Looking for something?

Tap outside or press close

InspirationIllustration

Collage illustrations that depict the homes of British writers

Do you love literature and always have your nose in a book? Spanish illustrator Amanda White specialises in depicting the homes of British writers, all through the beautiful technique of paper-cut collage.

Written By:
Paper-cut collage illustration of a snow-covered white house with a green door, red windows and decorative shutters, surrounded by black cats and a bare tree with a red bird

The textures, layers and colours really bring these imagined homes to life in her ongoing series entitled "Writer's Houses". As she explains: "It seems to have taken over my creative life right now and for the foreseeable future. They satisfy my cravings for England, my love of books and writers, my passion for architecture and landscape and my finickety interest in historical research (which probably dates back to my theatre design training all those years ago). And the means - recycling old magazines - allows me to indulge my overriding fondness for pattern.

"Each house is a challenge on so many levels: the composition, getting across the atmosphere of the place and its inhabitants, trying to find a moment in time to sum that place up. I concede I allow myself a lot of liberties! And anachronisms - sorry, but Keats's house always gets the commemorative plaque that obviously wasn't there in his day, simply because for me it looks bare without it!

"Anyway, this project has all the symptoms of becoming a chronic lifelong obsession. My list of 'possibles' and other peoples' suggestions (I am always open to them) just keeps growing."

Paper-cut collage illustration of a multi-storey Georgian townhouse with red-framed windows showing illustrated figures inside, and a woman standing at the red front door below
A paper-cut collage illustration of a grand Georgian stone house with ten sash windows, surrounded by a starry blue sky, green grounds with flowers, and figures in period dress
Dark wooden farmhouse with bright yellow windows surrounded by a wildflower meadow dotted with white flowers and a gnarled tree, paper-cut collage illustration
A white Georgian house with a blue door, framed by golden autumn trees and surrounded by a lush garden filled with wildflowers and wildlife, created in paper-cut collage style.
Paper-cut collage illustration of a wooden house nestled beneath a large sprawling tree, with a figure and dog in the garden and coastal scenery beyond
Paper-cut collage illustration of a brick cottage with a thatched roof surrounded by patterned gardens, stylised trees and a figure in white, set against a patchwork sky
Red-brick castle with two conical-roofed towers, weathervane and flag, surrounded by topiary and figures with dogs, illustrated in paper-cut collage style
Share

Further Reading