Mini Post

Laura Callaghan is a well-known modern day feminist artist. She is an Irish illustrator who is located/based in South East London. She is best known for her vividly colorful images which speak of intricate details and character. Her works are primarily consisting of a combination of watercolor paints, Indian inks and the use of an isograph pen. Her artwork is widely used in big stream brands/media such as Nike, Adidas, Nordstrom , MTV etc. Her work is widely spread amongst the social media network such as Instagram because of her widely captivating art with her bright colors which have become "Instagram worthy" leaving her with over 200,000 followers (@lauracallaghanillustration).



Laura Callaghan is known for her subject, themes, colors, messages and aesthetics in her work. Her use of women, bright colors, soft pastels and posture which represents/expresses social concerns -- one being gender roles/women equality. Her use of strong, brightly colored, females represent a fearless, powerful, eccentric female character. Strong women (whiter it be one or multiple in her illustrations) is her big focus/theme throughout her works. In majority of her works, they are filled with fierce, fashionable, strong, colored, women who depict many social issues women in society face and struggle with such as gender inequality, employment issues, abortions, women’s rights, and so forth.  Her use of bright colors comes from her initial dream of wanting to become a children’s book illustrator which she then let go of to become a freestyle artist for the sole purpose of drawing for pleasure. 

Laura Callaghan created this piece for the 2018 International Women’s Day in which this piece shows that this movement is for women of all types of backgrounds, race, color, ethnicity etc. This particular piece has become widespread and constantly shared throughout social media (especially Instagram) during the time of IWD in 2018. I in fact remember seeing/reposting this piece on my Instagram during that time and not having no idea that it was in fact created by Laura Callaghan. Her focus for this piece was to illustrate a group of diverse women with strong body language to help echo the tone of the day. She wanted her characters, the women, to appear comfortable within their own skin and portraying this powerful, confident and defiant personality. 


https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/yp5qey/independent-laura-callaghans-illustrated-women
https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/laura-callaghan-process-illustrations-internationalwomensday-080318
http://inkygoodness.com/articles/laura-callaghan/