Sophie Melissa's rich textured illustrations with limited colours and simple shapes

"I enjoy finding a balance between analogue and digital techniques," she told Creative Boom. "I combine them by starting each illustration as a pencil drawing, and once created digitally I overlay colour and traditional textures I’ve made through mono printing, these add an imperfect nature to the clean digital shapes."

Since graduating in July 2017 with first-class honours in Illustration from Falmouth University, Sophie has freelanced for clients including Vogue, Liberty London, Fujitsu, Wired, Tesco Magazine, Ebury Press and Scouting Association.

"It’s definitely been a learning curve but I have really enjoyed the transition. Personally, staying determined, and finding the time each month to create personal pieces has kept me inspired, and allows me to constantly develop my portfolio, workflow and colour palettes," she adds.

Her process begins with a cartridge paper sketchbook for her drawings and a 2B pencil. Then, once these are scanned in, she uses a Wacom Intuos Tablet connected to her MacBook Pro and Photoshop to create the digital artwork, adding colour and texture.

"I take a lot of inspiration from the composition and layout of art deco posters from the 1930s, which I studied in my first year at university. I also find stepping away from my desk, whether that’s strolling around London, spending time in nature, or returning to Falmouth to spend time by the sea, really helps inspire me to create."

Discover more: www.sophiemelissa.com.