Nurture Nature, Hello Marine

Hi Marine! Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Marine, a French illustrator and artist. I’ve been working within illustration for the last 12 years under the moniker HelloMarine. My studio is in Brighton. Over the years I’ve been working with various clients across the world, including Lacoste, The NY Times and Heal’s to name a few.My work is colourful and graphic. I attach a lot of importance to my colour palettes and try and keep a simplicity within my lines. When I’m not answering briefs, I’m usually working on paintings and printing projects.

What, or who, influences your creative style and/or ethos?

My childhood and upbringing in the South-West of France as always been a big influence. There is a nature recurring theme within my work and something decorative too. I remembered recently that i had a massive Douanier Rousseau poster depicting a jungle landscape in my bedroom as a child, this explains a lot…

My dad was into photography and had a studio at home and his brother is a painter so I grew up seeing them being creative in that way.

I’m also a very curious person in general so always discovering new things, music, exhibitions, films, books etc.. and all this fuel my work on a daily basis. 

I’m easily bored so I’m always trying to bring new things within what i do.

As for other artists that have inspired me i would cite Margaret Kilgallen, Matisse, Joseph Szabo… but my inspirations are always evolving.

What is something that we wouldn’t know about you?

My studio is in a big building in Brighton with lots of other people: fine artists, graphic designer, metalworker, glass blower, stone carver, ceramist, jeweller and violin maker! It’s a very inspiring place to come to everyday.

Talk us through your design process, from the initial idea to the finished piece.

My ideas always come when I take the time to escape from the studio. I translate those in my sketchbook before a more finalised drawing. I then scan this and work all my colour in photoshop and refine my lines, etc...

What is your biggest art pet peeve, and why?

I suppose it would be when a client asks you to change your vision/work so much that the end results looks like nothing you would make and you wonder why they employed you in the first place…

What are you most excited about at the moment?

Translating my work into painting and building a body of work in this medium.

Let’s talk more about A Decade of Change. What drew you to collaborate with us on this project?

I liked the brief. Change is needed, and it’s coming.

What’s the message behind your piece in the collection, and what does it mean to you? What would you like to change over the new decade?

We need to nurture nature. I would like for more people to realise the impact of their actions towards the environment.

Lastly, if you could have one superpower, what would it be?

If I stay within this brief, I would say, reforest the earth with a click of my fingers would be pretty ace right now.

Find Marine's piece for the collection here.

Discover Marine's work at www.hellomarine.com and follow Marine on Instagram @hellomarine.