Charlie Davis has always known that he wanted to become an illustrator.
 

The London-based talent, whose work is featured as this year’s Adobe Animate splash page, imbues everyday scenes — whether he’s portraying a bustling cafe, a pair of bicyclists, or a greyhound leaping in a field — with a distinctly warm approach that transforms the ordinary into a memorable graphic. Harmonious colors, grainy textures, and an expert use of light and shadow have become signatures of his work.

Here, Davis shares why he’s never thought to pursue any other career, and why drawing has always been his preferred mode of creativity.

What first attracted you to pursuing a career in illustration?

It’s always a bit of a different story for everyone, isn’t it? For me, I always wanted to put all of my eggs into the drawing basket. From a young age, I wasn’t the best at doing anything else, so it was an easy choice to play to my strengths.

I went to an art college down in the southwest of England, called Falmouth in Cornwall. It was right by the sea and I studied illustration for four years there, which was brilliant — to be in a place where everyone was trying to do the same thing. It fostered a healthy level of competition to try to get better at your craft, and quietly contest with people who all had the same desire to go on and become full-time illustrators and artists.

Which is exactly what you’re doing now. Have you always worked independently?

After school, I managed to get a job in London, doing the job of a graphic designer at an agency. It was a lot of branding and packaging, and I got some experience working with fairly big brands — but it was more of a supporting role in the context of a large design agency, and understanding that side of things, working in an office. I did that for about five or six years, before going into illustrating full-time, with an agent, which is kind of the dream, really. I feel very fortunate.

What is it about drawing that you love most?

As a kid, I always loved looking at Impressionist paintings, actually. Van Gogh was always a big influence for me. Not that my work looks anything like his work, or that I could ever dream to be able to do what he did — but I was fascinated by how he was able to interpret the real world, with his own lens, and take what we know as the real scene or the real subject, and make it entirely unique.

I think that’s what’s so cool about illustration. Someone takes an object or a subject, and makes it completely their own. How do you stylize it? How do you make it interesting? I’m drawn to the quirkiness of how someone’s own hand has made that same subject completely framed and done in their own way.

Do you usually start with a photograph or sketch, or draw from memory?

Yeah. Normally, if I haven’t got my own photos, or if it’s not based on having actually been somewhere, I’ll reference a lot of photography I find elsewhere. From that, I’ll do very simple drawings of the subject and keep it quite loose, but try and work out how to stylize the elements. It might be the clouds, or the shape of a person or an animal. From there, I’ll then try and slowly exaggerate or simplify the elements, then bring it into my tablet and start experimenting with colors and textures.

Tell us more about your artwork featured as this year’s Adobe Animate splash page.

I was looking at birds, and found this image of this particular bird, and it was just something about the way the wings were shaped that I just found so beautiful. So I tried to draw it in a way that showed the simple, fluid shape of the wings. I also wanted to capture this sense of movement in it, so added this hint of a lift from the underbelly of the bird — basically trying to capture the elegance of nature, but slightly distilled, with enhanced colors, to make it feel more contemporary.

How did you react when you saw the splash page load up for the first time?

I was just crazy excited. I’ve always checked out the artwork whenever I load up any Adobe software, and have been fascinated by the artwork itself, and who’s done it. I’m really honored to have my work shown on it.