Sofie Seyah Illustration

The ocean is my life. It always has been. I've been in and around water for as long as I remember. I've spent years as a marine scientist but I'm also an illustrator. My passion for the ocean encompasses science and art - bring to life the colourful characters that I've met beneath the surface.

I like to capture the things that interest and inspire me in my own little way. I usually start with an image (photos, books or the good old internet) or object (such as my collection of shells) and work from there. I generally have a concept in my mind of what I want to produce but it always evolves and never turns out quite how I imagine.

I'm a self-taught illustrator but have drawn and painted since I was a child, and it's always been a favourite pastime of mine. I tend to work with Pigma ink pens, pigment ink, watercolour and graphite pencil. I have a real love/hate relationship with watercolour. I love its unpredictability and incredible textures it can create, but this unpredictability can also be a hindrance. I've learnt to embrace my mistakes and have given up on my perception of perfection and to go with the flow.