Creativity

Laurel Molly Parfitt’s Journey Through Illustration and Community

By Lana

An illustrator and animator based in Bristol, Laurel Molly Parfitt creates work that celebrates everyday life with warmth, curiosity, and a focus on human connection. Her illustrations use loose lines and soft colours to explore culture, community, and women’s experiences—ranging from health and sex to identity and belonging. Laurel brings a gentle, thoughtful lens to the world around her.

Why did you decide to take up your creative trade?

I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember. I have always found it meditative, and it switches off my busy mind for a period. I have always had a very strong imagination, making up stories and characters in my mind, and drawing was a great outlet for this.

Once I graduated from my illustration degree, I just started pushing freelance work and slowly but surely, I have been illustrating for some amazing clients such as The Guardian and The Washington Post.

How do you get past creative blocks?

I often find my creative blocks come at the same time as burnout, so I find taking myself on holiday always helps. I like to travel and go and see a new culture, to get some perspective. However, if this isn’t accessible to me, then getting out of the city I live in and driving into the countryside also helps to reset my mind.

Hand-drawn illustration of a countryside scene featuring a group of young women balancing playfully along a stone wall in front of a two-storey house. The house façade is adorned with hand-drawn symbols including peace sign and astrological icons. The scene shifts from monochrome to blue and then to warm sepia tones from left to right, creating a layered, time-lapse effect across the image. In the background, rolling hills and bare trees evoke a quiet rural setting under a cloudy sky.

What is your creative process?

If I am sent a brief, for example, for an editorial project, I will be asked to illustrate alongside a text about a subject. I often read through it first, and then the second time I read through it, I’ll note down keywords within the text. I may try and find links between the words or to visualise the words. Sometimes it might be really obvious, and sometimes I have to find a metaphor to visualise the text; this is often when the text is about an emotional or difficult subject. The use of metaphor can serve as a powerful tool to convey complex concepts and enable understanding; therefore, I like to use birds, flowers and shapes as metaphors in my artwork.

When I draw my own personal projects, I often draw the world around me. I may design a scene or illustrate a difficult or powerful subject. For example, I set my project to illustrate Menstruation. When I illustrate a subject like this, I will research it online, finding keywords and metaphors and imagining I have set my own brief.

Where do you look for inspiration?

I look for inspiration in nature, the world, in cultures and people’s interactions.

I find inspiration inside myself and what I love, I like to illustrate Women and our struggles. I also find inspiration when I travel. I also have lots of beautiful picture books, some from when I was young, for example, fairy books and children’s story books. I also have vintage interior books, for example, Terence Conran’s. I have vintage fashion books, for example, Pochoir. I also have books about my favourite directors, such as Wes Anderson and Hayao Miyazaki. I find inspiration from Pinterest and my favourite artists and illustrators, for example, David Hockney, Eric Ravilious and Lucinda Rodgers. I also really enjoy going to art exhibitions in London, especially when illustrations and drawings are exhibited.

Intricate illustration of a treehouse village nestled high among tall trees in a dense forest, with walkways connecting various wooden structures. Each building glows warmly from within, revealing glimpses of people reading, relaxing, or chatting through softly lit windows. The forest is richly layered with textured foliage in shades of green, ochre and navy, blending nature with gentle architectural forms in a whimsical, dreamlike scene.

What are you reading or listening to right now?

I am 100 pages into The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende, and I just listened to the audiobook of Confessions by Catherine Airey, which was fantastic (and I was lucky enough to illustrate alongside the book review).

What does your typical day involve?

Waking up early and doing some exercise, and then cycling to my studio in Stokes Croft, Bristol. In my studio, I will either be doing admin bits for my Life Drawing class or preparing stock for a market, or working on a commission. I might meet a friend for a lunchtime coffee or have a walk during my lunch break. An evening in the city may consist of dinner with a friend, the cinema or chilling in my little Bristol home. My weekends always involve walking and sometimes wild swimming as I love being in nature, especially in the UK spring and summer.

What has been your favourite project to date and why?

My favourite projects are always book review illustrations, I’ve done over 20 of these for the Financial Times and one each for The Washington Post, Texas Monthly and The Big Issue. One of my favourites was for The Big Issue, it was to illustrate alongside an article written by Sheikha Helawy about her book They Fell Like Stars from the Sky and Other Stories. The story was about finding identity as a Bedouin Palestinian woman in Israel. I was so proud that I was asked to illustrate alongside such an important and emotive subject.

How do you switch off?

Being out in nature, wild swimming, running or walking in the woods or camping with friends.

Who inspires you?

My Mumma, because she’s such a strong and kind person.

A big thank you to Laurel Molly Parfitt for contributing to our series of creative conversations with industry experts.