Becca Thorne

Profile

I'm an illustrator and printmaker based in Bristol, UK. I work traditionally, in linocut, creating organic prints full of texture and movement. I specialise in medieval and pre-medieval history, the natural world, folklore and food. All work starts as quick pencil sketches, before moving to Procreate on my iPad for secondary development. The final design is transferred to linseed-based lino, which I carve by hand to create a relief. This is inked up and hand-burnished onto gorgeous handmade paper - usually Nepalese lokta. For more colourful illustration work, I'll often print layers separately and compile them digitally, to allow for quicker drying, and the option to edit things at the last minute if necessary. For tighter deadlines I can work entirely digitally, replicating my linocut style in Procreate, and incorporating scanned handprinted textures to create a digital image that's hard to distinguish from an original. I studied BA(hons) Illustration, followed by MA Authorial Illustration at Falmouth College of Arts, graduating in 2005. I've been illustrating professionally since 2007. Clients include The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, The Folio Society, BBC History Magazine, Unbound, Thames&Hudson, Penguin Random House and HarperCollins. Represented worldwide by Illustration X.