Computer Arts - UK (2020-05)

2020 ILLUSTRATOR HOTLIST

As a child, Kieran Glennon

would always be drawing

“usually mocking” pictures

of “silly wee characters,”

friends and family members. He

graduated from his illustration degree

course last year, and says he’s still

“creating every day no matter what”.

Birmingham-based Kieran usually

starts with an “article/subject that

makes me laugh, involves something

I’m interested in or something that

puts an illustrative image in my

head immediately. There isn’t much

planning really. I just begin drawing,

doodling or playing around. I go with

the flow.” Drawing with Procreate on

an iPad Pro with an Apple pencil, he

then works on tightening the image

and composition in Photoshop.

Kieran’s first commission, with

The Big Issue, was “very, very exciting.

I had only just graduated. I was

thinking ‘this is it. It’s happening’.

It was a perfect brief, too: The

correlation between using emojis and

having more sex.”

He draws largely on humour,

name-checking David Shrigley and

Joan Cornellà as his image-making

heroes – the former leading him to

paint every day during university.

“I’m also inspired by illustrators that

use architectural factors, shape and

unique, humorous characters,” he

says. “The work I do now is just a very

polished version of the things I would

come up with as a kid.”

kieranglennon.co.uk

Kieran Glennon

STRONG SHAPES MARRIED WITH A SENSE OF HUMOUR