Anna Higgie

Speaking of Bristol, it’s the place Anna Higgie now calls home, having lived all over the world. Her artwork blends both analog and digital techniques, resulting in the intricately detailed yet bold style for which she is known. Her lush imagery has been featured in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, British Vogue and Elle, as well as on countless book covers and at Nordstrom. She invited us into her new home studio for a chat…

1. What does your ideal workday look like?

I’m definitely a morning person. My ideal start is coffee, a quick yoga class to get the blood flowing, and then straight to my desk. I always try to “eat the frog” first—getting the task I’m avoiding out of the way before settling into the more enjoyable work. As a mum, my working hours are quite limited, so I have to be disciplined about avoiding procrastination and making the most of the time I have to work.

2. What’s your favorite snack while you’re working?

Green tea, bananas, a Nakd bar (basically just dates and nuts), or Marmite on toast with lots of butter.

3. Coffee or tea, and how do you take it?

Black coffee with a spoonful of honey and collagen.

4. Describe your workspace?

I only very recently moved into my home studio, so it’s still looking a little barren. But I do have a wonderfully loose Egon Schiele charcoal life drawing pinned above my desk. It reminds me not to overwork everything—to leave a bit of space and let things stay slightly open and unfinished.

5. What about Bristol inspires you? How does it differ from where you grew up in Australia?

I didn’t actually grow up entirely in Australia—we moved around a lot when I was a child. Some of my most formative years were spent in Vienna, where I fell in love with Viennese titans Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele and spent countless hours in museums and galleries, pouring over the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Brueghel and Albrecht Durer. I also used to sit and draw in the Naturhistorisches Museum, surrounded by ancient taxidermy.

I moved to Bristol because I wanted to live in the UK, but not in London. Bristol has a relaxed pace that suits me, while still having an incredible creative scene. There’s always interesting music, art and culture happening, but without the intensity of a huge city. I find slower places leave me with more headspace to make good work.

6. If you could go anywhere tomorrow, for any length of time, where would you go and why?

I’d love to go back to Japan. I visited as a teenager and would love to return and properly immerse myself in the aesthetics, history, food, technology and culture. There’s something about Japan that feels both ancient and futuristic at the same time, and I love how illustration and drawing seem to be woven into everyday life there.

I’d also love to explore more of China. I’ve only been to Hong Kong, but visiting somewhere like Shanghai really appeals to me. I wouldn’t want to live in a megacity, but I do love visiting them and, from what I’ve seen, Shanghai has this incredible Blade Runner energy that I’d love to experience.

I also absolutely love Szechuan food so that would be a big bonus.

7. What’s one thing you love about the art you make?

Every new piece feels like a puzzle I’m trying to solve. When everything suddenly clicks into place and the process becomes effortless, it’s one of the most satisfying feelings I know.

8. Your use of color is so bold and fun. Are there any colors you try to use less than others?

I generally try to avoid black but, apart from that, nothing is really off limits for me. I love experimenting with unexpected color combinations and seeing how different colors vibrate and interact with each other.

9. What were your favorite things to draw as a child?

I’ve always drawn more from observation than imagination. As a child I loved making detailed studies of animals and plants, and then as a teenager I became increasingly fascinated by drawing people, especially fashion imagery.

10. When are you having the most fun—as a person and as an artist?

As an artist, I’m happiest when I feel completely free, which is why I try to make time for personal work alongside client projects. Sketchbooking without a goal, or drawing with my four-year-old daughter, are wonderful reminders not to take everything too seriously. Making a mess together is very good for the soul.

I also absolutely love painting murals. Working at that scale is exhilarating, and I’d like to do much more of it.

11. You’ve done murals for festivals and public spaces, art tutoring and workshops. Why is community art so important to you?

One of the things I love most is simply working at a huge scale. When you’re used to creating small pieces—or working digitally—painting a massive wall feels incredibly physical. It forces you to use your body as much as your eyes, and it completely resets the way you think about making images.

12. What art or media has been inspiring you lately?

Honestly, there are too many artists to mention. I follow so many brilliant people on Instagram that I actually have to limit my time on there. I think it’s possible to have too much inspiration—sometimes it feels like my brain is being pulled in fifty different creative directions at once.

One of my favorite artists that I always return to for inspiration is the comic artist Moebius, he was a visionary and I will never tire of his incredible imagination, and the balance in his drawings of precision and playfulness.

13. What was the last thing you saw, watched or heard that made you stop and say “wow”?

Emma Talbot’s Everything Is Energy exhibition at the Arnolfini in Bristol. She paints and draws on silk at an enormous scale, transforming the entire gallery into these delicate, dreamlike installations. Walking into the immersive world she has created completely stopped me in my tracks.

14. You’ve created work for so many amazing clients. Are there any dream jobs or clients still on your list?

It’s a cliche but, like so many illustrators, I’ve dreamed of creating a cover for The New Yorker ever since I was a child. Copies were always lying around our house growing up, and they were probably what first made me realize that illustration could actually be a career.

I’d also love to do more large-scale interior murals. Painting somewhere as beautiful as Liberty of London would be a dream, if they ever needed one!

15. Thank you for showing us a little bit of your colorful life. Any parting words?

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

A quote attributed to Goethe, and something I come back to whenever I’m feeling creatively stuck. Sometimes the hardest part is simply beginning.