Olivia Duchess
My dream

Exploration

Un-commissioned | Professional

Why did you make this work:
I absolutely love going to exhibitions centred around19th Century paintings. I'm a black girl so I won't deny that I don't see people who resemble me in those paintings but I am deeply inspired by the heavily detailed artwork from this century. So this piece is an homage to 19thC portraiture with the subject being someone who looks like me. It’s also a study of technique. And an homage to cats.

How was the illustration used:
I intend to use this illustration as a portfolio piece. Though it started out as a love letter of sorts to historical art, diversity and cats! I have also since decided to develop this little girl into a character of mine. Her name is Peony.

How did you make this work:
I painted this illustration from my imagination using my iPad Pro and Procreate! I have a time lapse video of it thanks to Procreate's video feature which is nice. From sketch to completion I worked on this digitally.


Social Media:
instagram.com/olivia.duchess

Personal Website:
oliviaduchess.carbonmade.com/
Agent Website:
https://www.lemonadeillustration.com/


Currently Based:
United Kingdom

Biography:
Olivia is an illustrator both from and based in London. She studied Graphic Communication and Design at the University of Leeds and upon graduating decided to pursue a career in illustration. Her foundations are based in traditional media but as of today, she works primarily digitally. She has worked on illustrative projects with HarperCollins and The Walt Disney Company including book illustration, game art and a Disney Channel YouTube art reaction series. Diversity in the art sector is something that is dear to Olivia's heart and she hopes to implement it where there is room to do so in projects she is fortunate enough to work on. When not painting she'll often be looking at art, and if she's not looking at art, she'll most likely be at the cinema.

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