Matthew Hodson’s artwork is playfully honest. An illustrator and a poet, his work, though simple is in no way simplistic. “Though limiting in many ways, I’m still in love with the drawn line and so I think I’m going to keep on drawing lines, but how does one draw a line?” he reflected once in a conversation with The Association of Illustrators, a reflection that is poetic in nature.
“I like lines that speak with a hopeful wonk,” he says, “a robustness and a mischief. I like gestural lines, and ugly lines, with little hats on. I like the way that great lines are honest and familiar and trustworthy and caring. I like lines that are assured and have purpose, even whilst getting lost.”
Known online as Matthew The Horse, his selected client list includes publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, as well as the National History Museum and Leeds Arts University (where he also teaches illustration). “I ricochet between client work, personal work, creative writing, academic writing, teaching, planning, drawing, playing, trying and lying down,” he says.
Describing his creative process itself, Hodson says that he’s fascinated by the craft of making pictures, telling stories, sharing ideas and engaging with others. “I think my earlier interests sat more in a performing arts context,” he says, “but art school seduced me, as did print making, then graphic design, then alt-comics, then illustration, then whatever came after that.”
“The only work I ever really like of my own are the tiny moments of truth and play that occur outside of knowing or trying,” he notes. “The real craft is how to extract and realise such moments into fully formed books. Wish me luck.”
