Naomi Anderson Subryan started out studying drama before realising her calling as an illustrator.

She talks to us about finding confidence, storytelling, and how her background in performance informs her illustration practice.

Can you explain your job in two sentences? 

I’m an illustrator - which is a word I think encapsulates all of my creative endeavours - be it the paper collages I construct, the ceramic animals I sculpt or the colourful outfits I put together. I tell stories, I invent characters and I dream up worlds, creating “things” that feel both vaguely familiar and yet not quite like anything else.

What’s a typical workday for you? 

A typical work day would usually consist of any or all of the following - sketching, note taking, cutting, trimming, painting, gluing, sculpting, building, constructing, measuring, drafting, tracing, scanning, editing, emailing, reading, daydreaming…

If I’m working from home, you’ll most likely find me sat on the floor dreaming up characters, with my iPad propped up, binge watching something on Netflix and surrounded by an explosive array of colourful (and seemingly unorganised) papers. If I’m making a ceramic piece, I’ll be at my ceramic studio space (based in New Cross) sculpting a disgruntled looking animal (most likely a dog or perhaps a cat!)

What are the perks? 

I often get to work from home, which means I don’t have to contend with a long commute and I can cuddle my dog whenever I like! I love making and being an illustrator, so getting to do something I love everyday is a pretty huge perk!

What are the challenges?

It can be lonely - I often miss having studio buddies to bounce ideas off of and to keep me company! There is something so comforting about having other creatives around you, in a physical space - you can cultivate a really special environment where you help motivate one another to be your best.

Self motivation can be difficult, especially when your place of work is also the place you call home - it means you don’t always feel able to take the breaks and time off you need. It can also be quite difficult to get into a routine - sometimes I can be super busy and have lots of work on, and other times not so much!

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I remember doing my foundation and just being so happy to be there every single day, making and creating all number of different things - and it was there that my love for illustration really grew.

What are you most proud of?

I think I’m most proud of going back to university after failing my first year of drama school - I didn’t know if I’d ever go back and I felt very lost for a long time! But I’m glad I gave myself that time and went back to uni when I was ready and a little older, because I came to it with this whole other experience (an experience which involved working in retail for nearly four years) and a real enthusiasm to experiment and understand myself better through the process of making.

I remember doing my foundation and just being so happy to be there every single day, making and creating all number of different things - and it was there that my love for illustration really grew (and hasn’t ever really stopped), I felt like I belonged. Illustration made sense to me, it felt like all the things I wanted to make and do were possible!

Can you take us through your career path (from start to now) in 3 paragraphs?

I graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2019, and I think I didn’t really know exactly what I was going to do, except have a short summer break and then find somewhere that I could continue making ceramics. I’d gotten into making ceramics in my final year at uni, and knew that it was something that I wanted to keep up - but I needed to find facilities and figure a few things out, and I found comfort in focusing on this one thing! I knew I had this illustration degree now, and I knew I wanted to be an illustrator - but finding the confidence to actually say “I’m an illustrator” and no longer a student was actually very difficult! And then I was very luck and got a very exciting illustration job not long after graduating, and I was astonished that this brand knew who I was and wanted to hire me to make a piece of collaged work, which was a complete shock!

When I graduated it was my ceramics that had been the thing that people wanted to ask about and my collage work kind of took a back seat. However, after that initial big job, work dried up and I felt a little deflated, so I decided to get back to focusing very hard on making ceramics and seeing where that took me - I even found a ceramic studio. Then the pandemic hit! And much like everyone else, I was at home, and without access to the ceramic studio, I started collaging again big time - I’d make a new piece nearly every day, dreaming up some new character in an extravagant outfit, I couldn’t stop! This was the first time since graduating that I gave myself the time to explore and develop my collage practice - and initiate projects for myself.

I swiftly built up a portfolio of work that I was proud of, and was super lucky to be approached by the wonderful Snyder who signed me to their roster last summer!! I love being with Snyder, they’re so supportive and encouraging, I’ve had steady client work - working on some incredible briefs - as well as being able to continue developing my own personal work and projects! I never really thought my collage work could be commercially successful - especially having such an analogue practice when there is so much incredible digital work out there - so it truly is a dream to get these opportunities!

Were there hurdles along the way?

I think my biggest hurdle to date has and continues to be a lack of self-confidence! I can be really hard on myself, and sometimes even before projects begin I’m convinced I won’t get it finished in time and I worry that I won’t be able come up with any good ideas - I have a lot of self doubt! When the thing you love most is also your job, I’ve found it can be hard to separate the two! But I am learning to take time out, and continue to make for myself and rest! Rest is super important!

Is this the career you thought you’d have?

Not at all! I studied musical theatre as a teenager and then went to drama school with this dream of becoming an actor! But I think I liked the ‘idea” of being an actor way more than the reality. I was incredibly shy and self-conscious, and I found it all a little embarrassing! I think what I really loved about acting was the story telling and creating characters - both of which lend themselves very well to illustration as well - but I wasn’t ever quite sure where to put that creative energy.

I can see now how my background in acting informs my illustration practice, with a sense of theatricality really underpinning the work I make! But if you told me when I was younger that I’d still be sat on the floor cutting up paper and making images that way, I wouldn’t believe you! Paper was always my go to material to make with, so to still be making that way now is incredible!

Who do you look to for inspiration? 

I’m inspired by those closest to me mostly - my friends and family! It can be frustrating to actively search for inspiration, I think it’s more of a passive activity that we reflect on as we go. We are constantly being inspired by things and people, and we aren’t always aware - sometimes it’s the things that are right in front of us.

A lot of my work is inspired by pop culture - the films and television shows I love - as well as my love for all things Kitsch (which includes my ever growing collection of kitsch ceramic objects that I have acquired from charity shops, markets, eBay… This is a hobby I most definitely picked up from my mum - who would take me with her to car boot sales growing up, on the hunt for hidden treasures. Much like the imagined histories I think up for the pre-loved, secondhand objects I collect, I love creating strong, dynamic characters, whose expressions (and often eyebrows) have many tales to tell.

What advice would you offer someone wanting to break into the industry? 

Make work that makes you feel good! How you see the world and the way you tell stories is unique to you, so bring as much of that as you can into the work you make because people recognise that! Find out what really drives you to create, and a strong visual voice will follow!

Follow Naomi Anderson Subryan: Website & Instagram

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