MY STORY MIGHT BE FAMILIAR TO YOU...
People-pleasing and rule-following, I spent years doing what I was supposed to.
I left school, found work, and went to university under the promise of securing a ‘real’ job.
I had been embarrassed to voice my creative dreams, believing they were naïve to hope for out loud.
Instead, I tried my utmost to conform. To follow the conventional path, believing it was the road to security and success.
It did not go well.
I was not rewarded for colouring inside the lines.
Oh fuck this. I eventually said.
I don’t even want what I'm trying to get.
Understanding this changed my life.
I finally tuned out the noise and listened to what my instincts were telling me. The more I followed them, the lighter I felt. Things began to shift. Momentum built. And, in time, I was able to create a life I no longer wanted to escape from.
That's when Draw By Name was born.
And that’s the story. Lessons I had to learn. And unlearn. Now I understand the hardship was a blessing. It was the path here. Without it, I would still be there, wishing I was here. And I'm so incredibly grateful to be here.
Thank you for being here with me.
Trust your gut. Never settle.
Laura
THE WHY, THE WHAT, & THE HOW OF IT ALL.
All my work is rooted in observation. I draw to make sense of human nature — the ways we try, fail, perform, protect, reveal and hide. The masks we wear that veil our inner (more interesting) selves.
It’s these unruly, tender, contradictory parts of being human — the little tensions and truths — that I chase down in ink. That we might all live a little more as we are, and stop white-knuckling it through convention.
My illustrations distil complex emotional dynamics into a single, symbolic frame: intimate, cutting, sometimes funny, sometimes uncomfortable, always honest.
I blend observation with symbolism to create imagery that feels both personal and heightened — where the real and the figurative sit side by side, and a moment becomes both a story and a mirror.
Ultimately, my work is about vulnerability and truth. It’s illustration, yes — but it’s also storytelling, metaphor, and a little bit of rebellion.
Working in fine-line pen, I build each piece slowly by hand, beginning loosely in pencil, then layering depth through meticulous linework, shadow and detail. The process is meditative and forensic: a way of uncovering the emotional architecture of a moment.
People often tell me the work gives shape to something they’ve felt but never quite articulated. That recognition — that quiet “yes, that’s it” — is the heartbeat of Draw By Name.