Friday Follower - Allison

Many of you will recognise the lovely work of this week's Friday Follower. Allison Langton is the illustrator of the images you see in Australian House and Garden each month and works under the business name Bigprint Little. We "met" when we both enrolled in Holly Becker's Blogging Your Way class earlier this year and have been following each other's blog ever since.

Let's get to know Allison a little better:

1. What is "Bigprint Little"?

I'm a freelance textile designer and Illustrator and registered "Bigprint Little" in 2008. I had been trading under my own name (Allison Langton) for many years but decided to formalise the business with a name change. I design textile prints for design studios — mostly for kids and mainly for the homewares market. I also dabble in a little Illustration work.

2. What inspires you?
I love spending afternoons in the library. Books are a big part of my inspiration fix. From art books and children's books, to historical books and biographies to books about motivation and brainstorming. I also love magazines and although I've had to cut back on my subscriptions over the years (it got a bit out of control for a while) there are many that inspire me. I also get inspired by taking myself on artist dates - like Julia Cameron describes in The Artist's Way. To get out and about and really LOOK and see the world then document my findings is tremendously inspiring.

3. What is your design background?
I studied Textile Technology for a year before changing fields and obtaining a diploma in Studio Textiles at the Melbourne Institute of Textiles (now RMIT). I then completed the BA course in Textile Design at RMIT majoring in print. After uni I worked in a homeware store in sales and visual merchandising whilst building up my freelance business.

4. What advice do you have for budding illustrators?
I still consider myself a budding Illustrator! However, I can think of a couple of things that have helped me along the way. Patience is one of those things. It takes time to put together a good body of work, and then even more time to get your work seen by the right people - I'm fortunate that I don't rely solely on my Illustration work to earn a living.

Don't be discouraged by rejection. It may just be that your style is not right for that particular project. Be professional. Never be late submitting work. Develop your own style. Love what you do. Make friends with other artists. They will be your support champions and you will be theirs. Give, don't just take. And finally, draw a lot. Every day if you can. This is advice I need to follow more too.

5. What keeps you busy when you're not illustrating?

"Bigprint Little" keeps me pretty busy but I'm a real introvert so when I have some free time I just like to hang out at home with a good book.

6. Would you share something interesting about you that isn't common knowledge?

I actually wanted to be a textile technician and after finishing high school I started studying Textile Technology. I had hoped to work in a lab testing fibres and fabrics for things like dye fastness, tensile strength and pill resistance, etc. Then I met a girl who was studying textile design. She was a weaver and made the most beautiful cloth on her loom. And that was it, I was captivated, and transferred to a design based program the following year. I do miss those white lab coats though!

That's a wonderful story Allison. Thank you for sharing so much with us. I can't say that I miss lab coats myself.

Be sure to visit Allison's Blog.
Images are courtesy of Bigprint Little.