About Kirsty McGill

Portrait Artist.
Beauty & Lifestyle Illustrator.

Creating feminine, whimsical, hand-drawn illustrations for editorial, business and other lovely client commissions. I offer prints and products in my shop and share behind the scenes on my blog and in my newsletter.

Working primarily in graphite with pops of colour and fun. I have also begun working in oil paints too. My work is inspired and influenced by fashion, beauty, self expression, sub culture, feminism, animals, magazine editorials and design.

The creative process has always been mesmerising to me, that moment when some pencil marks start to form a face, some brush strokes create that magical depth or the design concept comes together.

My first commission came at a young age when a teacher asked me to draw a card and paid me the grand sum of £1. And maybe subconsciously that sparked an entrepreneurial spirit when it came to my creativity!

Since studying graphic design (‘Image Rich’ pathway) I have been working in the creative industry professionally as designer since graduating in 2010. But the call towards art and illustration has always been there too.

From being a young, shy child to now a sometimes still shy adult, creativity for me is: self expression, connection and communication.

Style & Themes

Like many artists before me, the female figure and portrait as well as nature are my muses. I explore the relationship between people and nature within my work, posing a romanticised view of a harmonious relationship.

What initially started as a small series I called Human / Nature has become a core theme within my work.

It’s a subtle way to depict these themes, in a world where there is a climate crisis, a lot of negativity and unpleasant things – call me sensitive (many have) but I’d rather highlight the beauty.