I Started by Exploring Art - Here’s What I Learned Along the Way

Lucy Faulke, Alumna & Illustrator specialising in digital and handmade practices.

“Be patient and curious. It's important to be open to where your work leads you, even if it’s not where you originally imagined.”

I’ve always been drawn to art and creativity. As a small child, drawing felt like an activity I could completely get lost in. Discovering vector drawing as a teenager was a turning point. I bought Computer Arts magazine every month just to follow the Adobe Illustrator tutorials. Working digitally felt as though anything was possible, and it allowed me to focus on the tiniest details of a piece.

East Sussex College gave me permission to experiment and to trust my intuition. I was fortunate to have a fantastic teacher who really inspired, encouraged, and challenged me. That support pushed me to think differently and approach projects from unexpected angles. It helped me value process as much as outcome, and to see experimentation as an essential part of making meaningful work.

College amplified a passion that was already there while opening the door to a much broader creative world. I loved learning about graphic designers and digital illustrators and felt strongly influenced by that digital-first approach. At the same time, being encouraged to paint by hand and explore traditional techniques gave me a strong grounding in process and materiality. That combination is something I still value hugely.

A trip to New York with the art department was also hugely influential. Seeing Matthew Barney’s exhibition at the Guggenheim left a lasting impression. It was unsettling and stunningly beautiful, and it helped shape my love of creating work that feels beautiful but carries something slightly off beneath the surface.

I’ve always been drawn to juxtaposition and the unexpected, and that comes through strongly in my work. I like the tension in mixing a traditional oil-look style with unmistakably digital elements layered over the top, such as glitches, distortions, and unreal colour shifts. My visual language draws heavily on nostalgic sensory memory, dream imagery, and the imperfections of everyday life. I’m particularly interested in how beautiful things change or fall apart over time, in much the same way memories do.

College was where I learned that creativity could be taken seriously, not just as a hobby but as a discipline and a practice. I developed technical foundations, but most importantly, I gained confidence in my own judgement. Learning how to make decisions independently, stand by creative choices, and reflect on my work critically gave me the self-belief I needed to pursue art and design as a career rather than something purely personal.

I want to continue exploring the overlap between digital and handmade processes, pushing the juxtaposition of mediums further and introducing unexpected elements into my work. Building on the experimental mindset I developed at college, I hope to keep evolving my practice in ways that feel intuitive, thoughtful, and open-ended.

Be patient and be curious. Be open to where your work leads you, even if it’s not where you originally imagined. Learn the fundamentals, but don’t be afraid to break them. Spend time deep diving into what you love, what you dream about, and what you feel compelled to look at more closely. If you’re passionate about a subject, a certain colour palette, or a particular process, it will show through and you will produce better work.

I started at East Sussex College exploring art, without knowing where it would lead. Now, my practice spans illustration, digital painting, and tattooing, and I continue to find magic in the spaces between the handmade and the digital.