Liz Rowland illustrations have and air of nostalgia about them. Relying on gouache, with a touch of watercolor and acrylic, her style of illustrating is naive, allowing simple shapes and patterns to guide her work. “I’m an incredibly nostalgic person,” admitted Rowland in an interview with Māgoa Magazine, adding that her sense of nostalgia influences her color palettes as she strongly associates places with particular colors. “I’ll usually make notes of color combinations and refer back to them later,” she says.
An observer of the world around her, her art should be seen in its social context. Based in London, Rowland has been moving around quite a lot in the past few years, exploring different cultures both in person and on paper. “I am interested in culture and identity, the different ways we live and celebrate the things that make us so diverse,” she says.
In fact, it was during one of her initial travels that she rediscovered her love for illustrating. “I was 21 years old, living in London, trying to figure things out,” she says. “Eventually I started to question what was important and took some time out to travel. During the trip, I spent most days painting, frantically recording everything in my little sketchbook. I ended up in Australia, where I stayed for a couple of years. I found a studio, which helped me to take my work more seriously. I started putting some images out into the world, which led me to my agent and slowly work came in.”
Now, her work is admired both online and offline, with esteemed clients like Vogue, The Telegraph, and Soho House all taking notice of her. We recommend you take their lead:
