Meet the Artist: Susie West
Susie West trained as a graphic designer. While stuck on a train just outside Wimbledon, she passed the time doodling the little rows of houses through the misted-up windows. These little rows of houses got stuck in her head and she painted them. A friend suggested she tried selling the little paintings at a school fair, where they quickly sold out – so she started selling paintings of these quirky made-up village scenes. Eventually, this evolved into a full-time business of travelling around Britain’s real cities, towns and villages for a range of travel poster prints.
Susie's new book Passport to Painting is a complete guide to producing your own travel-poster art; perennially popular as wall art, their strong designs and clean, flat colours are perfect for hobby artists to emulate. We caught up with Susie to learn a bit more about her work and the inspiration behind her new book.
How are you, Susie? For those who don’t already know you, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m busy, as always, but thank you for asking.
I’m painting my way around Britain’s lovely cities, towns and villages, starting with an acrylic painting for each one, to create a range of travel posters. I’ve painted 174 places so far, from Aberdeen to St Ives, but with another 48,000 cities, towns and villages left, I’ve still got a long way to go!
How did your new book, Passport to Painting, come about? How did Search Press discover you?
I was doing a Christmas fair in Reigate in Surrey when a very nice man (my future editor, Edward Ralph) came up to my stall and asked if I’d ever thought about writing a book. I hadn’t, but three years later, I’m here holding a fabulous book, published by the lovely folk at Search Press!
Can you tell us a little bit about the book?
The book is all about painting travel posters, what inspires me, how I paint them, and I then take you through every stage of painting your own – from choosing your materials, research and planning, through to displaying the finished painting. I’ve included six step-by-step projects to guide you through the whole process.
What are your favourite sections of the book?
Definitely the projects. I’m really pleased with the mix of all six, as I think they demonstrate most things you might want to include in a travel poster, i.e. landscapes, mountains, trees and flowers, a street scene, bridges, and architecture. I especially love showing how to break down complex structures into simple shapes, such as with the Tower Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge projects.
What is it about painting travel posters that you like the most? How did you get into painting travel posters initially?
I’ve always loved the old travel posters. For me they’re a perfect blend of a more traditional art form and graphic design. A few years ago, I was painting places I loved, like Battersea Power Station and the OXO Tower in London. One evening, after a glass or two of wine, either my husband or I (still hotly disputed) suggested dropping the name of the place below the image on a print, just like the old travel posters we both love.
The idea took off straight away, with people asking me to paint more and more places special to them. We now collect votes, both face-to-face at fairs and online, and when I finish a painting, we look back at the list of votes to see where’s next most popular, and we plan our next trip.
What tips do you have for those who are trying this style of painting for the first time?
Practise controlling your paint so you can paint neat shapes with well-defined edges. Then it’s just a case of building up layers, adding a gentle outline where you feel you need a bit more definition, and having fun with a few final details.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m just finishing travel poster number 175, Eilean Donan Castle in the Scottish Highlands. It’s a really special place for us as we were lucky enough to get married there on a very crisp, blue-sky April day. As it happens, I’ve filmed my process to show how this painting came together, which you can see here...
Do you have any exciting plans for the rest of the year?
I have another 48,000 or so cities, towns and villages to paint. At one a week, that’s another 48,000 weeks of painting, so should keep me busy for the rest of the year, and another 923 years after that!
Visit Susie online via her website www.artistsusiewest.com or connect on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter at @artistsusiewest
Find out more about Susie's book:
Passport to Painting by Susie West is available from Search Press, RRP £14.99
