Laura Burnett

Tell us about yourself and a fun fact

Hi, I’m Laura, an illustrator based in the UK. I became heavily interested in art during middle school where I would doodle in the back of my books rather than doing work. I ended up taking illustration further and majored my degree in it.

Fun fact about me. When I’m nervous it’s easy for me to get my words wrong and my sentences all tangled. During my college interview I was asked who were some of my favourite artists and what I had meant to say was ‘Jhonen Vasquez’ the creator behind Invader Zim but what I managed to say instead was ‘Jason Voorhees’ I will never forget the interviewees face when he had realised what I said. Thankfully we had a good laugh about it.

What made you get into the world of artwork and creativity?

Mostly cartoons. With one of my biggest inspirations being the ‘Beatrix Potter’ shorts I had on video. Which were animations in a watercolour style telling the story of her books. I used to rewatch the shorts over and over though I used to have to fast forward when the farmer ‘Mr. McGregor’ would make his appearance because he scared me so much!

Where do you get your inspiration from when creating new artwork?

I get inspired from many different places, I often take pictures of interesting/beautiful scenery to reference when it comes to my own work. I watch cartoons and movies, with a recommendation from me being ‘WolfWalkers,’ and I play games that help me stay inspired. The biggest one though is looking at others artwork. There are so many incredible artists online with such vastly different styles that there is always so much to be wowed at.

What has been your favourite project to work on?

One of my first ever watercolour paintings was one that I did for my foundation degrees final project. And I went big. Maybe a bit brash at the time given my lack of experience and the fact I had only painted small bunnies at the time but I wanted to do the full warren in a sort of ‘Where’s Wally’ kind of style. If I remember correctly the size of the paper I was working on was around A1 and I was drawing tiny rabbits on it inside a massive warren filled with all sorts of secrets.

Needless to say it was brutal, I don’t think I perhaps realised how big of a project it would be and I did run into a lot of problems but oddly enough I found it incredibly fun. The mistakes were frustrating but with watercolour you’re able to somewhat work them back and try again, something I got very used to doing. That piece of artwork, though tiring, really got me into watercolour and got me to want to try and paint other complex environments.

I don’t think I would be in the same position now had I not done that painting.

Small indie businesses shout out! Please name your fave three small indie businesses.

Gladly!! ‘That Little bag shop‘  who make the cutest little wholesome bags such as ‘Little bag of hope’ and ‘Little bag of friendship’ just lovely messages which make for a perfect gift to a loved one.

‘OrielsHollow‘ who make lovely mushroom themes prints with my favourite being a fireworks display being shown over a town of little mushroom houses.

And last but not least ‘FallowMoon‘ who paints absolutely lovely designs on wood slice ornaments ranging from Mushrooms (my personal favourite) to flowers to beautiful night skies.

Subscribe by August 31st 2021 to get our ADVENTURE themed stationery box featuring Laura Burnett’s design.

Buy our SEASIDE themed stationery box featuring our gorgeous seaside notepad and postcards designed by Laura Burnett.