Based in Bristol, Becca Thorne is a printmaker and experienced illustrator specialising in Medieval history, natural history, and food. She has produced work for clients including BBC History Magazine, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, The Folio Society, Thames & Hudson, Waitrose Food, and Yale University Press.
Becca has recently returned to full-time freelancing – and Bristol – after ten years teaching illustration on the Graphic Design BA at De Montfort University in Leicester. She tells us; “I learnt so much from my colleagues (and the students!) who were from a whole range of different disciplines – typographers and brand specialists, letterpress artists and children’s illustrators – and it helped me explore my own practice much more.”
She grew up in a tiny hamlet in the Forest of Dean, which inspired her fascinatation with nature. The printmaker’s recent series of prints focuses on marginal habitats; small, but super important semi-natural environments that play host to thousands of species of animals and plants, and that are constantly under threat. “I love learning about things like this as part of my research – I’ve done courses on bumblebees, wildflowers, reptiles and amphibians, and I take loads of photos of wildlife, wherever I go,” says Becca.
All of Becca’s works start in her sketchbook with notes, quick initial sketches and composition thumbnails, before moving onto bigger, full-size layouts. She has recently started using an iPad to develop her layouts further, rather than creating tonnes of tracing paper waste. She photographs her sketches and uploads them to Procreate to plan layers, colours, and patterns, before the final designs are traced onto traditional, linseed-based lino, which is plastic-free and biodegradable. Becca learnt the art of linocutting from Marilyn Towndrow, who was her wonderful visual studies tutor on the Illustration BA at Falmouth College of Arts. Marilyn taught Becca to hand burnish with a spoon, away from the print studio, and that’s the way she has done it ever since.
“Linocutting made me focus more on composition, shape and perspective. Before that, I’d always been good at representational drawing, but struggled to get more creative inspiration beyond just drawing lone subjects, and would always overwork things. Through linoprint I was able to develop a more immediate and dynamic visual language, and it really opened up new, more exciting routes for me!”
The Hedgerow print from Becca’s Marginal Habitat series is currently on display at Salisbury Arts Centre as part of the Wiltshire Creative Summer Exhibition.
www.beccathorne.co.uk
@b_thorney
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