Jonathan Ball is an illustrator and graphic designer. Inspired by lobrow art forms such as cartoons, retro video games, urban art and cute monsters. He enjoys creating fantasy worlds and characters in vibrant colours and settings. Check out the short interview I did with Jonathan and his amazing art.

power up mushrooms by Jonathan Ball

Where were you born, where do you live, any other background info?

Born 1974 , Cardiff, UK. although I always liked drawing but it wasn’t until i studied graphic design at the age of 29 that I realized it was illustration that was my main passion. So have only been working as an illustrator for around 4 years.

pirate and sea monster laugh by Jonathan Ball

good morning forest by Jonathan Ball

How would you describe your work?

I love a good contrast between dark and light elements, colour and darkness. The same goes for themes as well, things can be cute and cuddly but also have a darker side. A lot of my work is collage like in effect and I love layering hundreds of elements in my pictures, or creating atmospheres for the worlds my characters inhabit.

the clouds take revenge by Jonathan Ball

march of progress by Jonathan Ball

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

I use a variety of techniques. One of my favorite is to make various elements as vectors and then bring them into photoshop to layer into an image. I then use photoshops tools to create interesting effects and layer style. I often add various scanned textures to roughen the vector look. I’m quite keen on reusing my various vector elements to give my pictures a consistency in style. Each new picture has a large part of a previous images mixed in.

angrybears by Jonathan Ball

food by Jonathan Ball

mushroom graveyard by Jonathan Ball

Are you a full time artist?

Yes I’m lucky enough to make a good full time living from illustration. Hope it lasts, there’s always worry that work will dry up when you are self-employed.

pandas will die by Jonathan Ball

the day the sun fell to earth by Jonathan Ball

How did you get started?

It gradually built up over the past few years, I got featured in quite a few websites and print magazines, and the work has kept coming in. Also starting to sell quite a fe prints and other bits of merchandise.

ms pac-man by Jonathan Ball

in bed by Jonathan Ball

Any notable accomplishments?

My work has been used on quite a few high profile ad campaigns, such as for Playstation and Doritos. Currently creating some album covers and characters for various websites and games.

hellovolcanoflat by Jonathan Ball

treenodirt by Jonathan Ball