ELL85: Snap, doodle and pop art
From giant burger monsters rampaging through the streets of New York to flying limoncello, illustrator ELL85 injects humour and creativity into everyday photographs
Frustrated doodler or focused illustrator, Elliot Masters – also known as ELL85 – has made a splash in the world of design with his often surreal and sometimes satirical embellishments on real life.
We first discovered the work of ELL85 at the Big Boys Fine Burger Co. (@_big_boys) restaurant in Folkestone, where he developed stand-out, otherworldly menu artwork. Having started out by injecting humour, creation and colour to his holiday snaps, his work in reimagining everyday photographs has earnt him commissions with a number of high-profile collaborations, including with UK clothing brands Hobo Jack (@hobojackclothing) and The Quarter Masters (@thequartermasters), as well as California’s creativethrds.com (@creativethrds).
A “ lifetime of doodling” at his home in Lydden, near Dover, has even seen his work used by San Diego hop hop artist Brandon ‘Bakes’ Baker (@yaboybakes_) for his single Nebraska Freestyle, released on Apple Music and Spotify. ‘Cene Magazine got in touch with Elliot to find out more.
Hi, Elliot. Firstly, how would you describe your style to people?
Probably a mixture of frustrated doodles and focused illustration, it really depends on what I’m working on. If I’m drawing over photos, I try to keep things humorous, fun and maybe a little bit surreal.
Yeah, there are a lot of other worldly creatures in your illustrations. Where does this come from? A childhood fan of Lord of the Rings, perhaps?
I hadn’t really thought about it like that, but now you’ve mentioned it I do draw a lot of Krakens! It must come from living near the sea – they’re really good fun to draw, for some reason. A lot of my influences come from films and TV. I try to find a loose theme within a photograph and draw things that exaggerate the surroundings, like turning a Tokyo taxicab into a wild Bōsōzoku -style car or having a giant burger rampaging through a New York street.
I think sometimes it’s just amusing to play around with how ridiculous or fun things in life can be, picking out little observations and exaggerating stuff that wouldn’t exist in real life.
Do you have any other major influences on your work?
Watching lots of cartoons and reading comics as a kid has probably had a big impact on it, but I’d say most of my influences come from films and music.
Do any of those feature in your ‘dream collaboration’?
There are so many – doing something with Marvel would be the ultimate for me.
What is your favourite-ever piece?
That’s a tough one because I’m usually never 100% happy with any of them, I’m my own biggest critic! I loved drawing the menu for Big Boys Burgers in Folkestone, especially the front cover, that was great fun.
What has been your proudest moment so far as an artist?
Well, I’m very honoured to be featured in this issue of ‘Cene magazine!
You charmer! Apart from us...
Probably the work I’m most proud of is the collaboration I did with photographer Chio Fernández (@chiophotography). Her photos are just incredible and I felt like I had to step up my game to do them justice.
We have seen you collaborate with some great people – how did your work with Hobo Jack and Chio Fernández come about?
Both initially through social media. I got in contact with Hobo Jack about a collaboration and they commissioned me to draw over some of their photos from Japan.
The experience working with Chio has been amazing, I felt very honoured that Chio trusted me to work over her photographs. Pretty much all my work comes from either word of mouth or people seeing my work about.
Sometimes I’ll pitch to companies who I think might be fun to work with, if you don’t ask you don’t get, I suppose!
We love that philosophy. Go out and get it! We have seen a lot of amazing illustrators moving into the county, but you’re a Kent native. What is it that you love most about Kent?
Kent is somewhere that gives back as much as you put into it – there’s so much to do and see with the mix of towns, countryside and seaside. I’m a huge fan of motorsport and Kent is home to Brands Hatch and Lydden Hill race circuit, which are both great places to watch motorbike racing.
WEB: ell85.co.uk
SOCIAL: @ell85design
CREDITS:
‘Cene Christmas and NY Broadway by ELL85.
Limoncellos: photo by Chio Fernández
Bonsai: photo by Hobo Jack