{"id":583425,"date":"2026-05-14T11:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/583425\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:08:08","slug":"melt-into-steph-hardys-soft-illustrations-of-sweet-treats-and-bad-day-snacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/583425\/","title":{"rendered":"Melt into Steph Hardy\u2019s soft illustrations of sweet treats and \u201cbad day\u201d snacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

As food has taken over as her focus, Steph has a new take on colour: \u201cIt\u2019s definitely leant more into the painterly side,\u201d she says, and new palettes have emerged from the different textures and surfaces of food the illustrator has drawn \u2013 like her airy line up of deserts<\/a> that look like they would melt in the mouth. Now finding that colour tends to be her starting point, Steph carefully plans her palette\u2019s before starting the delicate layering and blending process that builds up each digital piece.<\/p>\n

This personal work has led Steph to a number of editorial illustration commissions both immersed in the natural world and beyond \u2013 you may have spotted the illustrator\u2019s work in The New York Times Wordle Review<\/a> or Bloomberg Business Weekly<\/a>. A \u201cplant-free\u201d commission that the artist got the chance to work on this year that consisted of a series of illustrations for Queer Atmosphere<\/a>, an inclusive and diverse collective of ceramic artists across the US, which saw Steph shape up a set of visuals surrounding wet clay and messy hands in collaboration with Brooklyn-based branding studio Coldcuts<\/a> for the organisations new visual identity. \u201cI love how they saw how my play with painterly colour could work for wet clay, fire and raku glazing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

For the next phase of her creative work, Steph has been set on making things move, progressing her fluid mark making into compositions where flowers float out of frame<\/a> or critters crawl<\/a>, and even small things like the slow stir of an iced coffee<\/a> come to life. This progression into animation is what\u2019s most exciting to Steph about her practice at present, it\u2019s a way to gamify her personal projects and stay inspired and to prolific. Sticking to some rules surrounding colour palettes and composition has meant that the illustrator has been able to develop motion languages in her work that feel true to her in this shift: \u201ceven the most simple rules really help in the journey to something a little new,\u201d she ends.<\/p>\n