In the studio with… Ray Hall

1. Can you tell us about your journey into illustration and what inspired you to pursue it as a career?

Illustration has always been a passion of mine, from the start of my development as a child I’ve been drawing, like most children do; though, watching animated TV shows as I grew up definitely inspired my love and passion for it. Studio Ghibli films are probably the first direct inspiration to my illustration journey, as I recall drawing characters from the films often as a child. That’s probably what shaped my style, and my desire to be a character designer, telling stories with my illustrations.

2. How would you describe your unique style, and how has it evolved over time?

My style has been through countless pivots and circles, but digital art has been a staple and my preferred medium for over a decade. I’d describe my current style as a fusion of western animation and Japanese anime, combined with a more painterly style of rendering. This is a style I’ve been circling around for a long time, though as I’ve progressed as an artist, my style has matured. I love using more pencil textured and paint textured brushes to add more dimension to my pieces.

3. What role does your home environment or cultural background play in influencing your artwork if any?

I’m very close with my family, so I find myself leaning into creating found-families when I’m creating characters, and having their interactions mimic that of siblings. I’m a sucker for making characters that have complex relationships, and highlighting that in my illustrations is something that tends to come about subconsciously.

4. Are there any specific themes or subjects you find yourself drawn to when illustrating?

I enjoy illustrating emotive pieces, but the answer to this question is probably found in my answer to the question prior.

5. Can you walk us through your creative process, from concept to final piece?

Music is vital for me, not only does it focus my mind, it gives me a lot of inspiration. Sometimes I’ll listen to a song, and I see the illustration I want to create immediately. I can often transfer the image in my mind directly to the screen without too much hassle, but finding referencing and images to inspire colour palettes or backgrounds is essential. Other times, I see media that inspires me, and I’ll create something relating to that, maybe a style study to understand the fundamentals of that piece of media further, or something entirely new using some of the elements of that media as inspiration. Once the sketching and colouring is done, rendering is something that I can do without too much outside influence; the shadows and highlights paint themselves, if that makes sense.

6. What tools and mediums do you prefer to work with, and why?

I’m definitely a digital artist, but I love pencil sketches, and pen sketches. I’m adverse to most paints and sculpting mediums due to my sensory issues, so being able to achieve a somewhat similar result digitally makes these styles a bit more accessible to me. My preference for digital art is again mostly linked to my sensory issues, but it reaches beyond that, too; I think the art I liked best has always been digital, and being able to create like digital artists I used to look up to as a child feels like an accomplishment, and I think digital art can be limitless, if you use it in the right way.

7. Who are your biggest influences, and how have they shaped your approach to illustration?

Different Anime shows most certainly used to be my biggest influences as a child, but as I’ve aged I’ve realised that the 2D Disney films also influenced me. Right now, I’d say some of my biggest

influences are as follows; Studio Fortiche who animated the Netflix original animation Arcane, Studio Ghibli who’s most prolific works include Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, David Goetz who’s art direction on Atlantis: the Lost Empire has always stuck in my head for it’s beautiful character designs and jaw dropping environmental design. As for how all of these examples have shaped my approach to illustration, it’s mostly focused on the characters; they teach me to be bolder, use shapes more often and exaggerate features and shading to create a unique look.

8. What has been your most challenging or rewarding project to date?

I’d say my second year university project called High School was probably my most rewarding, not only for it’s achievement of Gold in the Illustration Category for Creative Conscience 2023, but because I really focused on communicating something in a more unique way, attempting to illustrate a feeling so that others who haven’t experienced it can understand my point of view. When it all came together, it really felt like I’d achieved something good with that project.

9. How do you stay inspired and overcome creative blocks?

I find that creative blocks are constant for me, so I’ve tried to take the pressure off myself in those times and focus on some anatomy studies. I’ve been enjoying using sketchdaily.net to set myself a two minute timer on every reference photo it pulls up for me, and seeing how I can best translate it onto my digital canvas in the most casual way I can. Two minutes can be over so quickly, but I don’t give myself time to dwell on anything I missed in the previous reference photo, because the clock’s ticking down for the new reference photo. It’s teaching me to be more lax with my illustrations, and to not be so hard on myself, or striving for perfection. It’s relieving. After doing this for a while, I usually feel inspiration to work on something I may have pushed to the side, or a pose I’m given may inspire something entirely new.

10. What’s your perspective on the role of illustration in today’s digital world?

Illustration’s still just as important as ever, if not more so now. I think people are so quick to forget that humanity is more than money and work, it’s about culture, history, architecture, music and art. Humans have always been creative, and they won’t stop being creative, they’ll just adapt to fit the times they live in. Illustration will always exist, and there’ll always be a need for it.

11. What advice would you give to aspiring illustrators looking to build a career in this field?

Building a career in illustration takes a lot of work, and it can be excruciating when you’re faced with a severe art block and deadlines breathing down your neck; my advice is to try not to lose the enjoyment in all the stress - take breaks when your body and mind need them, overworking yourself is just a path to disaster. Keep personal projects that bring you joy and work on them when you need some time to remind yourself why you’re an Illustrator.

12. What can we look forward to from you in the future? Are there any exciting projects or collaborations you’d like to pursue? Who are your dream clients?

Right now I’m focusing on character design, as can be expected, but a few projects I’m brewing are quirky and feel-good, inspired by some of the nostalgic early 2000’s ‘magical girl’ shows. In relation to project’s I’d like to pursue, I think some cover illustrations for novels would be very exciting, I’m always drawn in by them myself, so having a crack at one would be great. Dream clients would probably be any clients looking to create stories, and getting to work with them to bring characters to life on the screen would be an absolute goal.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Ray’s workspace.