Mar 31, 2025

NEULAND FAN: Cassandra Harrison

Cassandra Harrison from Edinburgh standing in front of her live illustration work using Neuland marker pens

A few years ago a client asked me to draw a conversation. At the time, I was mostly working with gouache, printmaking and textiles, all of which are fun and messy but not that portable. Plus, I was averse to drawing people. I was baffled but was up for the challenge.

‘You want me to draw a conversation?’ I asked, then thought ‘Why would anyone want to do that? Is that a job?’

And yes, dear reader, drawing conversations is indeed a job. It’s a job that has become my favourite type of illustration work. My work now comprises of live illustration and digital illustration for academics.

When I first started out I experimented with different markers. As I was new to the live illustration scene, I had tried to go budget (with regret). I look back at those first few pieces and see how washed out and sad they look. Like me after a day of staring into my laptop screen doing random admin. I used highlighters. I used sharpies ONCE (mark on the wall once and you change your tools!). I tried paint markers which smeared. I created what I jokingly called The Smear Test on foam board to see which marker worked best. I’m glad I found Neuland as it is now my marker of choice.

Now, I’m not much of a chiselled nib kinda girl. It doesn’t give me the outcome that I would like. Plus, it doesn’t create the kind of lettering I am aiming for. My go-to marker is the Neuland BigOne® Art Brush marker in black. I always take the RefillOne Ink bottle with me as I am paranoid about running out mid-job, which has never happened. But I am an over planner so try to plan for many eventualities.

I have 3 Neuland Outliners all in black. Two the rounded nib and one with the flexible art brush end. As I draw very quickly, I want to make sure the ink is always fresh and creates the clear smooth marks I need when I work.

As for colours, I do feel very spoiled with the range that I can choose from. In my work I aim to stick to the client’s branding colours. Sometimes I’m asked to practically use the full spectrum of the rainbow and although that sounds like a nice invitation, I don’t think that necessarily makes strong and impactful work.

For one of my most recent live illustration projects, I was asked to draw people and quotes given to the question - What does compassionate care look like to you? For each drawing, I chose black plus two colours that worked well together. Although I used all the colours of their branding overall, each individual drawing looked punchy and a bit on the cool side. What is it about blue and orange that always looks so good together? Of all the complimentary pairings, I find this one the most exciting.

When I’m not creating large drawings for clients, I am sometimes found teaching a couple after school art clubs for kids. I teach a Comic Book Club for children ages 8 to 12. I often teach lessons that are based on some of my most recent work. As my style fits well within the playful, comic book type style, I find that inspiration from both teaching and illustrating feed off each other.

The children get excited when the big paper is rolled out for the session. I show them my fancy markers and let them have a try at using them. Even at that young age, I try to teach them and show them that good materials are needed for making your work look the way you want it to look. Even at this age they know that bad materials can let you down. I’m sure we all remember trying to paint like Bob Ross using cartridge paper and watercolours, then being disappointed by the outcome. No? Perhaps that is too specific an example to me, but you know what I mean.

Cassandra Harrison is an illustrator working in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. She has been working as a full-time illustrator for 5 years, working both hand drawn and digital methods to create work for a growing list of clients including The Edinburgh International Festival, various universities and Timberland. She has a very big dog named Astro who looks very snazzy in his little bow tie.