Abigail has been drawing all her life, and started illustrating professionally five years ago. She is currently working as a freelance illustrator and teaches children’s drawing classes in the summer and winter. Her work has been shown in many galleries such as The Museum of American Illustrators in New York and The Poe Museum of Richmond in the US and throughout London Paris and Madrid, and she has been featured in publications including Spectrum Fantastic Art, Art Fundamentals and Digital Artists.
On entering the contest:
A very close friend of mine, who is also an artist, dared me to enter the contest! As a Fluevog newborn (received my first pair as a New Year’s gift), I really dig the “Fluevog look”. I thought this brief would be a really from break from my current project!
On her winning design: For this advertisement and shoe, The Queen of Prussia Ludovika, I wanted to encompass two aspects I see in Fluevog shoes – strength and beauty – a perfect fit for a queen-themed ad! I originally wanted an historic Prussian queen as the subject, but because showing the shoes was so important, I thought it would be better to have a more modern outfit where the legs could be given more prominence. I’m also a fan of the Baroque movement, so a fabulous Baroque chair was the obvious choice for the throne. It took a few tries, but I came up with a sketch that would work for “Ludovika,” a strong, dark, and intriguing woman in a pose that would focus on her gorgeous footwear.
How long did the creative take for you to complete?:
I worked on this off and on for about two weeks. I knew I wanted a woman on a throne, but what took the longest was finding the right pose. I went through several sketches before deciding on this one. After that came final linework, inks, watercolor… and then the battle over the perfect fonts and layout ensued!
What is your creative process?:
When I’m working, I tend to have a classic monster movie playing, or a horror movie score on in the background. I like my work to have a balance of beauty and the macabre – something with Bela Lugosi or Vincent Price is always on. Over the years, the work of Tim Burton, Guillermo Del Toro, Don Bluth, and Hayao Miyazaki have influenced my style. Because I was trained to draw and paint classically, it’s been wonderful to explore my own artistic style by breaking the rules. I like to exaggerate proportions and perspective, and add my own dark sense of humor to my art.
I do a lot of historical research for each of my pieces, since many of them take place in the Victorian or Edwardian era. I study historical fashion, architecture, and decoration to help with each project.
As an artist/illustrator, who are you inspired by?
Some of my greatest influences are in gothic works such as ‘Frankenstein’,’Dracula’ ,’Jane Eyre’, and ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. Some other influences in my work are Golden Age illustrations of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Harry Clarke, Kay Nielsen, Aubrey Beardsley, and many more.
What are your dreams?
I love collaborative work, so my dreams are to continue working with other wonderfully talented people telling stories through books, games, movies, and events.
Keep an eye out in Vice, Applied Arts, and Bust magazines for Abigail’s design in print.