A jaunty pic of home-working
Robyn Neild is a freelance fashion illustrator whose clients include Vogue, Elle, Harpers and Queen and Victoria’s Secret. To see examples of her work visit www.robynneild.com
What dark forces drove you to the home-working lifestyle?
I’m an illustrator of ‘chic lit’ book covers and fashion magazines. It’s decorative, frivolous and fancy – a bit of fluff that takes longer to do than most people might think. The lack of any job offers meant having to take up freelance work from home - that and the cheapness of not having to rent a separate studio.
How long have you been working from home and how long to do you intend to keep doing it?
I’ve been drawing from home for the last 15 years. I’d love to have a separate studio or shed in my garden, and I’m now thinking of joining a studio collective.
Have you modified your home at all for your work or is your working space just a spare room or attic moonlighting as a studio?
I haven’t made any changes – it’s just the spare bedroom.
Does your work eat into your leisure time or do you have a secret formula that protects your personal time?
My work can consume my leisure time, especially if there are lots of deadlines looming, as most art editors expect to be able to commission on Friday and have the roughs for first thing on Monday.
Do partners/children/friends/pets respect your working boundaries - how do you make sure they don’t interrupt your working day?
What partners/children/friends? I’ve killed them all or driven them away. The fleeting ones I do have think that, because you’re not in a ‘proper office’ it’s fine to phone up in the day or ask you out for lunch, although sometimes it’s a welcome diversion.
How long does it take you to reach your office in the morning and what mode of transport do you use?
I crawl through the broken gin bottles and debris of the night before to my drawing board and start doodling.
What motivates you to start and stay working each day (or night)?
The chilling knowledge that if I don’t earn enough I won’t be able to afford botox, and therefore will never find a man and will be on my own for ever.
Do you ever find work takes a back seat to valuable conflicting interests like cleaning the kitchen?
What’s a kitchen?
Do you ever feel slightly cut off from the rest of the world or is that an advantage in your line of work?
Yes, I can feel very cut off, but that’s great when you just have to get your head down and steam through a big commission with tight deadline.
What do you miss about the more conventional home/work divide?
I’ve never had a proper job in an office, so I’ve got nothing to compare it with. I do love the fact if I want to go the pictures in the daytime and avoid the crowds, or go on nice ‘weekend breaks’ in the week rather than wait for bank holidays then I can. Also with my work I can go away for months on end with my laptop and carry on working without my clients being any the wiser.
On what terms would you contemplate a return to the other side?
I don’t think it would be possible to do that now, not in my line of business.
