Allie Oldfield is a freelance publishing designer and illustrator based in London, UK.
INTERVIEW WITH
Allie Oldfield
We see you usually draw landscapes/mountains. Is there a story behind it?
I find being in those spaces of big natural scenery like the Alps very humbling and inspiring for me. I come from an outdoorsy family so I've been lucky to have hiked in some beautiful parts of the world, and I find painting those places lets me escape back into them, into that moment of awe and wonder. Landscapes are escapism, and I want whoever sees my work to feel like they can stop and take a second to be drawn into somewhere else.
Do your pets also inspire your work?
Sadly I don't have pets of my own but I'm lucky my family has a few I can go and spend some time with. I wouldn't say they inspire me directly, but they are lovely beings to have in your life.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Where in the world (think country, city, town, village, building, space, anything) would you most like to paint/draw/make art?
Somewhere I haven't been before so I can absorb new environments and explore, maybe New Zealand or Patagonia. I also like being in London because there's so much going on and you're always exposed to new artists, concerts and creativity. I wouldn't say I'm a city person at all though, so it's nice sometimes to feel like I'm painting myself out of the city in my work.
What was your first artistic experience, where you discovered love or a deep connection to art in any form?
I don't exactly have that moment in my mind, I think I must have just decided when I was a toddler that drawing was a way that I could connect to myself and the world around me, and that excited me. My parents would try to encourage that and introduce me to music, exhibitions and books and me and my brother used to watch a lot of cartoons and play video games, so it all fed into it.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Is art your safe space, a space to further discover your vision or both?
Making art for me is definitely about discovery. Finding new places to draw, new colours or techniques, it can be an interesting place to learn things about yourself and what you enjoy. Although it can be comforting to lean into a familiar subject matter, I wouldn't say art for me is a safe space all the time. On the other side of the coin it can be frustrating, tiring and daunting. So I try to let the creative feelings come to me instead of forcing it, and get inspired by other things in my life in the meantime.
In honour of our ghibli issue, please suggest to our readers some ghibli films!
I think Kiki's Delivery Service is a great metaphor for the creative struggle, also I want to be Ursula and have an army of crows.