Directions: Portrait: Artist Research - Paul Holland

Paul Holland

• British artist relocated in Paris
• Graduated from Kingston University
• Attained BA Hons in Illustration
• Was a Tattooist whilst living in London
• Very established within editorial and publishing sector
• Clients such as; Marie Claire, GQ, The Times, L'Oreal

I have just recently come across Paul Holland's work and there are many elements of his pieces that I find quite striking and inspiring. First of all it is important to note that his style is mainly digital illustration but he mixes elements of real life subjects into it which is one of the main reasons I like it. Below are some of the pieces I will be discussing;

This first one features the infamous Amy Winehouse. What I like is the subtle choice of illustrating her characteristics with her two most famous albums "Frank" and "Back to Black" both written in syringes. And as most of us know, Amy suffered with substance abuse which eventually led to her death so it is interesting that Holland has chosen to keep this motif here. Maybe it is because that was a big part of her characteristic at one point? the good and the bad? maybe the fact that her two most successful things are what eventually led to her addiction? its illustrated as if her fame and addiction went hand in hand. Well that is how I interpreted it anyway. I really like this piece for those two subtle things.

Here we have an illustration featuring John Lasseter, the chief creative officer of Pixar Studios, Walt Disney studios and Disneytoon studios. He is also an American animator, Film Director, screen writer and producer. What I love is all of these elements mentioned is present within this image. He is known for wearing colourful, Hawaiian style shirts and interestingly enough, the famous Pixar lamp is embended into his shirt, creating a Hawaiian style shirt. Holland has embedded both his personality and occupation in one and I think its superb! This picture differs from the previously mentioned one because it seems to be a lot more cheerful, not just with the colours but the facial expression of each character on the illustration. Unlike Amy's where she isn't smiling and the picture itself seems a little bit more dark.

This illustration features "Labrinth"(Timothy McKenzie), He is an English singer/songwriter who has also produced records. He grew up in Hackney, East London and one of his most famous albums which reached Number 3 in the UK charts in 2012 was "Electronic Earth". Again, all of these elements are present in this photo. You've got the outline of what seems to be a tube/overground map with "Hackney" written in the corner and the "EC2" postcode, making reference to Labrinth's heritage.There is also an electric shock hazard symbol and the word "electric", again making reference to his accomplishments. I love how intricate little details have great significance to the character and what they're about. 

This one is my favourite one because it illustrates characteristics without the use of words, its a minimalistic approach. This is Pharrell Williams, he is an American singer, rapper and record producer. One of his most famous, recent songs was "Happy". It reached No. 1 in the UK on a record-setting three separate occasions and became the most downloaded song of all time in the UK in September 2014. A "Mr Happy" badge is placed almost centred in this illustration,highlighting its significance but also creating a lighthearted reference to the song. This to me is a subtle yet genius idea because it gets straight to the point without any words. You make the connection yourself.


What I love the most about all of these illustrations is Holland's ability to subtly integrate and create references to the chosen subject's past or occupation or even style. He leaves the face as the most "realistic" part of the illustration and creates obscurities around it, Its intelligently done as the main focus will always be the face, and after that you take a journey to identify who it is and what they're about with the use of little details dotted around the subject. This is definitely something that I am trying to do for my portrait project. With the use of subtle imagery and visual references, I hope to illustrate some of my personality traits or style in a similar manner. His work has given me insight into a less traditional way of portraying yourself and different characteristics.