I, like many other illustrators, started to draw from a very early age. The first image I remember drawing was of a Cadbury's Creme Egg when was 3 years old. It's brilliant! I often look back on that drawing with great frustration and envy, as I will never create anything that beautiful ever again.

However, I didn't actually realise I could be an illustrator professionally until I was 24. The though just appeared in my mind one day that I could get paid for drawing pictures as opposed to serving drinks to alcoholics and idiots for the rest of my life. So I enrolled onto a degree course at Stockport College; which opened my eyes to the industry and the opportunities to do something I loved. I graduated last year and have been a jobbing illustrator ever since and long may it continue!

I would call it mixed-media, paper-cut, digital collage. You might call it something else. Although my images are assembled digitally; that is only the very last stage. All of my process is hand-crafted through print-making, paper cuts, and mark-making with ink and pencils. I like to make a mess before I get to the digital stages.

I start every image in a sketchbook; It takes me quite a long time to compose an image from the idea in my head. I often have to re-draw images multiple times to make sure I have everything how I want it. afterwards I begin to make the image. I ink up pages of plain printer paper using black, block-printing ink and a roller. When that is dry I get the scalpel out; I cut out every possible shape needed for the image, from the inked up paper. I then scan in those shapes, rearrange them and recolour them in Photoshop. It may be the long way round, but I prefer my work to look quite inaccurate so it suits me for the aesthetic I'm after.

Pencil. Paper. Sketchbook. Block-printing ink. Lino. Scalpel. Scanner. Mac. Wacom Tablet. Tea.

more than I’d like to. I think every Illustrator does. Sometimes get so stuck that I think I am not a real illustrator. When that happens I generally try to power through; keep on drawing down everything that comes to mind for as long as bearable. If I’m still stuck for ideas, I'll flick through a book; Illustration annual, reference book, Magazine. Usually this helps because it takes your mind off the problem for a while and often I’ll see a picture of something mundane and it will give that little spark of inspiration.

If that still doesn't do it, I put it down. Go for a walk, watch TV for a while, tend to my vegetable patch, and come back after an hour or so with a fresh head and new eyes. Sometimes, I come back to my studio and find that I had a couple of good ideas in the first place but that only happens very occasionally.

I don't really have any 'illustrative' goals as yet. I've only been doing the job for a short time so at the moment I feel lucky to be getting the work I am getting. My only real goal is to be able to do this for as long as humanly possible. To be financially comfortable and able to support my family with this job would be the perfect outcome.

It all depends on the mood really, as well as which stage of the design process I’m in. Some days I'm in a folk mood, some days Hip-hop, some indie. I am a Heavy Metal/ Hardcore punk fan at heart though so at some point of everyday, there'll be some loud noises coming out of the studio. For the design process, I tend to listen to something mellow/ light hearted whilst coming up with ideas and sketching as my mind gets very easily distracted. Once I enter the Cutting and scanning stage, I can turn it up to 11.

Keep producing new work and get it in front of as many people as possible. Don't lose confidence in your work; There will always be somebody better at what you are doing, but by that same logic you are also better than others. Eat healthily and exercise.

I have just started to take my own advice on this one; I have started swimming early in the mornings. I get to the pool for 7, back home to my studio for 8. It has improved my working life so much. That hour floating around in the pool on my own gives me so much time to think, by the time I sit at my desk I have already solve most of my problems.

Also, I recommend joint twitter if you haven't already; but use it as a means of networking with other designers. Stop following celebrities and follow as many illustrators, designers, animators, agencies and publishers as you can manage. It's a great way to see what kind of work your peers are producing, it's brilliant as a way of gaining feedback on your own work, as well as showing it off to the people that want to see it.