Meet: Becca Hall

I’m originally from the Lake District, but grew up visiting Cornwall twice a year, since I was four, and it always felt like it was my true home. There’s something so special about this end of the UK; it’s like no other place on earth. I’d planned to retire here, and then one day I thought, why wait? I packed as much as I could in my car, moved down the following week, and I’ve never looked back… 

I love the number of creatives in Cornwall, doing their own thing, running their own businesses. It makes you feel like you are part of this big collective of people who have chosen not to follow the ‘usual life’ but took a freelance route instead. Being surrounded by people who are following their dreams is so empowering and inspires me to ‘play’ more in my work, to try new things. 

The ocean and coast are a huge inspiration too – as well as a distraction! Depending on the swell or tide times, I’m either wanting to surf or walk the dog along the beach. Those walks are a great way to clear my head if I’m ever feeling stressed with work. My partner Ben and I will go for a surf or wander on the coast path, and all my worries disappear out to 

sea. Walking along the coast path has inspired various colour palettes in my sketchbook as well.

I often find myself driving to Newquay Harbour and sitting in a quiet spot to draw the boats bobbing about on a high tide. Experimenting with the landscape’s ‘wildness’ in the winter months, capturing every single little fishing boat in the harbour, spotting seals or seabirds, seeing the light shimmer on the water. There’s always such variety there, and I love to watch (and draw) the fishermen coming in from their latest catch.

I’d say I have a hand-drawn, nostalgic style of illustrating, but I always find describing my illustration style difficult, and usually end up just showing people instead! My aim is to make people smile. I love to bring character and charm to my illustrations (especially my animals!) and evoke that feeling of childhood joy. No seriousness, just fun, free joy. 

Every illustrator’s work is inspired by someone else in one way or another. I grew up adoring the illustrations of Quentin Blake, who created so much character with just a dip pen and ink. I also love the work of Catherine Rayner and always admired how she brought animals to life. Lately, it's a whole mix of illustrators and artists – Instagram has been an incredible tool to be inspired by others. 

The mediums I use change depending on what I’m illustrating and where, but it’s also developed and changed a lot over the last few years. I used to work solely with watercolours and pen, but I now bring various mediums into my work. I use brush pens, gouache, pencil crayons, dip pen/fountain pen, and pastels, though I do go back to watercolour for some illustrations. I also work digitally on my iPad when illustrating books, so I can move things around easily and make changes that the publisher asks for without having to start again!

I illustrated my first book in January 2018 and it’s grown from there. It’s now the main part of my business and the thing I love the most. The latest one to be published is Meet the 

Bears by Kate Peridot. I absolutely loved illustrating it – a true adventure filled with beautiful bears and scenery.

Go and take a look! 

My Patreon online tutorials have had a better response than I ever could have imagined. I feel so honoured to have helped people get into illustrating, or to improve on their skills and grow confident enough to go out, draw and find joy in art rather than dismissal or frustration. Now I never believe anyone who says ‘I can't draw at all’. I’ve seen how people learn to draw from scratch through the tutorials I’ve run, and their progress and work is incredible.

I am so excited to host the ‘Drink and Draw’ workshop. I’m creating a mini-series about ‘dogs on Watergate’ during my residency, so I will be sharing my top tricks and tips for Cornish sea life including seals, crabs, dolphins and birds. I’ll present some of my sketchbooks at the beginning of the session, and the evening will be spent drawing from a selection of beach treasures, before we move on to illustrating some gorgeous creatures from photographs.

Meet Becca

Becca will be working around the hotel and on the beach during her September residency - Wednesday 27 to Sunday 1 October. Please come and say hello.

She has recently finished a commission at Watergate Bay with Boardmasters Music Festival and is currently working on serval children’s books publishing later this year.