Meet Sophie Bass, an artist pushing boundaries

Sophie Bass is an illustrator of mixed British and Trinidadian heritage. She completed her BA in Illustration at Falmouth University in 2013 and now lives and works in London. Her work draws inspiration from music, social justice, mythology and symbolism. Sophie works by hand, employing traditional techniques with gouache and pen, to create contemporary images characterised by strong figures, vivid colours and a distinctive style.

Let’s find out more about Sophie, where she finds her inspiration, and how her process works:

What would you say is your best piece of work or collaboration to date, and why?

I would have to say my favourite and longest running collaboration is with the great Arabic Jazz legend Yazz Ahmed. Her music encapsulates everything I love creating work on – mythology, feminism, politics, history, heritage, journeys. So far I’ve worked on six records with her and every one has been meaningful and special.

Where do you like to go to be inspired, or how do you find your inspiration?

I feel the most inspired after seeing a mind-bending or life-changing film at the cinema, after dancing all night at a rave with a powerful sound system, after surrounding myself with beautiful nature or reading old folk tales and myths.

Is there anything you'd be a good advocate for? 

In my work and life I advocate for equality and justice, whether it’s racial or social, or surrounding housing, disability, sexuality or gender. My work is always made with the dream of a better, more compassionate and empathetic world.

What would you say sets you apart from other illustrators? Something you feel is unique to you.

This is really hard to answer! But I suppose my inspirations and drawing style are unique to me; I feel my greatest strengths are composition and colour.

What is something that clients come back to you for?

All the people I’ve worked with have come to me for my distinctive style done in traditional gouache painting and hand-drawn in pen. As well as this, I think the crossover between music, literature, politics and a sense of awe for the natural world has been key in lots of my working relationships.

How would you describe your style?

Vibrant colours and use of bold black and white. Energetic and rich with detail.

Please give a scenario of a dream project that would mean the world to you — something personally meaningful.

I recently did a book called Rise up! Powerful Protests in American History. It felt very meaningful to make a book informing children about the history they most likely won’t be taught in school. Decolonising the curriculum is very important to me – there are so many brave activists and change makers throughout history that we only learn about outside of school. If I could use my artistic skills to make books with such content accessible and interesting for kids then that would mean a lot to me!

Are you working on any personal projects you can share with us?

Sadly I never really have the time as I’m always busy with commissions. I have a list at the back of my diary where I write all my ideas for future projects, in the hopes I’ll ever have the time! There’s a lot of political stuff on that list, as well as more personal things like making work in response to my chronic illness and how it impacts me as a woman.

Finally, if you were to illustrate a book related to a real life person, who would that be?

My happy place in art is drawing free-flowing magical stuff that really lets me use my imagination. That’s why I love painting nature, mythological creatures and universes, artwork with symbolism and dream-like qualities. For all those reasons I would love to illustrate a book relating to one of my all time heroes, Björk!

If you’d like more info, please contact: [email protected]

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