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Hello There! I am Carmen Bren (CB.OBE online), an illustrator from London.
My goal at university was to find my voice as an illustrator, and I’ve found that I flourish when working with narrative and design work, especially when I can tie it into my interests or get to research something new. Most of my visual inspiration comes from history and folklore, with an emphasis on texture and shape language.
My work is a blend of analogue work in gouache, pencil, and graphite, and digital work in replication of said materials. I love the tactility of these materials, and they give my process more life and movement than anything else.
The biggest joy with illustration is getting to tell stories and express concepts in a visual way, and seeing how others receive and enjoy my work. I hope to get a chance to illustrate YA books and give other young people the excitement and joy from stories that I got.
Throughout my time I’ve leant into learning as much as possible about every project I take on, and using that to inform the visual choices I make. I particularly enjoy working with the human form and perspective, as well as pushing my compositions as much as possible.
Thematically, I tend to lean towards fantasy works, horror inspired imagery, and historical influences.
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