Tell us a little about yourself, where you live and a bit about your life at this moment in time?
‍My name is Will Richards and I am an illustrator living in Brighton, UK. I specialise in branding and merchandising, mostly for bands, clothing brands & restaurants. I work out of a shared studio space with 6 other incredible illustrators and 3 even more incredible dogs.

‍How long have you been an artist for? Was it something you always wanted to do?
‍I have been an artist for about 10 years now and 5 or 6 of that has been full time freelance. While i've always enjoyed drawing, it's not something i've always wanted to do because I honestly didn't believe I could make a living out of it. I used to work two part time jobs and work on personal work/commissions on the evenings and weekends, until eventually I could leave one of the jobs and start cutting down my hours at the other as my freelance work got busier.
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If you weren’t an artist, what would you do instead?
‍For a long time I wanted to be a guitar technician, but failing that I would have probably either been a carpenter, a gardener or a postman.

What’s happening in your near future?
‍My near future is looking pretty relaxed which is a welcome change for me as the past few months have been so crazy busy with travel, weddings, 30th birthdays and lots of work. I am hoping to get some time to do a little more painting.

What has been your career highlight so far?
‍There have been so many! In terms of my highest profile commission, that would be a couple of t-shirts with Nike for the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. Working with a brand I already buy from like Dark Arts Coffee or P&Co is always a highlight. But probably my overall highlight is being asked to create all the art for Canterbury based brewery FLOC, as a freelancer getting a regular gig is few and far between so to have this project to keep coming back to is a real treat.