Q&A with Stephen Cheetham

I am Stephen Cheetham, an illustrator currently living and working in Bologna, Italy but born in Coventry, England.

I work under my own name for all my personal illustration jobs, and also as one half of All The Fruits, working on designing patterns for print / wallpaper / textiles…that kind of thing.

Hardware 

I use a 15” Macbook Pro bought a few years ago. It does the job, but currently has an issue with the fan, meaning every now and again it sounds like a jet plane taking off. Need to sort that out I think. I also use a Wacom Bamboo (the little basic one). I’ve had the current one about a year, and the usb cable is stuck in place with Sugru because otherwise it likes to fall out. Writing this, I should probably start looking after my hardware a little better!

Software

Pretty much exclusively Adobe Illustrator (CS6), and Photoshop when I must. But that’s just for resizing and faking in-situ images…never any creating.

Ideal work environment

I’m not too picky really. When I started working freelance my bedroom was my work environment. Since then I’ve upgraded to my dining room table, then my own little studio space, and now work in a shared studio space in the basement of Bologna’s art academy. As long as there’s a power supply, enough flat space for my laptop / bamboo, and wifi that works for me.

Work inspiration 

Maybe it’s a bit of a cop-out answer, but everywhere. I can’t really say a particular place or thing, or even give you a list, it’s just from my every day life.

People you admire most

Anyone who is able to enjoy life and is nice to the people around them. Simple as that.