My name is James Nicholls, and I graduated from Norwich School of Art and Design in BA Graphic Design with Illustration in 2006. The majority of my illustration work combines oil and chalk pastel drawings, recently diversifying with photographic and digital collage, as well as with pen and ink.

One of the most important aspects of my work is colour, bold contrasting colours are used to try to get the attention of the viewer. I am particularly interested in how different colours and shapes can be used together, to produce images that at first glance may not be entirely obvious to the viewer.

An underlying theme of my work is nature, much of my work portrays animals and diagramtic representations of amongst other things the human body and plants. Two major influences on me are: the paintings of the Fauves and Pop Art. I am interested in developing my work in the field of editorial illustration, and book publishing, particularly childrens illustration.

I am also a member of Tiptoe, we are a collective consisting of myself, Ian Caulkett and Mark Whittle. We have completed work for a range of clients in print and press, and particularly a number of large scale collaborative projects. The most recent of these being a trip to Dubai to illustrate the walls of a converted warehouse; the new headquarters of Mojo advertising, and the Christmas window display at AMV BBDO.

Tiptoe offers a diverse selection of styles and concepts, using a wide range of media suited to all disciplines within the creative industry.