In the Studio with Scottish Artist Phoebe Roze

We’ve worked alongside Scottish illustrator Phoebe Roze for some years, and recently she welcomed us into her studio and showed us her favourite haunts around her hometown in Edinburgh so we could see her artistic process in the moment.

Influenced by wanders, cycles and hikes around the Highlands, Phoebe’s work centres on the beauty of Scotland’s landscapes. Her playful style shies away from the assumption that Scotland is a grey, muted place and instead brings the land to life with depth of colour. Here, Phoebe explains her artistic process and Highlands-inspired prints in her own words.

When did you first start creating and what attracted you to making art?
Whenever I’m asked this question my mind immediately goes to what Maurice Sendak said when asked the same thing — that all children draw and it’s more a question of why people stop. For me, it’s a way to bring my imagination to life, or to place myself in other worlds when I’m just sat working at a desk. Drawing is a way to access the most curious and imaginative parts of myself, to keep that sense of childlike wonder alive in a world which is often difficult and troubling.

Tell us about the influence Scotland has on your work?

I grew up in the Highlands, and drawing the places, creatures and culture specific to that area is a way for me to stay connected while living in the city. In terms of particular places, as I recently finished my book — ‘Our Islands’ — I would have to say the Hebrides. Each island has such a distinct personality, it feels like there are endless possibilities to draw on for inspiration.

I’ve drawn Skye a lot over the years, too. It has such dramatic weather and an amazing sense of scale, like little houses butting up against enormous black mountains. I guess one particular place I’ve come back to repeatedly is Loch Coruisk. It feels so incredibly ancient and isolated, and the weather changes so rapidly there that it’s a really exciting experience to try and get it down on paper. It’s like drawing a living animal.What kind of stories do you enjoy telling through your art?

Over the years I’ve been very inspired by Scottish folktales and social history — I like thinking about what ordinary lives looked like in these places at different times. I think that’s partly why I love to draw weather; the idea of pinning down a precise moment before it’s gone. Drawing gives me the power to recall or invent those other times and places — animating and reinterpreting these little windows for just a moment feels like magic to me. 

Your art is so playful and colourful. Is this representative of something to you?

I’m often trying to deliberately emphasise the depth of colour in the landscapes I draw. I find my photographs never quite do them justice, but in a drawing I can make the blue or lilacs of a rainy day stand out. It’s easy to think of Scotland as a grey landscape, but you only have to spend a little time looking to see how much colour there is, even on an overcast day.

Can you explain your process for creating a print?

I don’t have one specific process. Sometimes a print will come directly from my sketchbook, other times it’s drawn from a photograph at my desk, or I will plan a piece in advance by making small sketches first — usually this is the method I use if there’s more narrative involved. This flexible approach means the process always feels fresh and I can move between different methods or even locations when I feel stuck. It also means I can lean intuitively into whatever is feeling strongest — whether that is a need to just get outside and be in the elements, or to tell a particular, character-based story.

What medium do you use to sketch your initial drawings with?

I use a mixture of materials, but mainly pencil, pastels and ink. I often draw on location, partly as a way to record the moment and the memory, and to feel more present, forcing myself to pay attention to detail. The results are always different depending on whether I’m lazing about in the sun, or racing the rain with frozen fingers, and I like that you can see that physical comfort (or discomfort) in the work.

Tell us the story behind the new prints we now have on our website?

Loch Coruisk was drawn on location when I was facilitating an art residency from a sail boat last year around the Hebrides, which I have been fortunate to have done a number of times now. The weather was changing so fast and there were beautiful shadows passing over the mountains in the distance. That was such a special experience as the spot can only be reached by boat or by foot over the mountains. 

Wheeling Birds was also inspired by one of those sailing trips, specifically out to the Shiant Isles. It’s not an accurate depiction by any means, but I was thinking of how marooned the little cottage feels yet populated by thousands of noisy, animated sea birds. It’s an image I know that I’m going to keep returning to.

Puncture and Cycling Holiday are both playful and affectionate dedications to the reality of cycling in Scotland — you’re always at the mercy of the weather, or you’re racing it home (hopefully without a flat tyre!). I love bike packing, and it’s most often how I encounter these landscapes.

What do you hope people see and feel when they view your art?

I hope that my work sparks people’s imagination, that they feel curious about the world and the creatures that live in it. I want my work to be a portal for people to travel through, for it to give them the sensation that they are encountering these places, the weather, and its inhabitants, wherever they are.

And finally, have you got any advice for those starting out on their artistic journey?

Don’t be precious — use whatever materials you already have (the expensive ones will hold you back!) and just go outside and draw, draw, draw.

You can discover more of Phoebe’s beautiful work over on our online shop.