ELLE POWELL
Elle Powell is a freelance illustrator based in Denver, Colorado, who specializes in illustrations that feature various lifestyles and activities.
Visit her WEBSITE
Check out her INSTAGRAM
Send her an EMAIL
CREATIVE STATEMENT
Illustration, well-being, and traveling are a few of my favorite things, so I combined them to become a professional lifestyle illustrator. When I'm home, creating travel illustrations gives me some sense of wonder and discovery. When I'm traveling, creating illustrations inspired by my current location helps me look closer and get to know a place even better. While at the Savannah College of Art and Design, I wrote my MFA thesis on different concepts of well-being around the world, and I created illustrations for concepts with no English translation. Nowadays, I continue to nurture my focus by continuing to read, travel and learn about different people, cultures and experiences around the world.
RECENT CLIENTS
- The University of Pennsylvania
- 40 West Arts x The City of Lakewood
- The Denver Zoo
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Spirituality & Health Magazine
Q&A
Do you draw from a model or your imagination?
Some of both. When I'm in Paris I go to a live model session every week, which helps me keep improving my gesture drawing skills. But I often use a combination of reference photos, my imagination, and the "feeling" of being in a specific place or mood.
What is your favorite activity to illustrate?
Anything travel-related, really! I've drawn passengers on airplanes, luggage, and so on, but maybe my favorite thing is just capturing daily snippets from a given location. The everyday routines of people around the world interest me a lot.
Where do you find inspiration for new people and poses?
I'm enormously inspired by traveling. I love sitting at a café or restaurant and people-watching or drawing from life. I've done drawings of people on the metro before, and I often sketch my husband or myself for pose references. I'm also really inspired by music and dance, so often I'll hear a song and just have a pose come to mind. I am never short on inspiration!