Nikki Dyson Contemporary Classic Illustration

Some time ago I discovered the illustrator Nikki Dyson on Twitter and have long since admired her work. It’s full of fun and vibrancy and has that wonderful mid-century nod, that always makes my heart beat a little faster lol

When I asked Nikki about the American style to her work (for a UK artist) she told me ” I’m really influenced by american animation art like UPA, Maurice Noble, Chuck Jones and especially from early Disney…that’s how I discovered Mary Blair‘s work and that led onto discovering more amazing artists that were involved in the concept art for the films ie Gustaf Tenggren, Alice and Martin Provensen and Al Dempster ! All of whom have illustrated Little Golden books so that led me onto knowing about these little gems and being hugely influenced by them in my work too.

Lovely modern renditions here of 1950’s and 60’s traditional travel posters, cleverly turned into post cards. Love the knotted hanky : )

It’s difficult not to smile looking at these colourful images.

Some greeting cards.

Nikki has an impressive client list too, she’s worked with names such as Usborne Books, Macmillan Children’s Books, Walker Books, National Geographic Kids, Macmillan Education as well as the famous Random House (Little Golden Books). Here’s a few of her books.

For those of you old enough or English enough to remember the children’s programme “Vision On” and its presenter Tony Hart then you’ll also be amused by Nikki’s Art Gallery section on her blog (make sure you have your sound on for the full effect lol)

I mentioned this to Nikki and she said ” Haha yes, I can’t forget my british roots too ! So the theme is a tribute to Tony Hart as I adored watching him as a child and loved the gallery sequence and would always try and create what he did on the show (though not to the same degree of success!) I also admire the work of Quentin Blake, Judith Kerr, Shirley Hughes all amazing inspirational people ! ”

More of Nikki’s work over on her agent’s site Advocate Art ,or if you fancy a fab print (like this chunky cat for example), then pop over to Nikki’s Etsy Shop and have a browse.

All of this amazing work comes from such a wee little workspace too, small but very productive I think ! Great illustrations Nikki, keep up the lovely work.