Olivia Drysdale
BA (Hons) Illustration
I am an illustrator exploring the complex beauty of the natural world, botany, natural history and associated collections through drawing. I enjoy responding to literary material, including poetry and aim to create strong contemporary imagery influenced by traditional techniques and aesthetics.
During my time at university, I initiated projects underpinned by my interests and covered a range of contexts. I illustrated and bound a collection of poems exploring the human condition through nature imagery, enabling me to improve my creative problem-solving skills. I also produced speculative editorial illustrations in response to Bloom magazine articles discussing the importance of biodiversity within gardens and a set of speculative advertisement posters for an organic herbal tea brand. My work was featured in Advances (Summer 2021) as a result of a collaboration with the John Innes Centre, helping to communicate their research into plant science visually.