James Gilleard — Leeds, UK

What is the most memorable piece of illustration you have come across? “Currently I’m really in love with the work of Ori Toor, mainly because I’ve never seen anything remotely like it. It’s very graphic in a comic-book yet organic way, very surreal and just completely unique. The closest thing I can think of to it is Morpheus, but I don’t want to do an injustice to it by comparing — the two are very different. I just mean that the line and colour are vaguely similar, but the subject matter and presentation are not.”

An illustrator and animator from the UK, Gilleard has been working in the industry for around a dozen years and working as a freelance illustrator for five. He studied at Kingston University where he graduated with a degree in illustration and animation. He then moved into production houses to pursue a career in animation before working at games companies focusing on app development for kids. During this time he worked on personal illustration with a view to getting an agent, which he did in 2011 when Folio agreed to represent him.