Lila Ruby King

Illustrator

©LILA RUBY KING

Maps swarming with life

Lila creates highly-detailed maps and nature-themed drawings
She draws with ink and pencil on paper, then digitally edits her works
Greek culture and history have greatly influenced her

Lila Ruby King is the pen name of this Australian illustrator with a bachelor of arts in printmaking and painting. She has been living in Athens since 2007. When she moved to Greece, she had just graduated and did not yet know how she would apply herself artistically. She started drawing Greek-themed cards, translating into a visual “all the awesome stuff about Greece,” as she puts it. Lila's designs were a success, in particular with tourists, and soon they evolved into beautiful, highly detailed maps, which are her main production nowadays. “I love infographics,” she explains. “I want to capture visually the essence of a place by representing the architecture, the natural history, the produce that is grown there, historical sites and monuments.”

Interview

©LILA RUBY KING

©LILA RUBY KING

Can you describe your map-making process?: I start by creating an outline and marking all the places of interest. After researching them, I create a drawing for each one with pencil and ink on paper. I also draw native plants, animals, local food and more. I scan and digitally edit them, then place each one onto the map outline. Finally, I connect all the elements into a single design with my pen tablet tool.
How have Australia and Greece influenced your style?: My love for repetitive patterns comes from Australia. My mother was a sewer and quilter and I studied printmaking, which is all about making repeats. My native country is also present in my nature-themed works. As for Greece, I have been exposed to its very long history and culture, Byzantine art and so on, which have greatly influenced me.
How do you determine the colour palette of your works?: I like limited colour palettes, because my designs can be very detailed and adding colour can make them too busy. Sometimes I think I should create more colourful versions of some of my maps, but I just find new subjects so enticing, that it is hard to go back and revisit finished ones.
What is the most difficult part of your profession?: I love detail so much that I cannot leave out information. I feel bad if I cannot fit in an extra village when mapping an island! I just enjoy the research so much, that I want to include everything.

Lila Ruby King is an expert artisan she began her career in 2007