Big Heads - Josh Cochran

Josh Cochran is an illustrator working in Brooklyn, New York, in a shared studio. He spoke about the benefits of working in a shared studio, saying that it makes freelancing feel more like a 'real job' and it means that you are not becoming social recluse and making yourself go crazy by spending all day at home. He creates dense drawings using a limited colour palette and specialises in character design, conceptual work and producing fantasy imagery to represent real life situations. 

At one point during the Skype session, Josh showed some of his roughs for an illustration he produced. This taught me that even professionals with a lot of experience produce really rough drawings and I shouldn't be worried about the appearance of my roughs, as long as they get the message across. 

Advice for students:

• Develop and maintain a creative community, even after graduation
• Always keep a sketchbook
• Collaborate with friends, push boundaries, share ideas and learn from other people's input. It gives you a taster of working with art directors in the creative industry. 

What is great illustration?

• You know it when you see it
• You feel a connection to it. 
• Don't just make an illustration to solve a problem, make it a part of you.