of observation is the foundation that will support all of your understanding. But what it really comes down to is patience, perseverance and resilience. These are the skills you need to succeed. You will be surprised at how much you improve when you allow yourself to learn.

• What is the most valuable advice you can give to help someone stay focused on creative projects?

  I have this with many of my students, but I think it is important to note that you cannot be 100% focused and creative all of the time. Breaks and time off are essential, to gather insight and inspiration, you need to experience the world around you. So, I do say to my students to just listen to what they need. If they are finding it hard to persevere with projects, I tell them to work on short-term and long-term goals interdependently. Sometimes, I even give them tasks of working ten minutes a day on a new drawing, which is great because it takes a sense of judgment and criticism out of the way and allows them to experiment freely.

• How would you describe your passion; how does it make you feel?

  I have a passion for creating my personal work but also a passion for teaching, so I will speak of these separately.
  
  
  My personal work is an expression of me, and the essence of all my experiences. Being able to reach a point in my career where I am adept in my knowledge and understanding of processes, techniques and ability to create what I want, and to evoke this, is an incredible feeling.
  
  
  I want my students to feel empowered. To create what they want, and to know how to do it. I love teaching, and forming good relationships with my students. It is great to see my students progress, it's such a wonderful feeling, and I am so proud of them.

• What creative achievements are you particularly proud of?

  I think for any artist, selling work and exhibiting work is an achievement in its own right. But even more so for me, it has been my children's picture book that I have been working on for the past three years that I am particularly proud of. I have had to redraw the story three times as I have continuously improved and advanced my processes. I am so excited to publish my picture book.

• Have you ever been surprised by a student; by their ability or quick progression?

  I am always impressed by each of my students for many reasons. One of my students had very little understanding of drawing, but his constant willingness to learn and improve has got him to where he is today, the quality of work over a year is now outstanding, and he is working on his very first comic book.

• Being a Superprof is an art! What is your secret?

  Understanding your students, what they need and are looking for, listening to that, and identifying how you can help them is essential. Training as a teacher taught me so much, patience and high expectations are so important as my students start to surprise themselves with what they can do. I just show them how to get there and then they're on their way. I love teaching, I love art, and that comes through in their results. I work with children and adults of all ages, take a look at the video below to see how my students are getting on.