Hi! I’m Sophie Rawlingson, an illustrator and artist based in the UK. I’m inspired by flowers, mutation, folklore, humans in nature and storytelling. I make things using digital drawing, painting, pattern, and sculpture.
In November 2024 I joined Southampton based art collective ZEST, and in 2019 I joined London-based art collective and gallery Bleur. Both groups showcase work through exhibitions and selling work online.
Website: www.sophierawlingson.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sophierawlingson
Bleur Gallery: https://bleurart.com/artists/sophie-rawlingson/
Projects
- Spooky Season 2021I wanted to paint on rather than carve out my pumpkin this year! I was deciding between a curving flower with sharp leaves, or a winding vines with rounded leaves - I went with the latter! To me the black filled shape felt spookier than leaving them as black outlines which is usually a marker of my style. I'm really happy with how it came out! I love making repeat patterns of flowers and leaves, and feel this kind of drawing would really suit anything from textiles and packaging. I loved paint
- Bleur: Home Takeover ExhibitionI created a set of illustrations for Bleur gallery to use on social media to advertise their new exhibition series, ‘Home Takeover’. Text was added over my illustrations. The exhibitions were held during a lockdown, where bloggers curated exhibitions in their own homes using artwork from Bleur artists. People could watch the exhibition videos and Instagram live interviews on their phones / devices.
- The Chain, for Teen VOGUEI was commissioned by Teen VOGUE to draw a portrait of Ruthie & Christina of The Chain, a non-profit peer support network for women in fashion and entertainment struggling with eating disorders. For the portrait, I reference a photo of them taken by Chelsy Mitchell and drew their objects of power around them: a mirror in the shape of a heart, a side-eye, bold lipstick and in-style fash-un sunglasses. They look confident in their gaze, and I wanted the illustration to generate the same energy.
- Toucan - Enamel PinI designed this pin during my final year of university back in 2017. I wanted to do a photoshoot to go alongside the product, and really enjoyed creating an imaginary forest for him using paper cut-out leaves and gold stars for the night sky. It was a really enjoyable process where I got to go from a two-dimensional drawing to getting a pin made, to visualising a three-dimensional space for it to live! I am hoping to do more set design work in the future - but much more illustrative! You can p
Projects credited in
- Issue 2We are a magazine that celebrates emerging artists and donates to charity, with each issue supporting a different one. Centring around all types of artists, including illustrators, photographers, writers and more, who tend to focus their time & energy around building an online portfolio, where they aren’t quite established yet or don’t carry the following they genuinely deserve, we offer a genuine platform where artists can collaborate and depend on the idea of being themselves, remain unique a36
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Skills
- Digital/ Print
- Editorial
- Adobe Photoshop
- Embroidery
- Adobe Indesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Assisting
- Illustration
- Zine Design
- Sewing
- Craft
- Craftmanship
- Textile Design
- Handmade Design
Education
BA Hons Graphic & Media DesignUniversity of The Arts London (UAL)
- London, United Kingdom
Art Foundation Diploma in Art DesignFalmouth University
- Falmouth, United Kingdom
Awards
Skillshare X Dribbble - London Illustration 2015Skillshare
Skillshare X Dribbble hosted an Illustration event in 2015. I went home with a trophy and first place award for Illustration, as voted for by others that attended, as well as hosts from the night.STACK Magazine - Cover of the MonthStack Magazines
RE-VISION Magazine Issue 1 - to which I graphically designed - won Magazine Cover of the Month award in August 2015. As voted for by STACK Magazine Instagram followers!