Laura Callaghan illustrates fierce, fashionable females
Illustrator Laura Callaghan’s portfolio is filled with fierce females covered in bright colours and bold patterns.
Laura Callaghan is an Irish illustrator based in South East London. All of Laura’s work is created by hand. She uses a combination of watercolour paints, indian inks and isograph pen. Laura graduated with an MA in Illustration from Kingston University in 2010 and has since worked for a long list of clients including the V&A, Nike and MTV.
Laura’s work features fierce, fashionable women
Strong women are a theme throughout both Laura’s personal and commercial work. Her portfolio is filled with artworks showing fierce and fashionable women. Scenes includes women posing with pretty plants in greenhouses and lounging around playing video games in stylish apartments. Characters are always clad in intensely-patterned outfits and have dramatic expressions on their faces.
Even if artwork features just one woman, there is always plenty to explore. A host of colourful patterns cover each and every available surface in Laura’s illustrated world. A single frame can include animals prints, marble textures and doodled repeats. With this amount of clashing design in one image, things logically should seem garish and cluttered. However, Laura manages to keep her illustrations clean and easy on the eye with use of delicate line work.
Laura’s work features fierce, fashionable women
Pattern is present throughout Laura’s portfolio
Laura promotes positive messages within her work. Body positivity and diversity are consistently celebrated through her bold and colourful art. In an interview with Dazed, she explained why this is important to her…
It’s important that my illustrations are relatable and accessible, I’m trying to create narratives within in my work and those stories don’t just belong to one girl.
This stance makes Laura’s work all the more topical and important. By portraying the world in an honest and positive way, she encourages others to see it similarly. This is particularly important when it comes to social media. Laura has tackled the subject of how misleading and unhealthy for young women social media has become in previous projects. Filling Instagram with Laura’s artwork as opposed to overly edited photos and pseudo-inspirational quotes would without a doubt promote a more positive message for the future generation.
Artwork by Laura Callaghan
Laura’s work features fierce, fashionable women
Artwork by Laura Callaghan