NATALIE THOMAS

Natalie Thomas is one of those talented line work artists that you have to really stop and look at their art to fully appreciate the amount of detail, expression and the quality of every line on the paper. Her ability to capture emotions, fabric textures and movement only with a pen is admirable and I am really excited to get to know her work better.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Natalie. I am an artist that primarily uses ink drawing pens and am a carrier of pen and paper wherever I go. I love to create intricate line art of figures and for me the more detail involved the better.

2. Are you self-taught or did you go to university?

I am a self-taught artist. I did go to university for media and production related subjects which, given the visual medium, I believe has fed into my art. I was always excited to sketch everything out including costume ideas, sets and shots – which looking back should have been a clue that my great love may lay elsewhere.

3. What got you interested in art?

I’ve always had an interest in art and was always scribbling something from a toddler onwards. I actually used to sketch buildings more than people. When it became more was when I stumbled upon a life drawing class some years ago which did not fit the cliché of what I expected one to be. It was hosted in an art shop for starters. There was a fantastic playlist, wild over the top costumes, unusual models, drinks and was very social. Even better, they were happy to advise but not once did they tell me what I was doing was wrong. I think the problem with classes sometimes, even going back to school days, can be that they want everyone to draw the exact same way. Give people the basic tools they need but give them a chance to develop their own style. Once I knew that this type of event and drawing session was out there, I started searching out more of them and over time developed my drawing style and really found a medium that I loved. I also connected with a lot of other artists that inspire me constantly.

I am a bit of a people-watcher to the point that I will fall in love with perfect strangers on the street (from an artist’s viewpoint) because of the way they move or their unusual outfit or because they don’t look like anyone else. Stuck on public transport, I am happy to pick someone out and imagine how I would go about drawing them. I also have a bit of an obsession with sculpture, statues and especially classic mourning statues. In fact, whenever I have travelled abroad, I’ve always sought out that cities famous cemeteries. In the past I have found it very helpful when looking for an interesting subject to draw but didn’t have people to draw from. Pick a famous statue and it is bound to have had millions of photos taken of it from every angle imaginable which means I can find exactly what I’m looking for if it is too far for me to see in person. While in London I can regularly be found in the sculpture and plaster cast galleries of the V&A. 5. Looking at your work, in the past year alone your illustrations have become a lot more expressive and detailed, do you practice a lot?

Given the situation that we have all been in over the past year being in lock down, I am fortunate enough that a lot of the creatives that I know started pretty much immediately trying to find a way to take their events online. So rather than fitting in arts outings where I can outside of work, I have been able to join others through various social media platforms and Patreon subscriptions where I get content such as live online life drawing sessions or access to model photo shoots and I have been in contact with other artists from all over the world. It has meant that outside of other personal projects there is always something interesting for me to join in on multiple times a week, even now. Having all of that at my fingertips has meant practice, practice, practice - so I feel I have definitely developed more in the past year. The fact that it also kept me relatively sane was just a bonus.

I have done bigger pieces with crowds that I love doing and want to do more of but I would say one of my absolute favourites is actually pretty recent. I completed it in the new year and it is an A2 piece with every inch filled with head and shoulder portraits of people in face masks. Given what we have gone through in the past year or so (and are still going through) I wanted to create something that in the distant future you could pinpoint the time that it was done. My little bit of history and the human face of it. I put out a request on my Instagram asking for volunteers to send me a selfie of them wearing a mask that they were happy for me to use as reference. The finished piece has 61 portraits - including myself hidden in there. It’s probably the longest period of time that I have spent on an artwork too, so I am very proud of it.

7. And what is a piece of advice you would give to people who want to become artists?

I would say - just start. I believe that everyone has their own type of creativity in them and you just need to find your medium, what you like best. When I switched to ink pens during a class because I was in a low-lit basement venue and couldn’t see what I had drawn in pencil, it was an instant game changer for me. I have seen others who have never drawn before just show up at events and draw over and over and over and their own style starts to emerge. It got to the point where I could pick their sketches out of a group. There is nothing I love more than being in a group and seeing all the vastly different viewpoints and interpretations of a subject. There is no wrong way to go about this.