Cherith Harrison is an illustrator who works from home in Edinburgh . Her contemporary Scottish themed products range from her popular tea...
Cherith Harrison is an illustrator who works from home in Edinburgh. Her contemporary Scottish themed products range from her popular tea towels featuring wild rabbits and birds, to her Scottie dog canvas tote bags, mugs and animal themed bunting. All of Cherith's designs are adaptations from her original screen printed artwork, which she illustrates and prints herself. Here we speak to Cherith Harrison about her love for illustration, her influences, her upcoming projects and more.
Dee: Could you tell our readers a little about yourself and how you got into illustration?
Cherith: I’ve been drawing ever since I was a tot, it sounds cliché but it’s true! I used to love drawing people’s faces the most. My mum loves to paint and so she always encouraged me when I was little, to experiment with different mediums, from collage, sketching and painting. Not surprisingly, art was my favourite subject in school and so applying to get into art college was a no-brainer. After my foundation year I chose to specialise in graphic design which I absolutely loved - I learned lots of important mark making processes like collography and screen printing - which I still do at the Edinburgh Printmakers.
Dee: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Cherith: I draw inspiration from nature, its wildlife and of course - animals! I love how like people, they too have their own individual personalities and characteristics - which I try hard to capture in my designs.
I would say that the contrast of growing up in a small, countryside town to living in a busy city has been instrumental in shaping my illustration style too, as my often rural themed prints tend to have a modern, contemporary feel to them.
Dee: What do you enjoy the most about your work?
Cherith: There are lots of aspects of my job that I enjoy but simply seeing my designs transform into practical objects is what I enjoy the most.
Dee: What helps you to be more creative?
Cherith: Though I can take forever in getting the smallest thing done, being the worlds biggest day dreamer does have its creative advantages! Regardless of where I am or what I’m doing I can very easily get lost in thought - which is when I usually get my ideas, people watching and going for long walks is good for that!
Dee: Which is your favourite commercial collaboration and why?
Cherith: Ooooh this is a toughie! At the moment I’m loving the collaboration between LeSportSac and Rifle Paper - the designs Rifle Paper have produced for LeSportSac are gorgeous.
Dee: Can you tell us about any new projects you are working on?
Cherith: I’m updating my tote bag designs to go onto bigger bags with matching coloured handles, really looking forward to seeing how they all look when they come in! Currently getting my website re-developed as well so have been busy getting product photography sorted for that. I’m also looking into expanding my product ranges for 2016 too so have been spending a lot of time on product development, speaking with various manufacturers, getting costs and so on. I’ll need to start thinking about what I’m doing for my Spring/Summer 2016 collection soon as well, completely undecided on which animal to feature - I have a few ideas but cannot make up my mind - a nice dilemma to have I guess! If I could do both I would.
Dee: And the last question. What are your top 3 favourite things in life?
Cherith: Family/friends, wine and BBQs - preferably all at the same time.
Dee: Thank you Cherith for taking the time to answer our questions.
Folks, if you want to check out the entire range of home and gift products featuring Cherith's beautifully illustrated designs then visit her website - www.cherithharrison.com
Dee: Could you tell our readers a little about yourself and how you got into illustration?
Cherith: I’ve been drawing ever since I was a tot, it sounds cliché but it’s true! I used to love drawing people’s faces the most. My mum loves to paint and so she always encouraged me when I was little, to experiment with different mediums, from collage, sketching and painting. Not surprisingly, art was my favourite subject in school and so applying to get into art college was a no-brainer. After my foundation year I chose to specialise in graphic design which I absolutely loved - I learned lots of important mark making processes like collography and screen printing - which I still do at the Edinburgh Printmakers.
Dee: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Cherith: I draw inspiration from nature, its wildlife and of course - animals! I love how like people, they too have their own individual personalities and characteristics - which I try hard to capture in my designs.
I would say that the contrast of growing up in a small, countryside town to living in a busy city has been instrumental in shaping my illustration style too, as my often rural themed prints tend to have a modern, contemporary feel to them.
Dee: What do you enjoy the most about your work?
Cherith: There are lots of aspects of my job that I enjoy but simply seeing my designs transform into practical objects is what I enjoy the most.
Dee: What helps you to be more creative?
Cherith: Though I can take forever in getting the smallest thing done, being the worlds biggest day dreamer does have its creative advantages! Regardless of where I am or what I’m doing I can very easily get lost in thought - which is when I usually get my ideas, people watching and going for long walks is good for that!
Dee: Which is your favourite commercial collaboration and why?
Cherith: Ooooh this is a toughie! At the moment I’m loving the collaboration between LeSportSac and Rifle Paper - the designs Rifle Paper have produced for LeSportSac are gorgeous.
Dee: Can you tell us about any new projects you are working on?
Cherith: I’m updating my tote bag designs to go onto bigger bags with matching coloured handles, really looking forward to seeing how they all look when they come in! Currently getting my website re-developed as well so have been busy getting product photography sorted for that. I’m also looking into expanding my product ranges for 2016 too so have been spending a lot of time on product development, speaking with various manufacturers, getting costs and so on. I’ll need to start thinking about what I’m doing for my Spring/Summer 2016 collection soon as well, completely undecided on which animal to feature - I have a few ideas but cannot make up my mind - a nice dilemma to have I guess! If I could do both I would.
Dee: And the last question. What are your top 3 favourite things in life?
Cherith: Family/friends, wine and BBQs - preferably all at the same time.
Dee: Thank you Cherith for taking the time to answer our questions.
Folks, if you want to check out the entire range of home and gift products featuring Cherith's beautifully illustrated designs then visit her website - www.cherithharrison.com
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