Maggie Li is a freelance illustrator and art director based in London. She specialises in bold, graphic illustration and uses a colourful palette. As well as art directing popular children's publication OKIDO magazine, she writes and illustrates her own children's book.
In another life I'd love to have trained as a pastry chef.
I've loved drawing since I can remember and spent most of my time at school in the art room. I only realised illustration could be a career after studying art foundation and it opened up a new possibility of using my creativity in a wider way.
I'm inspired by music, literature and other artists.
I try to start the day early and always with a strong coffee. I warm up with drawing in my sketchbook before getting on with commissioned work or working on personal projects. I tend to get restless in the afternoon so I always go for a walk to clear my head before settling back down to work until the evening.
When I'm stuck I leave my work and do something else for a while. I find distracting myself for half and hour always refreshes me and often solves the trickiest creative blocks.
The New York Times, TimeOut and Airbnb.
I sketch with pencils and always finish in Photoshop. I've recently used procreate on the iPadPro a lot.
A good exhibition always fires me up for ideas and motivation.
Work hard and always meet those deadlines!
Illustrating a New Yorker cover.
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