(pun very much intended!)

As Halloween is looming we thought these brilliant illustrations by BA (Hons) Illustration for commercial application Alumni  Matti Walker, who previously studied Fine Art at The Northern School of Art Middlesbrough, were pretty apt! We grabbed a chat with Matti who is now a freelance mixed media illustrator, check it out below.

Follow Matti on Instagram: @matti_walker

and check out Matti’s website and portfolio here: www.mattiwalker.com

These illustrations are fantastic! What have you been up to since you graduated from CCAD?

Thank you so much! Compliments are always appreciated! Since graduation I’ve been pretty busy, I’ve started 3 part time jobs and moved in with my girlfriend (we’re currently in the hospital as she’s in labour, by tonight I’ll have a baby boy!) but more professionally I’ve started teaching one day a week at St Michaels Secondary School in Billingham as “art teacher” is the end goal for me, but I’m also working on illustrations for some conventions I have lined up next year.

Wow! Congratulations! Can you tell us a little bit about your time at CCAD?

I’m pretty passionate about CCAD, I wouldn’t be anywhere near who I am today without it. There were so many amazing aspects of the course that it’s quite hard to pin down a favourite part of it. The tutors are amazing, really creative people and by the end of level 6 they felt more like really wise friends than a group of people who mark my work. The studio space was brilliant and definitely something I’ll really miss, as well as the print room and it’s facilities. The guests that we had come in were ridiculously good, I’ve been a fan of Dan Mumford since I bought an A Day To Remember album that he illustrated so it was kind of surreal to be able to meet him. Lastly the opportunities we had to do amazing things; the exhibitions, the stalls, the trips were all incredible. It was only when I got to around the start of third year that I could look back on the students in level 4 and 5 doing the assignments I did that I really began to appreciate the course for what it is, The Northern School of Art is an amazing college and it’s truly been the best several years of my life. 

What are your aspirations for the future?

I’m hoping to become an art teacher in secondary school. It was my fine art tutors, Judith and Sam, that started this path for me. I only spent two years with them but they helped me progress in so many different ways and helped me overcome a lot and I’d like to do this for other people too. I quite like the thought of sending a few of my future students up to The Northern School of Art with some Haribo sweets and asking them to tell my old tutors I say “Hi”. I respect and look up to all of my tutors a huge amount and if I can help a student half as much as they have done for me I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished something.

That sounds fantastic! Could you name drop one of your favourite illustrators?

Daniel Egneus has always been a favourite illustrator of mine along with Lou Ros and Dan Mumford but from the illustration course I discovered GodMachine who I’m quite fond of and also one of my illustration tutors Nik Holmes (ZombieDollars).

Thank you so much for these Halloween illustrations Matti and thank you for taking the time to chat with us!