Chris Odgers

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“After leaving college I worked as a freelance illustrator for a year. Most of the work I was commissioned to do was narrative book illustrations and encyclopedia work for a company called Miles Kelly. I also supplied illustrations for the 'Cornwall Forever' book, and smaller jobs such as posters for a local theatre company. Following this, I went on to work for the NHS as an in-house illustrator. Then I chose the route of self publishing. I wrote and illustrated my first book Fall, which was published by an independant publishing house called Atlantic Press. Fall sold very well and immediately after this I began work on my second book, this time setting up my own publishing label. Fall also generated more freelance work and I was commissioned by David West Children’s Books for a graphic novel of Alexander the Great, and by a German publishing company called Nevermore. My second book Mule was released and again did very well on a sales front, from which I am now working on a third with another author. I think my time at Falmouth allowed me the space to really develop my drawing and experiment with a wide range of media, while working with a very commercial framework insight. I was able to work across a broad range of applications for illustration, from editorial, to children’s books, to animation, and so on. The experience of meeting publishers and visits to design houses were also essential for developing an understanding of the commercial world and also how it was to be applied to my illustration work. The fact that the course was very encouraging with artistic development but also combined with a clear understanding of the commercial world, was a vital formula in becoming a illustrator.”