AB Designs is my creative practice, where I bring together illustration, traditional art, digital design, and experimental techniques to create work that is both visually expressive and personally meaningful.

My practice is driven by curiosity and a willingness to experiment. I enjoy exploring different materials and processes, from graphite, ink, watercolour, and printmaking to digital illustration and mixed-media techniques. Rather than limiting myself to one particular style, I allow the subject and concept of each project to influence the way I approach the work.

A strong part of my practice is exploring emotion, identity, mental health, and human experience. I am particularly interested in how visual elements such as typography, symbolism, texture, colour, and layering can communicate ideas and feelings that are difficult to express through words alone. Alongside this more conceptual work, I also enjoy creating character illustrations, portraits, observational studies, and commissioned artwork.

AB Designs represents my ongoing development as an artist and designer, a space where I can experiment, challenge myself, and continue discovering new ways of communicating ideas through visual art.

AB Designs Favourite:

A large-scale mixed-media portrait 100cm by 95cm depicting a female face, created through a combination of pencil, biro, fine liner pens, watercolour, and inks. I wanted the portrait to explore the complexity of identity and the different layers that can exist within a person, using a range of materials and mark-making techniques to build a visually fragmented yet recognisable representation of the face.

I experimented with brushes, string, and a sponge to create abstract textures, movement, and depth throughout the composition. These more unpredictable marks contrast with the controlled detail of the pencil and fine liner, reflecting the balance between structure and spontaneity within the piece. I also incorporated scanned extracts from books, introducing fragments of existing text and imagery into the portrait and adding another layer of visual information.

The female face remains the central point of recognition within the work, while the surrounding textures and fragmented elements suggest the different experiences, thoughts, influences, and emotions that contribute to an individual’s identity. The combination of traditional drawing, fluid media, experimental mark-making, and found imagery allows the portrait to become more than a straightforward representation, instead exploring the idea of identity as something layered, complex, and continually shaped by our surroundings and experiences.