ALTPICK.COM

Good Morning Sarah! What are you working on right now?
I'm doing an ad campaign for Cow and Gate Baby food, and two double- page spreads for Channel 4's Ten4 magazine.

It's refreshing that a lot of your work still utilises a hand drawn/ pen on paper element. Why is it important to you to work in this way and not solely rely on the computer?
It has always started on paper and always will - I need to feel the combination of physical pressure of the nib on the paper, the scratching sounds, and the unpredictability of the ink. It blobs and moves in an unexpected way. But conversely it also allows me the greatest control - even with my digital drawing pen I can't be as immediate and brutal as I can with a hoary old nib. I want nothing between me and my thinking! However I will murder with my bare hands anyone trying to sneak my Mac away.

There is a gothic feel to some of your work - why does the gothic and the strange interest you?
It goes back to being little and wanting to be scared, really wanting to discover that ghosts were real. I watched the Olivier/Oberon 'Wuthering Heights' with my Grandma when I was off school once, and had some terrifyingly brilliant dreams for days after (you see Cathy in her coffin!)

We can't know everything, we can't see everything, and we can't explain everything - the day we do I think it's all over for us - and that naturally flows through into my work (where possible - though I try to hide something in the most commercial and accessible of my work, client don't always want mournful ghost-faces hiding in their chick-lit covers!)

Your personal work makes strong links to music, song lyrics and poetry. Can you give examples of other artists that have inspired you and why?
I used to be more inspired by literature and stories than music, though music was the essential ingredient for any drawing time - childhood was full of my 'novels' with their own hand-drawn covers (usually terribly tragic, involving consumptive Victorian orphans, since the Brontes and Dickens were hugely influential) morphing into LP covers of 80s pop heroes copied in anally-retentive detail, which I think most budding artists did. (Didn't they?) I'm still proud that certain bands sent them back to me signed - one of which, Duran Duran, I recently shared a magazine page with - a feature about my NY show. I was so excited!

I notice that you live in a town in the UK steeped in folklore and ghost stories? Is there a particular tale you would like to share?
There is. Our graveyard has the tomb of Richard Smith, a young saddler killed in 1727, who joined a crowd in the Market Place that was thronging a recruiting sergeant. There was an altercation and the sergeant impaled Richard on his halberd, pinning him to a tree. In April every year strange red drops of moisture appear on Richard's headstone and trickle down as if crying tears of blood. I've seen it - it's very convincing! If you go into Hinckley town centre on a Friday night there's still a risk of finding yourself pinned against a tree, though probably by a kebab-wielding drunk rather than a halberd.

Your work has earned you a large fan base here in the UK - but I notice you have a gathering following abroad particularly in the USA. How do you find working with clients in the USA? Is the design/ commissioning process different to the one used back at home?
At the moment my US jobs seems to have longer deadlines � UK commissions recently have been increasingly pressured time-wise. The art direction us generally very thorough (and I like a good strong bit of art direction!)

I find I am often more involved in the lead-up to the job too - several calls or emails will be exchanged before an actual commission is made, discussing ideas, or sending reference images from my archives, which I enjoy.

Are you an owl or a lark when it comes to work. A late night worker or an early bird?
Owl. I hate early mornings, and only seem to see them when I haven't gone to bed the night before.

What was one of the most memorable and exciting commissions you have worked on?
I was very pleased to have created Sage Francis' new album sleeve art, as I realised this was probably the first thing I'd done which would be truly global. Working with him was hard, since he was commissioning for himself and his own product rather than a client, and therefore was apt to change his mind frequently and add things at the last minute! Additionally I am a big fan, so had to set aside my own personal vision to remain creatively objective while still thinking 'what would appeal to a fan?' All against a very tight time frame. Very enjoyable.

Your hand lettering is instantly recognisable as a 'Sarah Coleman' work of art. When did you start to develop your lettering styles and are there special materials and pens you prefer to use?
They began with those home-made stories and LP covers. I couldn't afford to buy LPs so would borrow them from the library and tape them and make my own covers. My Dad gave me some Witch pens (made by William Mitchell, you can still get them) and nibs and some black Quink - they remain to this day the core tools in my artillery. I collect nibs; that they tipped millions of them into the ground when they demolished the Birmingham nib factories is still a source of sorrow for me - they're all under there somewhere.

There is a very theatrical element to your illustrations? Have you worked with theatre companies in the past and do you have a love of theatre?
My final university piece was a stage production of Wuthering Heights, and I was involved in making props for the Royal Shakespeare Company as soon as I left university for a few months. I also worked for several local theatres freelance, and I think the desire to create little 'worlds' has stayed with me - I still collect and am fascinated by dolls, for example. My personal work when it finally re- emerged took three dimensional form, and I'm getting interested in wallpapers, fabrics - imagery for one's environment; again, decorating your own 'world'. Strangely I hardly ever seem to get to the theatre - reading is probably where those ideas comes from these days, though I still daydream about being a ballerina!

What children's book would you like to illustrate and if you had to be a character in a story who would it be?
If I do a children's book it would be one I'd written. There are creatures lurking who I've known for a long time but who are not quite ready to commit to paper. They'll creep out one day, rubbing their eyes in the sunshine. I am not so sure children would necessarily like them however - they're probably better reserved for the 'child' in every grown-up. And if I was a character? Well there has only ever been one heroine - I would, to this day, love to be racing in spirit form down the moor to meet Heathcliff. But reality probably sees me as a wonky creature in the background of a Dr Seuss... And now, I had better get on with that baby food.