Birmingham based Helen Green is a freelance illustrator and lifelong fan of music and all things glam. Her GIF depicting the many faces and hairstyles of David Bowie went viral in 2016 after the singer’s death and she counts Lady Gaga amongst her many fans.
When did your interest for illustration start?
I’ve loved drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, partly thanks to my Granddad who was like a mentor to me and always encouraging. He, along with my childhood TV heroes Neil Buchanan and Tony Hart, kept my creativity alive. Then in my early teens, I remember being heavily inspired by Jamie Hewlett’s work (Gorillaz in particular) and Ray Zell (Pandora) and used to try and emulate their illustration styles.
I think it was around 2011 when I took a deeper interest in illustration as a potential career path. This was during my time on an Art Foundation course when I was testing different areas of image making and trying to figure out what I wanted to do at university. The work I was producing at that time was very much leaning towards fashion illustration, and so was my interest in illustrators; David Downtown, Danny Roberts and Jason Brooks among my early favourites.
How would you define your style?
I usually struggle with that question as I feel like my work shifts and varies in style. It depends on my mood and the subject I’m drawing. Sometimes I will work a piece until it’s super polished and packed with detail. Other times I feel I need to loosen up with a quicker, sketchier style, more suitable for the subject. What is consistent though is the choice of materials. My go-to materials are watercolour, pencil and Photoshop.
I like my work to be versatile. I love the digital, but it’s in my nature to draw and paint by hand and I’ll never abandon that. So I always try to keep a hand-made element in everything I do.
What is your creative process from inception to creation?
I usually start by collecting image references to work from (separate references for the face, pose, outfit, background elements). And with any project, I always start with pencil roughs to help visualise an idea or composition. My final illustrations usually start in pencil. Sometimes I have a sketch that I can trace over using a light pad. Once I’m happy with the pencil stage I then move on to watercolour, blocking in areas first and then layering with details. I then scan the finished illustration and continue adding to it in Photoshop.
Your Bowie gif went global. Were you surprised by the reach it had?
Completely. It felt so surreal knowing that something I created in my own quiet little space would be seen and shared by millions of people around the world, not just online, but on television. Most bizarre of all for me was seeing the gif being introduced by Nick Offerman at the 2016 Webby Awards and hearing the crowd applaud it on the big screen. What I’m not surprised about of course is that so many people love David Bowie and used the gif as a way to share that! Whether Bowie himself saw it and liked it (or not) I’ll never know.
Bowie features heavily in your work. What attracted you to draw him?
I love drawing faces and capturing likenesses, the more distinctive and angular the better. I’d been a fan of Bowie for many years and always thought he would be an interesting face to draw. It was around 2012/2013 when I had a go my first portrait of him, based on a 1976 promo shot from ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’, around the same time I was listening frequently to the ‘Low’ album. It wasn’t the best likeness but that’s often the case with my first attempts. Also I just simply enjoy drawing my favourite artists, some more often than others. Like back in my early teens when I was making fan art of my favourite bands, it’s just something I haven’t grown out of.
Which piece of work has given you the most satisfaction in producing?
I have a few in mind so here’s my top 5!
The #BowieForever animation in January 2017, which marked a year since Bowie passed away and shortly after what would’ve been his 70th Birthday. The David Bowie social media was first to upload the animation as they already knew what I was working on, and that was an honour. I was so happy with the reaction to it online too. A satisfying end result of many hours of drawing, painting and editing.
The Adam Buxton Podcast Artwork (2017). I was VERY happy to be asked by Adam Buxton (of whom I was already a fan) to create some new artwork for The Adam Buxton Podcast (of which I was already a fan) in time for the new 2017 episodes. Definitely one of my favourite commissions.
Heroes / Sukita gif. Just so satisfying to see hours of sketching come to life, almost literally. I really want to do more animated sketches like this.
Gaga x Superbowl 51. It was just one of those pieces that came together very smoothly, and I was really proud with how it turned out. Gaga liked it too.
Fabulous Bowie. I have other face-patterny pieces like this, but this one started them all off. So satisfying to make from start to finish, and there’s a lot more of these that I want to do.
What inspires you to keep going and how do you keep yourself motivated?
I feel inspired when I see what other illustrators are up to. Their productivity and achievements are pretty infectious and motivating for me. What keeps me motivated during a client project is knowing what the reward will be at the end; whether it’s seeing my work printed in a book or magazine, or on an LP cover. It’s like a light at the end of a tunnel – particularly if the project is very lengthy or stressful.
What has been your most memorable client experience, good or bad?
These are probably my top three (all good):
My first big project (for Sky Arts). I was asked to extend my Bowie GIF so that it was long enough to feature as the main graphic spot in a promotional trailer for Sky Arts’ David Bowie Weekend in November 2015. It was the first time I saw my work on TV.
‘David Bowie: Fame, Fashion, Photography’. I was asked to create a gif to help promote a Bowie photography exhibition situated on Heddon Street, right opposite the Ziggy Stardust plaque. My client, Emma Carney, was super lovely and it was amazing to be invited along to the gallery on the opening night to meet her team, one of the exhibition photographers Denis O’Regan, and the curator of the exhibition Susie Howard.
My projects for Lady Gaga / The Born This Way Foundation were definitely most memorable. But the top one was probably the 9′ x 20′ tent wall designs I did for the Born Brave Bus tailgate tour which travelled around America through early 2013. I was still at university at that stage and had to use their computers to edit the large Illustrator files as I didn’t have a Mac or the right software at home. When the Born Brave Bus headed to Times Square New York I was so excited to be able to watch a live feed and take a snapshot of my work in situ.
That sounds hellish! Ok here goes..
City – Based on previous trips away there; New York.
Film – I’d instinctively play it safe with a beloved classic such as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (it’d be this or The Wizard of Oz ..or Labyrinth). Otherwise I’d be happy with any of these: Zoolander, Blades of Glory, Mrs Doubtfire.
Book – Parsnips, Buttered by Joe Lycett or James Acaster’s Classic Scrapes.
Album – If it’s a Bowie album and I HAD to choose one right this second, Aladdin Sane. But if I had to avoid the most obvious, perhaps Roxy Music The Early Years or The Best of Talking Heads.
helengreenillustration.com
