liam tooher

by mia hadjigeorgiou

Illustrator and collage artist Liam Tooher delves into his path to becoming an artist, inspirations in the field, and advice for anyone trying to break into the world of art…
Originally from Whitstable- a tourist seaside town in North Kent about an hour and a half away from London- Liam grew up with an innate passion for drawing, which he admits he probably inherited from his mother.

He said, “My mum definitely was the person to encourage me to draw more as it’s something she always loved to do when she was younger”, also adding that his mother still has the first drawing he ever completed as a toddler- a small sketching of a rabbit.

As he got older, Liam’s love for drawing simply grew, and he found himself actually getting in trouble at times during secondary school for doodling in sketchbooks rather than concentrating on the work he’d been set.

“It’s always been at the forefront of what I do, I was always drawing in primary school, crazy aliens or typical war scenes that boys tend to draw, then doodling in sketchbooks in secondary (which would get me into trouble)”, he said.

From there, Liam thought about trying to turn art into a career, but admitted that in sixth form, he really struggled to find the right path forward for himself, mistakenly “believing the trope that drawing and art can’t make you a living”.

He ultimately decided to undertake a foundation year course in art at university, and post-graduation, after building up his portfolio, Liam was fortunate enough to land a job at The Daily Telegraph, creating visuals for different articles.

He praised his support network for their ongoing support when he was studying, specifically his parents who “always supported [his] art studies”, and his foundation year art tutor, Rob McDonald, who, “from his charismatic speeches about visual communication to his straight edged approach to teaching,” “pushed everyone to achieve the best art they can make”.

Currently, Liam still works at The Daily Telegraph as an illustrator and collage artist, but on the side, he also freelances occasionally, and says that despite his busy schedule, he always finds the time to illustrate film posters for his Instagram.

In terms of inspiration in the field, Liam has a number of illustrators who he has looked up to, both contemporary and historic.
On the contemporary side, Liam enjoys the works of Owen Pomery, Ilya Milstein, and Ruby Fresson, “who all use cartoon like characters but beautiful use of detail and colour that make their drawings come to life”.

On the historic side, Liam said he enjoys the works of “Herge – the TinTin maker – Martin Handford – the creator of Where’s Wally? – and Joe Sacco – an amazing journalist who illustrates all his stories”.

Though it’s hard to pick just one favourite, out of his own illustrations, Liam said his favourite would have to be the poster he did for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which took him around 15-20 hours to complete, and which the director of the film actually shared on his own social media!

He said that illustrating the poster for that film “opened lots of opportunities” for him, and he personally believes that “it has the perfect harmony of chaos and detail”, whilst “also keeping it simple enough to not overcomplicate the piece”.

Liam then got candid and opened up in a frank way about illustrations which he doesn’t really enjoy, particularly those illustrations which just follow trends and as a result feel to him to be “inauthentic and fake”.

He says that for artists to be able to make their work stand out in such a competitive industry, “it’s better having your own distinct style that can maybe help in the long run”, posing the question of “what happens once those popular styles go out of fashion?”.

Liam hopes that in the future, he can continue with his illustrations, whether that be at a company or simply freelancing, “although the dream – as cliche as it is – would be being able to travel around the world while still being able to hold down a career in art”.
When asked for advice for any budding artists, Liam suggested a pragmatic approach: “Know what your weaknesses are and your strengths are and utilise this so you don’t waste time. For example, I know I am pretty terrible at life drawing and perspective, so instead I chose a more cartoon isometric look for my style and just tried to improve it from there”.

And as a final pearl of wisdom, he also added, “keep working to improve your work and portfolio- you will always gain knowledge and skills from any project you engage in”.