Mel Langton

I’m a designer and illustrator who loves creating unique, vibrant and empowering original artwork, bespoke portraits, clothing, homewares and surface pattern design. 

I’ve loved drawing people for as long as I can remember, and I’ve always been fascinated with storytelling and symbolism within art, which led me to study graphic design and illustration. 

Over the years, my artwork has taken many different forms, but one of the most significant influences over the direction of my work was my time spent on track, playing the full-contact sport of roller derby. This fearsome game introduced me to a whole new world and subculture, where strong, powerful, and inspirational women from all different backgrounds were going against the norm and becoming their own heroes. Ultimately this inspired me to create artwork that empowers, uplifts and celebrates, whilst telling stories and bringing exciting ideas to life.

I love to work using both traditional and digital techniques but will never choose between the two. The feel of paper, the smell of paint and even the nuances in the way an art piece can look in different light is something that, to me, digital art simply can’t replicate.

For commissions and surface pattern design I enjoy hand drawing on my iPad, but I share equal passion in creating physical pieces working in acrylics inks, watercolour, brush markers and metallics. Having studied a degree in graphic design and illustration, I’ve always strived for my hand painted work to have the precision of vectored artwork and yet my digital work to look free and natural. Perhaps this makes me my worst enemy, but these techniques help me blur that boundary between digital and traditional within my bold and distinctive style.

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