Curious creatures, all dazzling eyes and laid-back smiles. Peculiar plants exchanging rascally glances. Technicolour scenes remixing nature, folklore and fantasy. Illustrator and graphic designer Lisa O’Hara has made her unmistakeable mark across Sheffield and beyond. Her work has brought to life everything from street-long murals to lively gig posters to cheerful graphics for the likes of Juno Books, Skateboard GB and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
When she’s not doodling and designing, Lisa's also a regular feature in the city’s DIY music scene. Drummer in the ace Welsh-English “myth rock” band Sister Wives, she doubles up as their in-house illustrator, creating their cracking record artwork and outfit graphics.
Most recently, Lisa’s love of all things playful has seen her hiding illustrations across the city centre as part of the Urban Dwellers augmented reality trail. You’ve got until the end of June to track down the cheeky characters and bring them to life on your phone.
For now, read on to get to know Lisa better.
How would you describe your work?
Goggle-eyed and creepy. I like characters and faces that you could probably hear if you looked at them long enough. When I'm doodling it tends to be snout-based, I like to draw creatures and faces in profile mostly. I enjoy thick line and bold colour. Sometimes I struggle to get what's in my head out quickly enough so my non-digital work tends to be quite sloppy – I've been leaning into that more recently.
