Illustrator Hannah Lock on Colored Pencils, Clients, and Creative Resilience

Hannah Lock, a freelance illustrator from West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, works exclusively with colored pencils. She studied foundation at Leeds College of Art (now Leeds Arts University) and earned a BA at Cambridge School of Art. Her clients include The Baffler, Bronte Parsonage Museum, Mother Jones, the New York Times, and Politico. Lock cites David Hockney's work at Salts Mill in Saltaire, Derek Jarman's book Chroma, and the films of Powell and Pressburger as key influences. She created the zine The Map of Lost Mushrooms in 2024 and a poster for the Mountain Goats' Spectral Tide tour. Lock maintains a Patreon to balance personal and client projects. She sees independent publishing as exciting and notes illustrators' perseverance against AI. Her advice: don't box yourself in; follow your interests.