“I love using collage to tell stories about everyday life, mental health, loss, nature or simply a sock that went missing in the wash,” says the up-and-coming British illustrator.
There are faster ways of making images. Approaches that deliver more punch. Techniques that achieve more detail. But Chloe Isteed knows that the collage imagery she creates has what people need – a sense of connection. Why would she drop that for digital tools and automated processes that leave both artist and viewer feeling cold and distant?
“It’s a handmade process,” she declares. “Working with paper really strengthens my connection to my work. It takes time to make, and I get to know the characters and the story as I go. I think this also strengthens the connection with the viewer. They can see the brush strokes, the edges of each piece of paper, knowing it was cut by hand.”
People instantly relate to the materiality of the cut-and-paste process – after all, nearly everyone remembers how good it felt to create this way as children in art class. There really is no substitute for that handmade feel or the illustrator’s unique take on a topic. AI-driven and digital processes can try to replicate it, but the warmth, the feeling, and the connection that abound in Chloe’s work can’t be generated without her human hands clipping, arranging, glueing, and scanning. Clients love the tactility and depth in the imagery.
“I love using paint stroke textures, but sometimes I’ll combine them with other textures that feel right for the image,” she continues. “For example, the texture of wood, brick or rock.”
Her textures add visual interest to a style built on simplicity. Every image Chloe makes is constructed from forms, little or large, meticulously cut by hand from sheets of brightly coloured paper. As her style has developed, she’s noticed that she creates certain elements, such as clouds and flowers, in the same way each time, lending consistency. With her figurative work, she’s happiest when the characters look like they fit into the world she’s created for them.
Often, the challenge is to keep everything manageable. When there’s lots of detail in an image, it’s even more impressive to the viewer, but then the realisation sets in that all the elements must be cut out, one by one. Yet sometimes the wow factor is worth it.
“More detailed tends to feel much more tactile, and I love the shadows that happen in the scanning process, showing all the layers of paper,” says Chloe. “The story is usually the important thing for me. If a detail is important in telling the story, it needs to be there, but if it’s just distracting from the narrative, I can take it out.”
Mind the Gap No. 78
One of Chloe’s most memorable pieces is of a double-decker bus flying across Tower Bridge. It’s a piece that won the Association of Illustrators Poster Prize for Illustration, which was held in conjunction with the London Transport Museum. Based on the 1952 tale of a bus driver who put his foot down when he realised the drawbridge was being raised, the tale is part of London lore. Chloe’s depiction of it went on display in the London Transport Museum in 2019.
That was the year Chloe graduated from her illustration course at the Camberwell College of Arts. Since then, she’s been finding her feet as a freelancer, adding animation to her skillset. While the painting, cutting and glueing are all done by hand, she puts the elements in motion using Adobe After Effects.
She’s become so adept that she’s now passing her skills on to a new generation of creatives by teaching. “One of my favourite things to teach is animation workshops for beginners,” she says. “It can seem like such a complicated and intimidating process, and so I really love showing young people that they can have the skills and the capability to make their work move. There are always so many lightbulb moments when they see their work move for the first time.”
With many feeling the creative industry is too focused on process, productivity and expectation, it’s fantastic to see artists like Chloe staying true to themselves. Handmade might take a bit longer, but the right clients understand that it’s more than worth it.
Chloe with her mural at Coppermaker Square in Stratford, London.
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