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Illustrator Spotlight – Ollie Davis

Sound Waves Literacy 28/5/22

‘Making the reader believe in the world I have drawn is essential to my work.’

That’s the magic of Ollie Davis’s illustrations, which expertly use atmosphere to help the viewer empathise with characters and their experiences.

Like many illustrators, Ollie began drawing at a very young age but didn’t enter the world of professional illustration until he finished his Masters of Illustration and began working for The Illustration Room in 2020.

Ollie’s work with the Australian illustration agency has given him the chance to develop his unique style of mixed media collage. He employs a range of materials and techniques including watercolour, gauche, acrylic, pastels, digital chopping, layering and overlays to get the perfect effect for his work.

When Katie from The Illustration Room reached out about the Sound Waves Decodable Readers project, Ollie was eager to get involved.

While he has worked on 10 of the Foundation books, he says one of his favourites is Rain and Hail as it gave him the opportunity to illustrate atmospheres and scenes – something he particularly enjoys creating.

‘I find water to be one of the most fascinating materials to draw. It has to be transparent, translucent and opaque all at the same time!’

Ollie likes to use textures and mark-making to create abstract details that can be understood visually by the reader, as he did in the Decodable Reader Will it Rain?.

‘I try to vary the compositions as much as possible to keep kids interested and looking forward to the page turn.’

Ollie enjoyed working with Firefly Education on the Sound Waves Decodable Readers and looks forward to illustrating more books for the Year 1 phase of the project.

‘Every book is unique, which keeps things fresh. I enjoyed the freedom to create and grow confidence in my work’.

See more of Ollie’s work on his Instagram.

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