About
Lucie Whitehead is a freelance illustrator and student, born and based in the Midlands.
Her work focuses on portraiture based illustration which is created using traditional methods, most primarily pencil and collage, to provide detailed and quirky work with a vintage feel. Lucie enjoys craft and handmade work as it gives a sense of personality, which is hard to find in a creative industry which is predominantly digitalised and monotonous.
After completing her A-levels with an A in both Art and Photography, Lucie continued her education at DeMontfort University studying a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, where she passed with a Distinction in 2009. After taking a gap year, Lucie went into further education, studying Visual Communications (Illustration) at Birmingham City University, where she is currently about to enter her final year, hoping to finish in 2013 with a 1st Class Honours.
Lucie talks about her plans for the future;
“2013 is going to be a very big year for me, as this is my final year at University. I have just finished my dissertation and now I am about to start my final major project, which will focus on birds and wildlife, inspired by Ted Hughes’s collection of poems about birds. In addition to university projects, I have also been selected as a finalist for Undergraduate of the Year at Birmingham City University, (I will find out if I am the lucky winner in March) which I am excited to be part of and pleased that my hard work has been recognized by the University.
Also my work is now being sold at Mr Birds Emporium in Digbeth, selling originals, prints and greetings cards from my “Dead to be Iconic” collection, continuing to sell my work throughout the year, and allowing me to create new collections to be sold in the future.
Finally, I shall be exhibiting my work at the New Designers show in London, July 2013, where my work and portfolio will be exhibited to agents and design houses, allowing me to expose my work to possible clients, which is a fantastic opportunity when starting out as a freelance illustrator.
Hopefully, after I have graduated in the summer, I will hope to be signed up by an illustration agency, where I can work from my studio at home as a freelance illustrator, creating an impressive portfolio and hopefully a long list of clients who appreciate my work.”
Work and Experience:
Commissioned illustrations for fashion label ‘Nostalgic Amnesia’, June 2012
3 Week Internship at ‘Advocate Art Illustration Agency’, August 2012
First Solo Exhibition ‘Dead To Be Iconic’ at the Vaad Gallery, Birmingham, 23rd-30th November 2012
‘Varied Vision’ Exhibition, Sidewalk Bar, Birmingham, 28th November 2012
Bristol Pear Exhibition, Birmingham, 5th December 2012
‘Breaking the Frame’ Exhibition, The Custard Factory, Birmingham 6th December 2012
Clubs Ep Cover ‘Velvet’, December 2012
In the Media:
Fuzed Magazine, Online (November 2012) www.fusedmagazine.com/2012/11/08/lucie-whitehead-dead-to-be-iconic/
Birmingham City University, Online (November 2012) www.bcu.ac.uk/news-events/tudent-exhibition-features-legends-who-died-before-their-time
‘The Best of Brum’ blog, Online (November 2012) www.thebestofbrum.com/2012/11/26/dead-to-be-iconic-exhibition-by-lucie-whitehead/
‘Created in Birmingham’, Online (November 2012) www.createdinbirmingham.com/2012/11/14/dead-to-be-iconic/
Edge Magazine, Published (February 2013 Issue)