The thing about finding artists from our coloring books is that you never know what to expect from seeing the one illustration they submitted to us. What I found when I looked up Polly Lindsay was quite a surprise. Her art is pretty out of the ordinary from what we normally post here, but I got a little crush on her unexpected style of cutting and layering paper.
DA: Hello, Polly! What kinda cool stuff have you been doing?
PL: Hi from across the pond! I’ve been enjoying doing some freelance work at Blast Design in London where I’ve been creating illustrations made entirely of paper for an on going campaign for the National Maritime Museum. It’s exciting to see my work in magazines and on the museums home page, there’s a possibility the next campaign will make it on a London bus too! I also had the opportunity to assist the amazingly talented paper illustrator Owen Gildersleeve on a commission from Esquire magazine which gave me a great insight of the freelancing world. I’m currently part of a project organised by illustrator Thea ZL Wilkins where 54 artists from around Brighton are each allocated a playing card to illustrate, which will then be printed into a beautiful pack of cards. I’ve also just sent off my first piece of commissioned artwork to America!
DA: Nice! You have a pretty unique way of creating art by using the paper itself. What got you interested in creating these special type of papercrafts?
PL: Ever since I was young I always loved doodling and making things with my hands. During my design degree, I found myself on my computer more and more and during the end I got a bit fed up of every thing being so digitalised. I chose to focus my final project on handcrafted design which is the first time I’d ever used paper craft and I’ve been making things out of paper ever since.
DA: You’re a good fit for DA then, since we love everything done analog here. The depth in your pieces from all the layers of paper is pretty awesome. What is the process of creating these like?
PL: Although it’s a bit fiddly, I really enjoy creating the layered pieces. I start by carefully choosing the colour scheme, I feel this is a really important step as it creates the mood of the piece. Once I’ve sketched out the rough image, I start by cutting the top layer, which is then use as a sort of template for drawing and cutting the next layer. After all the layers are cut I use double sided foam to create the depth you see in the image. It’s really as simple as that. This process allows me to improvise as well, for example when I created the forest series, It wasn’t till I had cut the first layer that I decided on the next part – almost like a paper cut doodle!
DA: I love to hear that your work has that element of spontaneity. 😀 Do you have any habit that you do while you’re creating art?
PL: I live in the seaside town of Brighton where my desk overlooks a colourful row of houses. I love to watch the seagulls playing on the roofs opposite as I work.
DA: What would be your favorite project to work on?
PL: I’ve really enjoyed all the work I have done recently but as my working space is quite limited, my pieces tend to be on the small scale. I would love to have the opportunity to work on a huge scale installation using only paper.
DA: Name something you love, and why.
PL: Vegetables. I’m not quite sure how my obsession of these tasty delights came about, but I think its magic how you can plant the tiniest seed and in a couple of months and a bit of love, you will be enjoying your very own salad. I even started a project called Veg of the Day inspired by the beauty of fruits and vegetables.
DA: Yummy! Now for show and tell time, have you colored in your page of our Coloring Book?
PL: Yes, I did and it made me feel like a kid again. I haven’t actually got out the colouring pencils for a long time so it was refreshing to be playing with a different medium. Please excuse the clashing colours!
Thanks Doodlers Anonymous, keep on doodling!
