Hello & welcome to my illustration portfolio website. Thank you for taking the time to come and view my work today.
I am Freelance Illustrator Lawrence Mann. I currently reside in Leeds. A bustling city in the north of England surrounded by the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Countryside. The same city where I went to Uni many years ago but you can go to my LinkedIn page if you want to read about that. I have devoted my life to a creative career spanning 20+ years and I’ve been fortunate enough to have created work for the likes of Egmont, Sony, Microsoft, Mattel, the BBC, Channel 4, Marvel, Yamaha as well as creating covers for many novels.
As a Consultant and as an Influencer for several brands I've worked in places such as LA, Beijing, Berlin & London as well as remotely for companies in many more cities around the world that I hope one day to visit. Having Specialised in social Media as part of my career for many years I know the finer points of Influencing and have devoted a page especially to this on the site - Combining that with my offerings as an 'Artistic Tech' Consultant'.
What do I Paint?
When it comes to Digital Painting, I love everything Sci-Fi & Fantasy. A majority of the work you'll see here follows that passion as well as my love for portraiture. However, given my long career, I have drawn pretty much everything you can imagine... Even Barbie (shhhh! I've got a reputation to uphold). For a long time I was know as the guy who could do "any style at any deadline" which included detailed vector artwork, comic book illustration (see below), traditional style pen & inks and more - all until I decided to focus on my own style of art in an effort to make more of my own name as an artist. Popular creative magazine ImagineFX wrote an article at the time about the fact that I had discarded my portfolio and focused on a new style. I was thankful of the attention from the printed media.
I enjoy painting and drawing detail. More than that, I enjoy telling stories through detail. An image can be visually and technically stunning but it is always more impressive if the image tells a story too. If with a few added details the viewer can step inside the world which you have built. If they can use those extra storytelling elements to bond with the characters for either good or bad. This is most likely the reason I most take pleasure from crafting book cover art. Because I get to help authors expand upon the depths of their world building. In many cases I can help add or reveal extra layers they haven't thought about the visual details as deeply as you might have imagined.
I create from the moment I wake till the moment I fall asleep - seven days awake. No matter what form that takes. Most often that is illustration but I love to sculpt, make YouTube videos, craft advertising concepts and often while listening to audiobooks (In fact, I have a page here on my site about my inspirations which you might want to check out). I like to have a lot of different creative outputs as well as my Digital Painting. Why? Because being a creative thinker is exciting and challenging yourself in new ways will always help improve your skills in others. The more skills you explore and understand the more your art naturally evolves. That is what I have come to learn.
As well as be a Digital Artist with 20+ years experience, I have a solid background in Advertising & Marketing. Having worked as an Art Director & Creative Director for creative agencies both full -time and freelance over the years. That gives me the ability to scrutinise a piece of artwork as a marketing tool. I understand that to the client, a piece of artwork has goals, an audience and targets. There needs to be the bigger idea behind it to make it successful and I grasp that in the same way a good Marketing Manager does. Over the years, my background in marketing and my work as an artist have gone hand in hand to make me a better all-round creative.
I will try and keep this site and the story here largely about the artistic side of my background but obviously my background is integral to who and what I showcase here. I am not going to feature my advertising portfolio here on the lawrencemann.co.uk site. This is my illustration portfolio. So with that said, I believe art should tell a story. Especially when that art adorn a book or help expand a larger concept for game. Any one image has to be able to stand alone, stand out above today's crowded marketplace and speak to the audience as if nothing else exists. That’s what adding a story does for a great illustration. Even better are the images that encourage viewers to embellish further upon the world you have created.
Quick blast from the past...
Below you can see a small sample of work I will not place in my portfolio, such as my Art Direction, vector graphics and comic book work which is in a style I tend not to showcase any more. Simply here for those of you who might be curious about my skills.
Interactive Isometric Vector Graphics
Strutt Casting Ad Campaign
A selection of Marvel DVD Covers - X-Men, Iron-Man, Spider-Man + more
OneMint Customisable NFT
OneMint Customisable NFT
Motors Today Press & Billboard Poster
Retro MacBook Exploded Isometric Vector Illustration
[I will update this video shortly. My apologies for the appearance of older work. However, there are still a few nice pieces (including a very old version of Rescue Gone Awry) in here & the video itself is a testament to another one of my skills. An updated video will be here soon. Please bookmark the page]
I often paint in a combination Corel Painter & Adobe Photoshop on my trusty Wacom Cintiq for the majority of my commissions. I’m also a huge fan of mobile devices such as the iPad Air and Lenovo X1 FOLD which I use with the Sketchable App. Although I work with as many devices and applications as possible - it is part of my ethos as a Digital Artist but I'll explain that shortly.
I still love to draw traditionally in life-drawing classes when I can summon the time. I also love to visit galleries too for the inspiration and have even made video tours on the subject.
When I am not painting, then I’m keeping up-to-date with social media BUT I do love to Beta-test software, test hardware (and cool products as well as long as they’re art related – obviously). I strongly believe that as a digital artist, I have a responsibility to get involved in the software/hardware development for the tech’ that I use to create my work – especially if I wants it to evolve. All artists share in responsibility. I have a similar believe which drives me to create tutorials both on YouTube.
A few years ago I was awarded the title of Corel Painter Master. I was one of only ten artists world-wide to be recognised with the award. It was truly a great honour for me. In the Portfolio section you can see the cover I created for the Painter Essentials 5 application. I have also created a series of brushes for Painter and ParticleShop. To top it all, my status was furthered to that of Corel Painter Master ELITE for my work in helping other artists grow and develop the digital painting field as a whole.
Recently I was awarded the title of XP-Pen Brand Friend for the earnest work I have done in the past as a reviewer and for taking part as a judge in the XP-PEN rebranding competition. I have also been given the title of Adobe Community Expert for my 20+ years helping out the community, beta testing and working with the Adobe team.
I have worked closely with the team at Silicon Benders to develop the Sketchable App. Including Beta-testing, creating the user interface design, illustrating pieces to go inside the App and how-to videos for in-App use. As well as a whole bunch of YouTube videos on my channel focused on Sketchable. I also created the App’s new branding. For all this Silicon Benders has graciously gifted me the title of Official Sketchable ARTISAN. Even though the App is now available on the Windows store, I continue to work with the team on future versions just as I do with other companies and digital art related products – Anything I can do to develop the field of digital painting is a pleasure. Especially when it helps me create better artwork for my clients.
I hope you enjoy my work. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss an upcoming project and don’t be afraid to send me any feedback you may have on my work.
Chat soon,
Lawrence.
Lawrence.
SERVICES
Being a mercenary, I’ll draw anything for cash. Send me a message if you’re looking for a new book cover, concept art, a portrait, UI design or even create a YouTube review including a detailed digital illustration as I'm sure you've seen on my channel. Obviously 20+ years as a professional artists has given me a lot of skills that I'm not afraid to showcase.
TALKING MONEY
I base my prices on the time spent on an illustration. This means that I am unable to list prices for my work online or give quotes out without knowing exactly what I’ll be painting. If you know exactly what you want then that’s great! Get in touch now and give me as much detail as possible. If you’re not 100% sure then say hello and I can help you figure that out and work out a price!
NEED CONVINCING?
I understand that you want some convincing. You’re looking to hire a professional illustrator & artist and it’s always great to see what others have said. I’m glad to say that in all my years I’ve never had an upset client.
You can find more recommendations on my LinkedIn page and obviously if you’re here then you might already know some of my clients well. After all, a whopping 85% of my business comes straight from personal recommendations and introductions.
MY INSPIRATION…
If you’re curious about what inspires my artwork then here’s a few quick images to answer that curiosity BUT I have an entire page on my website devoted to my inspiration - let's face the fact, it's our inspirations as artists that define what we create.
If you are an artist, writer or creatively minded then I am sure you will find this inspiring. Perhaps we have a few things in common? Contact me and let me know.
