Artist celebrates local landmarks
Friday June 11, 2010
When Louisa Cookson stopped working as an architect to be a full-time mum she never realised it would lead to another career.
The 29-year-old from Findon Road, Shepherds Bush, has depicted local landmarks in a whole new light with her digital illustrations - and it all took off thanks to a garden centre.
Following stints as an architect in both Glasgow and London, she became a mum a year and a half ago and started seeing the area she lived in completely differently.
"For the first time I really appreciated having places like Ravenscourt Park so near to me because this is where I'd take my daughter all the time," she said. "When you stop working you really notice places and take stock."
She spent a lot of time at Ginkgo Garden Centre, next to the park, and showed some of her sketches to the owner.
He was an instant fan and bought a picture of the centre to hang inside its cafe. Customers then started to notice the artwork on the wall and this led to the headmaster of Ravenscourt Prep School requesting an illustration that he could use to send out on cards to parents.
Now, Louisa has depicted many H&F scenes in her particular stylish way.
"I love this area of London. There is so much to draw inspiration from, especially Ravenscourt Park, Lyric Square and Shepherds Bush Market," she said.
Her artwork has have seen her transform such areas into a kind of caricature of themselves, playing with perspective and distortion, while remaining instantly recognisable.
"I take lots of pictures of an area I like, sketch them at home and scan these in to my computer before layering them on top of each other with colour, which ends up giving a watercolour effect," she said.
"I like exaggerating people or scenes and emphasising certain elements so it becomes a sort of muddled environment but one which actually reflects the area I'm depicting."
Louisa, originally from Scotland, added: "I also drew inspiration from an artist called Helen Baird at Clerkenwell art market whose watercolour paintings of London life caught my eye and got me thinking about my own area."
"I love London markets and my next project will be Spitalfields and Borough. But at the moment I'm working on a piece for someone who wanted an illustration of Askew Road.
"It is the ideal setting because again there is so much going on and the client has told me what shops and buildings he wants to be included. Because I distort scenes, dimensions do not really apply so this is perfect."
Her art style takes up to 70 hours to create just one piece but the results are impressive and Louisa will be taking full commissions from now on.
To see more of Louisa's work, visit www.louisacookson.com (opens new window).
