Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #9

This illustration is about Christmas office parties, and the inherent madness of combining work colleagues and a free bar. As a freelancer, I’ve been spared the dreaded Christmas party for a couple of years, but I do have memories of making awful small talk over cremated spring rolls. The wine is warm, the boss is looming, there’s the weird guy by the potted plant who you try to avoid. Once the clock hits about 9pm, inhibitions are shrugged off like a suit jacket and the bad, bad dancing starts.

Since I was a student at the Irish School of Animation in Ballyfermot, I’ve intermittently kept up the good practice of sketching from life. What strikes me most is the huge variety of characters you see, and the way you can glean bits of information about who they are. This is the jumping-off point for imagination; I make up stories about people in the street, and I try to imagine what they’re like.

For me, as an illustrator and animator, this is the crux of any work I make. I love people, as a species, and I try to create a sense of the weird and wonderful through my characters. I also grew up loving Where’s Wally? and I love work that is rich in narrative, and has a lot of detail that you can return to on multiple viewings. My design and illustration work is on hyperpictures.com, and to see more day-to-day process work, and what I’m working on currently, you can go to instagram.com/hyperpictures.