We love the quirky and detailed illustrations by Edinburgh-based illustrator Victoria Rose Ball. She puts her own unique spin on some of the cities most-loved buildings. We chat to her about why she loves Edinburgh so much and how she came up with her characteristic drawing style.
You are originally from Leicestershire but completed your degree at Edinburgh College of Art and now live and work in the city. What attracted you to Edinburgh? What’s your favourite thing about the city?
It was the architecture of the city which first drew me here. I remember stepping out of Waverley station onto Princes Street and just looking around thinking “Yep, I could definitely make myself at home here!”.
One of my favourite things about Edinburgh is how green it is for a city. I’m originally from a village surrounded by fields and farms, so its comforting being able to have the best of both in one place.
You have a self-confessed ‘fascination with architecture, typography and pattern’. Where does this interest stem from? How does this influence your work?
I’m not quite sure where my interest in architecture comes from. I’ve always enjoyed exploring cities and discovering the different styles of architecture, which plays a big part. I remember doing an art project back at high school about ‘looking up’. I focused this project on architecture, mostly the beautiful old buildings that were often hidden above high-street chain stores in city centres. I think that was the first project I did about buildings and my fascination just grew from there.
I began noticing that most buildings I was interested in had some kind of pattern and repetition within the detail of the façade, most commonly being things like pillars, detailing above doorways and window shapes. I really enjoy focusing in on these areas in my work and really capturing the details.
Your illustration style is quite unique and quirky. How did you develop this style? Did you experiment with style before reaching your signature style?
My style came about almost by accident. Whilst at ECA, I experimented briefly with screen printing. I always really enjoyed the finished outcome but felt it was a long process just to create one image. So I decided to try and replicate that digitally by using flat colours and layering them using various opacities. That has since developed to me using a mix of hand-drawn line-work and digital colouring techniques, which are quick to do but also give me the satisfaction of including lots of detail.
You have already done some pretty amazing commissions for varied clients including illustrations for the University of Edinburgh undergraduate prospectus. What would be your ultimate collaboration or commission?
I would love to work on a project about the history of architecture. I was reading up on Edinburgh’s architectural history a lot during my final year at university for my dissertation and found it really fascinating, so something that shows the city through the ages would be really fun to work on. I also absolutely love maps, so a city map or an illustrated guide book type thing that combines buildings and typography would be really great too.
Finally, where can people get hold of your artwork?
My artwork is available from my online store www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victoriaroseball. I also regularly post updates and ‘behind the scenes’ images of what I’m working on over on my Instagram: @victoriaroseball.
Discover more of Victoria Rose Ball’s artwork: www.victoriaroseball.com
