Born in Denmark, Sarah Egbert Eiershol is a graduate from the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna. The illustrator started her commercial career in 2009 and joined illustration agency Caroline Seidler in 2010. Her clients include agency Brainds, Brand 8, Bulletin Magazine, Faktor A, Falck Travel Care, Fleisch Magazin, Miss, Die Presse, Style in Progress and The Independent Sunday Review. Sarah has provided original artwork for our Spring / Summer 2015 issue, scheduled for release on 20th February 2015. We spoke to her about her work and inspiration.
It seems your work is strongly focused on intricacy. You use repeated lines to create texture in your work. This must take a long time; what’s your normal time scale per work?
For a full-page illustration I need about two days – one day for sketching and one for finalising.
Within your illustrations you create a story sparking imagination within the viewer. How do you achieve this?
I have always been interested in using narrative and storytelling in my work. I often try to find the relevant emotions within myself while creating my work; finding music that fits the theme seems to help.
Your work involves a lot of characters within the people you create. Where do you find these inspirations?
Again, I would say the interest in the narrative and creating a ‘person’ that could exist outside the illustration as well, and not just a pretty face. I’m never satisfied with my own work, and constantly try to get better, but if I manage to draw a person that seems believable, I’m happy. I find inspiration in movies, books and my own (very ordinary) everyday life.
How would you explain the colour schemes you create?
I like to work with the contrast of a theme and the colours, working with pastels and darker outlines, combining fragile lines with flatter areas of colour to achieve a kind of tension.
