Inside Illustration Season 8 – Handmade Illustration
Season eight of Inside Illustration is now available, and the theme for the new multi-platform season for AOI Members is Handmade Illustration. Let’s get tactile!
Tangible, tactile materials which can be formed into illustrative uses have always been a part of many illustrators’ practice, and even though creating artwork digitally is an approach adopted by many, the allure and fascination with the handmade has not diminished.
This Inside Illustration season includes the How To get into Handmade llustration resource for those interested in exploring this season’s theme, a Podcast with top guests, a four part Creative Practice Course exploring a range of handmade applications for members, 6 Questions for 6 Illustrators (nominated by members) an interview with a duo working in embroidery and a Folio of members’ handmade work.
The Podcast
In this episode we’re discussing making illustrations with paper sculpture with award winning Gail Armstrong and how she’s collaborated with second guest, Templar Books editor Ruth Symons, in creating the paper engineered Paper World non-fiction children’s book series.
With long term experience in the industry, Gail and Ruth cover the appeal of the paper sculpture form, how that attracts readers and how Gail overcame some of the challenges for their Paper World series. Gail also touches on using digital tools, and her notable projects, Kleenex “Let It Out” campaign, and the United Nations World Toilet Day stamps.
In conversation with our guests is host is Rachel Emily Taylor, artist, writer and BA Course Leader at Camberwell College of Art.
6 Questions for 6 Illustrators
These illustrators nominated by their peers talk about their process
A new series of interviews with illustrators and creative collectives who are ‘experts of their craft’, as nominated by our community of AOI members.
We posed 6 questions each of them, and from intricate paper cut scenes to felt characters and abstract ceramics, we invite you to delve deep into each of our conversations.
The illustrators featured are Ines Pagniez, Olha Protasova, Practice, Hari & Deepti, Emma Sutton and Ornella Xariklea Akrivopoulou.
The Creative Practice Course
Learn from four top creators constructing artwork with physical materials
For the Handmade season AOI members have the exclusive opportunity to explore a range of illustration material approaches, from ceramics to textiles, by taking part in our Creative Practice Course, with host Dave Bain and four experienced illustrators. The attendees are offered two briefs to choose from to create their own work before the presentations.
The sessions are: Constructing with Paper with Helen Friel; Combining ceramics with Illustration with Taili Wu; Collage and Creatures with Kate Slater and Talking Textiles & Fabricating Stories with Cáit McEniff.
How to get into Handmade lllustration
Folk art and craft approaches have often been revisited by illustrators and incorporated into contemporary practice, and How to get into Handmade Illustration looks at the appeal of handmade illustration, alongside practical considerations, photography and process. This downloadable publication (exclusive for AOI members) by Saskia Cameron considers ceramics, paper cut illustration and works made with fabrics.
With insightful quotes from illustrators working in the industry, Laura K Sayers, Cáit McEniff and Liv & Dom, offering their perspectives on the work and their business.
“Contemporary illustrators are pushing the limits of what is traditionally considered illustration, using image making as an umbrella to test new ways of working. Cáit McEniff
The Interview
Maricar/Maricor
Embroidery, a classic handmade artform, is the specialisation of illustration duo Maricor/Maricar, who discuss working closely with a sibling, the benefits of four hands, experimentation with textile forms and more with Greg McIndoe.
The sisters talk about having personal projects on the go, which inform their client work, and how keeping their hands busy enhances their mental well-being.
The Folio
Members’ handmade imagery
The artwork of AOI members includes many approaches to the handmade, and we’ve collected a range of images from AOI Folios to offer a selection of illustrations from members.
These capture a needlepoint wolf, intricate paper cuts, lino prints, a woven abstract, the paper cuckoo clock above and more.
October 2025
Back to News Page