We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eliott Bulpett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Eliott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I always knew from a really young age that I wanted to be an artist and never once thought about being anything else. At 3 years old there was an activity we did at school answering questions about our favourite colours, best friends, and what we wanted to be when we grew up and I had my teacher write down ‘artist’ for me. It wasnt until much later though that I actually figured out what kind of career as an artist I wanted. I went to college to study graphic design as it looked like the most interesting course on the open day, but it wasnt until I began looking at universities that I even knew what an ‘illustrator’ was – but straight away I knew that was for me.

Eliott, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a non-binary illustrator and mural painter from the UK, I graduated from Arts University Bournemouth in 2021 and currently work part time as a freelancer. I love bright colours and making exaggerated, bold artworks which are very eye-catching and fun. A lot of my work is inspired by nature and animals, and just wanting to create things that put a smile on your face.

I started freelancing straight out of univeristy and my first job was creating a set of greeting cards for Sunshine Llama. From here I’ve worked on social media illustrations for brands, created visual identities for events, editorial work for magazines, and last year I got started painting murals which is a dream come true!

My use of bright colour palettes can really make my work stand out on social media which makes it ideal for companies looking to market their services and products with my art. My background in graphic design also comes through in my art process as I love working with shapes and can create designs in vector too which is an additional benefit. It’s also been great for converting my process to mural designs as they are easy to scale up and paint in this medium without having to change much of the way I create.

I’m really proud of how much my work has developed in the last few years since leaving univeristy, my visual language has become more refined and slowly but surely I’m figuring out what it is I love and what I’m passionate making work about. I always thought I would be a children’s illustrator because I loved making bright and light-hearted work but I’ve come to realise that this can 100% be for adults too – people like me who love joy and that doesnt mean it has to be childish! Saying that though, I am also very excited that I have just recieved my first ever book contract for a childrens book that will be published by the end of 2024! The idea that I’m going to see my own illustrations printed in a book and sold in stores is just incredible and I can’t wait to start creating it!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love getting to see my work out in the world – that’s a feeling that I never get tired of! If I’m on social media and see something I created for a brand, or even when I’m driving down the street and pass some of my own murals it makes me so excited. It feels like I’m making a positive difference in the world – especially when I see other people interacting with that work. I illustrated some pages in a poetry/short story book for a childrens literacy group, and I got to meet some of them for a Q&A and it was so rewarding to see them holding these books we’d created and how much they loved my drawings. Similarly when I painted a mural for an animal sanctuary that will be used as an animal therapy room for children – seeing the photos of them in there having a great time was so special.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think there are so many ways you can support creatives – money is always a good one though haha!

Finding places near you that have galleries/exhibitions/markets and going along to them is a great way and is fun for you too. I know my local art centre also runs lots of beginner workshops across so many skills including pottery, woodworking, sewing, painting etc, and you dont need to be a creative person to try these things out! Grab some friends and have a fun afteroon out trying something new and supporting those artists in their crafts. Social media is always changing and a lot of people are finding it harder now to grow their presence online, so sharing things can go such a long way!

As an overall thing – just having respect and an appreciation for the arts. We’re seeing such a rise in AI being used as replacement for artists work which is such a shame as I promise we can create things so much better. Appreciate the art you see on book covers, posters, adverts – sometimes I feel the importance of the arts are often overlooked, so make a conscience effort to recognise and enjoy them!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://eliottbulpett.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/eliottbulpett
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliottbulpett/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/eliottbulpett
• Other: Threads – https://www.threads.net/@eliottbulpett