Emily Carew Woodard

Brought up in Cornwall, Emily is based in London. She’s fascinated by the history of the city, believes in ghosts, and claims to be a direct descendent of Henry V. One of her dream projects was to provide artwork and costume designs for Opera San Antonio’s production of Fantastic Mr Fox, based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl. She not only worked with the project’s artistic director, Tobias Picker, but also conferred with Roald Dahl’s widow, Liccy. Having grown up reading the author’s work, it’s a project she relished from start to finish. Emily has a BA in Illustration from the London College of Communication.

Approach

Emily uses coloured papers, working with ink, watercolour, acrylics and gouache. She’ll often add a bit of gold or silver leaf to bring a bit of depth to a composition.

Style

Her style harks back to Victorian and Edwardian illustration, with anthropomorphic scenes where richly detailed animal characters take on human roles. Romantic ideals and fantastical histories underpin the worlds she creates.

Client list

Emily’s clients include Opera San Antonio, Hitachi, John Lewis, The Guardian, The Times, The National Trust, Random House and McGraw Hill.