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Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 00:04
Hello, folks, and a very warm welcome to this edition of the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. My name is Liam Ball. I’m your magical wedding host. Also known as the Gentleman Magician. And as always, I keep telling you this, and it’s the truth. This podcast exists to shine a light on some of the best people that I’ve met in the wedding industry. The suppliers are going to bring something different and memorable and a little bit magical to your wedding day. Now, if you are enjoying these conversations, as always, please do make sure you like it, share it, follow it, and Send it to somebody who is getting married and planning a wedding, because I promise you the information that we discuss in some of these conversations really can make a massive difference to people who are planning a wedding day to help them make it easier and make better, more informed decisions about their suppliers. Now today’s guest is an artist, a live event illustrator, somebody who captures moments not through a lens or on a screen but by documenting the atmosphere of the day in a completely unique way. This is a service that blends creativity and entertainment and memories all in one. She’s got a really distinctive style and a really wonderful ability to turn fleeting moments into something tangible and personal and it’s a real pleasure today to welcome Cat from Wisp and Wonder Illustrations. Hey Cat, how are you doing?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 01:28
Hi Liam, I’m really good, thank you. How are you?
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:31
I am fabulous. Thanks very much. How’s life been treating you recently?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 01:35
It’s been good. It’s been busy. I’ve done a wedding fair recently. Lots and lots of stuff going on behind the scenes and working on my website. Morning children, all the works, everything.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:49
That’s it. That’s one of those things, isn’t it? When you work for yourself, life is constant, but you’ve still got to keep doing the things that keep you doing what you’re doing.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 01:58
Yes, life is constant. There’s always things in play. But, you know, you’ve just got to take it on the chin, keep going. Enjoy. I definitely live by that motto on a daily basis. You just want to keep growing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 02:13
It’s a great way to live. Well, I’ll tell you what, let’s get really into the meat of this conversation because, of course, you’re a live event artist. In fact, there’s some great. Examples there in the background of the kind of work that you do. What was it that brought you into Doing illustrators. In fact, how did you even get started? Because this to me is like magic. I look at people that do the kind of thing that you do, and I was watching you do what you do, and I was like, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen. How did you discover that it was it was a thing that you could do?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 02:46
So I it was It sort of all started in 2020. If we’re going to go right back to the very start of it all, I, like a lot of people, lost my job during COVID. Nowhere was hiring. And It was coming up to Christmas. I moved in with my partner’s parents and I just needed some way to make money. And you know what? I knew I could paint. It’s coming up to Christmas, no one can go out to the shops. I thought, I campaign, I could, you know, start doing some Christmas presents and things for people. So um I advertised my services and Cat’s Art and Illustrations was born. I did it for two months. It actually did amazingly well. But come the end of those two months, I think sort of around December time when I sent off that last painting. Yeah. And even though I was getting more inquiries, I was going No. I and I completely lost the love for painting completely. I didn’t pick up a paintbrush again. for two years. And the reason being I’d just become an artist for hire to the whimsy of whatever customer got in touch. Um for what they wanted, so like painting cats, goats, people Houses and very little of it was anything that I felt passionate about. Yeah. And quite often I’d get photos I didn’t like working from as well. Rainy, no color. So I didn’t paint again for a good like two to three years. And then during maternity leave with my second child, so in this time I had a child and was on to number two. And after COVID, I hadn’t managed to find a job that I liked, constantly throwing CVs into the ether. Um, and I sort of thought, you know what, I want to revisit my art business. Yeah. And it was at this point that Wispin went Wispin Wonder Illustrations was born because I think I was just scrolling through Instagram and one day an advert for a live artist, live wedding artist came up. And incredibly different to anything that I’d ever make. But I was really inspired and I thought, what a great business venture, something that gives me control of my diary It’s something that I feel passionate about. I love weddings. I’ve always wanted to go into weddings. That’s a dream of mine. And it almost like suddenly everything just clicked, everything aligned. And it fits in perfectly with family life as well. And it was born. I then sat on this idea for like a year Not knowing how to implement it. And I got some amazing mentors then. And since then, it just went strength by strength by strength. But yeah, that’s kind of how it all came about.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 06:02
So, I mean, essentially what I’m hearing here, and I think what happens with a lot of creative people, is that you you had you had a hobby and you had a passion for doing Something artistic. And then you thought, I could probably monetize this. And then you kind of hit that wall where you were like, right, this is not what I started doing this war. Yeah. So take a step back and and and then of course with a with a little bit more experience it was a matter of discovering the thing that you loved so so how how did you how did you even I mean How did you get into art and painting? Because me, I struggle to pick up a pencil or draw a straight line most days.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 06:44
Oh, so this is like a really funny background for me. So I did art at school. I actually I failed at anything academic uh in a way. So I did psychology and I failed that in the first year. So I went down to only design and technology and Fine art at school. So that was kind of like the start of the streamline. From there, I did an art foundation course at university, which I absolutely adored. And then from where, and this is where it goes a little bit haywile, I did lingerie design at university. Okay. And honestly, the best course I could have ever done. It was amazing. It’s very niche. It’s very intracurtain. And beautiful. And I think as well that’s where Wisp and Wonder and thinking about my background really fit together, like as a name. Um, because you know, lingerie would even fit into sort of wisp and wonder, wouldn’t it? With lace and details. Yeah. And working on something small. But that’s kind of where My joy for doing something creative and very design-led. And what’s funny is that live illustration. When I started doing it and I told people that’s what I was going to do, the response I got was actually, um, oh, you’re going to like draw people’s outfits then? And I thought, oh, people see it as drawing outfits. And again, with fashion illustration, that’s where it really all comes together. In a way, so it’s sort of like it’s meeting artistry, but it’s also bringing into into it that love for drawing clothing. And I also love that the way that I do it. Even though I don’t put faces on my drawings, they’re unrecognisable. I’ve been to a wedding fair before where another supplier came over. and said to me, Oh, I know that person from one of my drawings. And I thought, Oh, that’s the first time that’s ever happened to me, and these people lived hours away. So I never thought that there’s any chance that Saul could actually know someone on my table.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 09:19
I mean it it I think what fascinates me there because I I mean I I’ve seen I’ve seen quite a number of live events Right. And of course, there’s so many different styles, even in a similar medium, like drawing a person, right? There are so many different styles that people can have. I mean, I think I saw one. A couple of years ago, where they were drawing everybody almost like a little caricature of themselves.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 09:47
Yes.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 09:48
Which was really interesting.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 09:50
I know the caricatures. I just can’t do it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 09:53
Yes. Again, same, same. But of course, one of the things that I loved about it was that, you know, you had these people at a wedding. who are all kind of posing and and the artist just there kind of sketching these l little tiny, you know, sort of postcard size caricatures of them, and and it was just such a wonderful thing. But then of course You’re right, because you know, just the the shape of somebody’s face and how they hold themselves and stand and the way that they dress. I think all of these all of these things are are sort of markers of the identity of who a person is, right? And I guess that that’s what you’re focusing on capturing on the day.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 10:33
Yeah, I so when I again, when I sort of made the decision this is what I was going to move into, one of my first things that I then did, I think I spent probably a month Working out what my style was going to be. Yeah. Because I love working in watercolor. I love pen work. But what I really struggle with is Iron Such a perfectionist, and what really upset me was that I was looking at it and I was going, I’ve drawn their outfit. I’ve, you know, I’ve kind of made it look like them. On the day, you would, you would know it was them because that’s what they’re wearing. But I just felt like I want to look at that and think, whoa, I made that. And I wanted it to feel like a really polished and finished piece of art.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 11:23
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 11:25
So that’s when I suddenly thought to myself, like I could do it on my iPad and using it a digital medium gave me I don’t know how to scream, but it gained, it just kind of like gave a completely different feel to the painting because it was so polished. And also it then kind of then fed into the idea that I wanted to make sure that everybody got to walk away with one downside to a watercolor painting. unless you limit one person to a page, um, only one person’s gonna get that painting. So you’re never gonna do groups of people unless they’re immediate family and they live together. And if they want a copy of it, they’ll have to go home and photocopy it. And so for me, that was like really important in developing my style, but something that I was really proud of. And most important thing was something I could make in bulk. If that makes as in, I needed to be able to draw it really quickly Yeah. And that was very important. And being a perfectionist with watercolour, I wasn’t quick. And then Um yeah, and then sort of it all kind of accumulated together and This whole idea formed, and that’s how my style came about.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 13:00
I’m thinking about this, and I mean, I just love the concept of having a line of vent artists just walking around with the tablets. Who sketches and draws and paints and colours, prints. How many would you like? Six. We’ll print six for you. Yeah. Which, of course, original. Indeed, yeah. But also, it’s something that you could never, ever do other than that. And of course, the beauty of I mean, I get the curse of perfectionism. Because I very much got it. And I’m one of my mantras daily is that done is better than perfect.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 13:33
Done is better than perfect. That’s the combined channel
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 13:37
But I think people who don’t struggle with that don’t don’t understand that, yes, done may be better than perfect, but I still want it to be perfect. I like it to be done and perfect. That would be nice. So, of course, you you you’re now you’ve got this ability to create this wonderful art and and I guess email it to people and send it to people and And I don’t know, collage it and what have you. And you can almost do it where I’m going to make it sound super simple now, and it’s not, where you can put a stroke and go, Oh, that’s not quite right, undo, go in, and undo, go, oh, that’s the one, and then the next one. Which makes it sound like it’s a really simple thing to do. And of course, it’s anything but, because it’s years of experience and knowledge and know-how, and Talent and art and skill that means that you can walk up to somebody, scratch on your iPad for two minutes and suddenly go, How’s that? And they go, Wow, that’s amazing. But of course I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that in three days. Never mind three minutes.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 14:41
Yeah. I mean, if you actually look at I think a lot of people would look at what all of us live artists do and kind of go, I could do that. Yeah. And then, but if I turned around and said, right, here’s my go, here’s my iPad. And they would also go, All right, here’s my paper, here’s my pens, here’s my watercolours. And they’d go, Oh. And not only that, but then start a timer. Because it’s also the pressure. There’s a lot of pressure on a wedding day to get them all out. And actually, you know, the whole point in it is that, yes, with a bit of time. If you’re good at art or you know how to use the programmes, you know, over time you could develop something to emulate. that. But no like nobody I could I would never turn around to another live artist and be like, I could do what you do. Yeah. And in their in their styling.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 15:44
I think that’s what that’s yeah, I think that’s the experience of it of mutually shared respect. You know, I mean, I know hundreds of other magicians and magical performers who are all wonderful. And one of the reasons that makes them all individually wonderful is they’re all individually unique. And you know, there are so many times when I’ve kind of watched somebody and thought, that’s brilliant. I couldn’t do that like that. I could maybe do that effect, but I couldn’t do it like that. And while I probably could, it wouldn’t be authentically genuine for me to do it in that manner because that’s not me. And I guess there’s quite a lot of crossover there as well with visual media and art like that. But of course also it’s respect. And I think as well, and one of the underlying things here is that This isn’t people just about saying this is my style and therefore it’s protected and you can’t touch it. It’s also being able to look and admire and go, wow, do you know what? I actually I really love the way that you captured that tiny little detail. And that makes me wonder. I wonder if I can use that thinking to almost just that one tiny little detail. If I can use the the thinking process behind that, what can I use to apply that to to make my own work better? Right? And that, of course, is the the the progression of art, isn’t it?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 17:14
Yeah. I mean no no artist um now uh can truly claim in a way that It is wholeheartedly unique. Nobody’s done it before because the whole point in art is to gain inspiration from what’s come before. And then make it your own. And there was a quote at school by Picasso, which was Bad artists copy, good artists steal.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 17:46
Yes.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 17:47
And it’s it’s the idea that If you just took someone else’s artwork and copied it, you can’t really claim it as your own. But if you steal elements of that and then develop it You’ve got something unique, you’ve got something amazing, and it’s growth. Yeah, yeah, that’s always stuck with me. That
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 18:12
Yeah, just I think you know, it’s it’s that whole thing standing on the shoulders of giants, isn’t it? Learning from the people that came before because they did it, and now I can pick up on that element. And what can I add to it so that the next generation look and go, wow. That person really made something out of that, which is brilliant. Yeah. Right, let’s get back to it. I mean, listen, I could talk about this all day, but let’s get back to weddings for a second. So. I want you to cast your mind back for me. You’ve gone to your first wedding, you’ve walked in, nobody knows who you are. I know that feeling well. You pull your iPad out, you do your first sketch of somebody, and then and you and you give it to them. How did that feel?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 18:54
Uh amazing. Honestly, amazing. I think the first time that The first time for doing this at a wedding, um I felt very nervous. I also thought I’d got there early. I actually turned off, and everybody was already there at the bar drinking. And the wedding wasn’t set to start for another hour. Afterwards, I asked the bride about it, and she had no idea that the place had been filled an hour before it was meant to start. Wow. She said they must have someone’s obviously found out there’s a bar and spread the word.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 19:33
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 19:33
So everyone was already there. And because of that, people were watching me set up and they were sort of going, what’s this? But yeah, handing out that very first illustration was like, I did it, I’ve made it, and let’s keep going, let’s keep this momentum. let’s keep it going and get out as many as I can. Um and the response throughout the day I was in the Hoyo and the response of people sort of walking in and out between spaces was just Amazing. Yeah. And yeah, like I managed to capture so much from that day. Just not necessarily on camera for social media, but for myself. which was just really special.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 20:26
Yeah. And and I mean, I I guess there must also be this moment when because the there has to there has to be because again, I get this, there has to be this little this little voice inside that goes They’re gonna hate it. They’re gonna hate him. And you give it to them, and they look and they go, Oh, wow, that’s amazing. And you kind of go, I did it again.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 20:50
Yes. Um I I’m not gonna lie, this is a really funny one. I did have uh oh I don’t I felt really unsure whether or not to share this. It’s funny. I did actually have one bride, one came to have a look at her illustration And her first thing, and I caught this on camera, and the first thing she said was, Oh, you could have made me thinner. And I just went, Hold on, one second. Went into my iPad, opened it up, like, and redrew her silhouette and then printed it within, you know, while she was stood there watching. Printed it, it came out, and she went, Oh, yes, that’s amazing. Yeah, and and again, this is a funny thing as well: is that about artwork and This actually really helped me with being a perfectionist because it basically said at some point as an artist, you have to leave Your like your realism behind. So at some point you have to deviate from
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 22:05
Literal artistic interpretation, right?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 22:07
Exactly, it’s interpretation. And at the end of the day, like, because in regards to art, like You’re creating something that is potentially going to be displayed in small time for years to come. You know, little things like that. I absolutely can make changes. If somebody comes to me beforehand and says, uh Like, I feel anxious about this because, you know, because of it can be their weight, it can be their hair, it could be a tattoo on their arm. They go, I don’t want that in there. And the great thing about artwork is it’s not a photo. Yeah. It’s art. And I can, of course, interpret people how they want to be seen, how they feel. In themselves.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 22:58
I mean, within reason, though, right?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 22:59
That’s important. Yes. Because you know, if if if somebody walked up and said, Hey, make me look like Spider-Man, that’s uh you know I mean, if they go make me look like Spider-Man, I’d probably just put a Spider-Man mask in the neck. Yeah, yeah. Which so you know what, now I kind of want that.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 23:17
Yes, yeah well so how how would you describe your illustration style?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 23:25
And how would I describe it? I would describe it as I didn’t necessarily prepare for the question of how I would describe my style, but it is A kind of a mix of modern and traditional. It’s modern in the sense that obviously I do it on my iPad. But it is still traditional in the sense that it is all hand drawn um and it very much does kind of follow that traditional styling of um like a fellowshi fashion illustration. Um so I I’d also say it’s I’d like to say it’s realism. very much realism because I’m not just trying to capture your likeness. I’m trying to capture you as well within that. So as you said before, it’s or it is a likeness, but it’s Capturing their pose, how they hold themselves. And that is actually what makes it look like them. It’s not just the outfit or the outline. It is just then on in a painting.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 24:48
So I mean, when we think about that, how do you so I mean, you’re at a wedding and there’s seventy, eighty guests there. And of course, you’re going to go along, you’re going to set up, you’re going to do what you do. How do you then balance the number of people that are at the event while maintaining the quality of the output that you do?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 25:11
Um, okay. So one of the main things that helps to protect my time, which then protects uh the amount I can get done and the quality, is I have an assistant with me. So I get there early. And maybe a little bit different to other illustrators as well is I don’t I do not base my packages on time spent. I base it on the amount of people that need to be drawn. Yeah. And I very I very early on decided like I would never limit that number. And so having an assistant there absolutely has made it easy for me to achieve that. But I think that was the other thing about doing digital artwork is there is a few like little cheats that you can put in there to Help speed things up so that I can then focus on detail as opposed to filling his face with colour.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 26:13
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 26:13
Um and like in terms of getting them out quickly and juggling that. I think a lot of that also comes down to practice, practicing at home in my free time. I’m always up for doing more illustrations um and it just gives me that time to hone in on that on that skill, make it quicker and always refine. But yeah, I think Something important, and this is I have found this out with every artist that I’ve come across. If you’ve got 80 people at a wedding There is just there’s no way, unless I had a second artist there with me, that I could do 80 people in a whole day, unless I got there at the cracker dawn, they didn’t eat, I didn’t drink, didn’t go to the toilet. Um so there is an element of managing expectations before you go in there and making um the happy couple aware that things don’t run like clockwork at a wedding. And for example, I hoped at the first wedding I ever went to, um, the one where everybody was already there, my plan had been to try and catch it capture people before they went into the ceremony. Um, but I couldn’t do that because they were already there, they were already mingling, and they’d all split from the people they’d arrived with. Yeah. So at that point, I had to make a quick decision, which was to focus instead on setting up my table. And instead, we just spread the word that we were there. Mainly with people coming in, just making a short introduction, sort of going, Oh, don’t forget to come back and get your illustration in a little bit.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 28:05
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 28:07
And it actually worked out really nicely in the end. Um yeah, it’s just the main thing is managing expectations The half-couple, being realistic about what I can actually do. I am a person, I’m not a machine. And then I think just making Making sure that I stay on track.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 28:32
Yeah, I mean, actually, one of the things that I quite like about what you were talking about there is that you take somebody with you, and I guess in my mind, that’s the person who’s going to go and take quick snapshots that you could do illustrations from and going to do the printing and take care of the admin. And of course, what I think is important for people to understand here is that ultimately when they book you, you’re the artist. And you’re going to focus on creating the art. And then you’ve got somebody else who will do all of the other stuff that kind of goes along with that service, right?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 29:00
Yes. So I think that’s almost. One of the almost like one of the sad things for me, in a way, as well, is or kind of funny, is that when I go to a wedding, you’re absolutely right. I’m just sat there drawing, except for the first You know, couple of photos that I need to grab where I am sort of helping to build that number quite quickly. It’s then my assistant that is going around talking to guests, encouraging them to come back and have a look and pick up their illustrations later on in the day. She’s packaging them. um, sorting out the prints and sh l yeah, on the day it actually almost feels like people will probably think it’s her business almost. Um, and I’m just sat there sort of like, Oh, let’s So people see the the top of my heading way.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 29:58
Yeah. So so let’s say now there’s people out there now who thought, gosh, I I didn’t even because I think there are so many people who don’t even know that this is a thing. Everybody knows about photos and videos, but there are so many people who don’t know that this is a thing that you can have, which is just amazing. So somebody’s out there, they think, right, I’m going to go check you out. What kind of process can people expect to receive? I mean, how does your sort of booking system work, if you will?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 30:26
Okay, so this is something that I worked long and hard on because I very much didn’t want for my service, the whole focus to just be on the day of it like You hire me, I turn up on the day, I go home, and you’ll later receive maybe the last couple of illustrations in posts. I think it’s so important, even more so now for weddings, because people really want they want to know who’s on their team. who’s one of their suppliers. They want to know who’s there on their day, especially capturing guests. This is like a favor that they’re putting there with a person. They need to know That you fit in with their day. So, right from the start, I’ll do a discovery call. As soon as someone gets in touch, I’ll try to get them in with a call. To discuss their wedding, what they want their day to look like, what they want it to feel like. I then something we’ve not spoken about. So I also do a bespoke design service with my illustrations. And there’s certain aspects that you can personalize. And so I do vellum sleeves. The all of the illustrations to sit inside. And these I tailor specifically to your day.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 31:47
Okay.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 31:49
So they could have And that’s part of what that consultation is, is to kind of find out how far along you are in your journey. If you’ve already sent invites out, save the dates, what your colour scheme is. And and then from there I can really streamline and sort of uh le lead things. And so that’s sort of like the start of the process with me. And from there, I’ll go away and I’ll make the bellum sleeves. I will, before I make them in bulk, I always come back to them. get them to check it over, make sure they’re happy with it and it aligns with their day. This far I have not had a single person go, oh no, I didn’t want that.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 32:35
They’ve all gone that’s down to understanding what they what they want, right?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 32:40
Yes, and which luckily I think I’ve I’ve managed to capture the spa. But yeah, so I do that. I also send out a little voucher to the couple pre-wedding. And this is just to kind of remind them you know, it’s reminding them that they’re secure, that I’m understanding towards the wedding and their day, but also trying to remind them that planning a wedding Shouldn’t just be stressed, it should also be fun. So I send them a little coffee date voucher so that the next time they’re discussing everything wedding, they can do it somewhere nice with a coffee and a cake. And so that’s something that I do just to kind of add to that excitement to the buildup. Then obviously, on the day I turn up, I illustrate for the day, meet all of their lovely guests. And then from that, I will Go home. I have a couple of studio days where I will finish off any last minute illustrations. I will then also gather all of the prints. And because I then also send out a hamper, which will have the remaining illustrations in for the guests, but also their owner set of prints for them to keep themselves. Oh, wow. Because and again, this was another reason I chose digital, because why you paid all this money to have me there. You love my style. You know, quite often we’ve built this rapport as well. And I just kind of think what a shame that you’ll never see these illustrations again, except for when you visit your friend or your auntie and they’ve got their illustration. uh displayed somewhere in their home, but why should they be the only ones to get them? So I think that’s like a really special thing is that I send them to them in a lovely little um hamper, which I design for them. And and then they can, you know, add them to their wedding album and just adds to the feel of the day, really.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 34:47
Yeah, oh, do you know what? And and it’s it’s funny, right? Because I don’t think it had landed on me prior to just hearing that there. That A live event artist who’s going and are doing wonderful illustrations with pens and pencils and watercolours and paints and all of that And the end product that they’re providing is just wonderful. But you’re right that the person gets it and goes, that’s fabulous. And they put it in their pocket and they go, oh. And of course that the wedded couple have have spent all this money on getting an event artist to go there so that their guests can enjoy it. And at the end of the day, the only enjoyment that they themselves are going to get out of that is knowing that their guests had a great time. And their one illustration may be two of themselves. Whereas you’re in a whole different league here where You’re doing all that on the, and then you go home, and then you’re like, right, well, I’ve got all these illustrations. They’re all here, they’re all saved. I’m gonna print one of each of those out, and we’re gonna get that. That’s amazing. That’s just that is just such a wonderful little Little thing that I guess people just don’t consider.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 35:50
Yeah, it was like, say, when I was coming up with this whole business plan, I was thinking about at the time, I hadn’t long had my own wedding, and I It’s just one of those thoughts that I had when I was then looking for inspiration and trying to pick my medium, that I was like, what a shame. And it was a constant theme that came up was, Oh, the bride asked me if I could keep them and and one of the solutions that I’d seen to that in a way or like even people were taking them away and the bride bride and groom or the happy couple would then come up and be going, Oh, I didn’t even get to see them all. I never got to see them.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 36:31
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 36:31
And ’cause they’re so busy in the day, sometimes they don’t have time to come via the table. Yeah. And by the time they they do, as much as you can try to save them on the table as long as possible, there reaches a point where It no longer is like if I’m packing up and stuff, yeah, um, or guests have started to leave. Um, and that was really some that was a problem that I thought. What a shame that they’ve paid all this money and they’ve had this wonderful thing at their wedding and they might not even get the chance to see it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 37:05
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 37:05
And they definitely don’t get to keep it. So that was like a You know, finding a problem and then coming up with a solution.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 37:14
And do you know what I love about that? Is I think that is what makes businesses special, right? Is that somebody who understands If you book me, there is an immediate and obvious issue with booking somebody who does what I do. Which is it’s an after-issue, right? It’s not an issue on the day or in the moment. It’s an after-issue. There’s an immediate after-issue. that comes up where you go, oh, we we didn’t even see that. How can I make sure that that is something which is still very real for them? Hours, days, months, even years after the fact, and of course. In this instance, I think you’ve nailed it. By us That’s brilliant. So what would you say then are maybe some of the biggest misconceptions people have about what you do?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 38:03
Biggest misconceptions is probably, oh, you do digital art. That’s not real art.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 38:12
Must be AI, right?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 38:13
Must be AI, yeah. Must be AI. Or oh, you’re just tracing it. But I tell you what, I don’t actually know many artists when they’re doing an artwork that won’t trace it in some way unless they’re doing um Sort of like life drawing. Yeah. And so like caricature artists, of course, would fall into this bracket in that, of course, they’re not you know, that’s like a a light life creating from life. And there’s an element to it that that is what I do. But if you want me to be able to split these out in bulk at a fast pace. There is an element to it that we’ve got to find our little cheats where we can. It’s still an original artwork and it’s still absolutely Capturing the essence of your guests on the day. And I tell you what, if you look on my Instagram as well, you can see my process for drawing as well. And It’s mesmerizing to watch. I find it mesmerizing to watch and other people are always telling me I’ve watched that five times. And that, you know, it’s the fact that it is an entertainment and that doesn’t take away from the experience.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 39:35
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 39:35
If anything, it just shows a process.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 39:39
I think one of the misconceptions that a lot of people certainly have about art, so I saw a couple of years ago I decided I wanted to learn to draw. I’ll be honest, I didn’t get very far, but I’m much better now than I used to be. And one of the things that I remember picking up from sort of reading through that book that I had was if you want to learn to draw the shape of a face Trace it and do it a hundred times with a hundred faces because then you’ll learn how the shape of a face changes and what it is. And if you want to learn to draw the the shape of a perfect tree, take it and and trace it, because you’ll you’ll learn. And I think that’s a really That’s a really valid medium of both learning art, but also of then creating art. Because at the end of the day, people are booking you to come along and create a beautiful unique but also accurate piece of artwork about the guests.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 40:39
And you could probably spend hours guessing on where just the right the right line for that shoulder is or where the yes, that would be my problem. It’s that where I’m a perfectionist, I could I could a hundred percent if you gave me enough time, like I could do that exact same drawing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 40:58
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 41:01
But it would take me so much longer. You’d come you know, you’d be like, what have you spent your time doing?
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 41:08
And of course, would then be so much more expensive for that exact thing. So, yeah. Gosh, that’s amazing. Well, listen, I mean Cat, this is honestly, this has been such a fantastic conversation and one that I could have for a lot longer because this is the kind of discussion that I really love to hear. But sadly, we can’t carry on forever. So before we go, where can people find you? Where should they be looking for you on the Internet to get in touch with you and see what you do?
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 41:36
Okay, so Instagram right now is a great one at Wisp and Wonder Illustrations. That is where I am sort of mainly focused at the moment. I will see me moving on to TikTok because everybody that I speak to keeps saying, Oh, I’ve seen this on TikTok, and I don’t want TikTok. Yeah. Um sound like, okay, like every time it’s like someone with a hammer going get on TikTok. Um so soon soon TikTok um and then my website which is whisperandwonder. co.uk
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:35
Yeah.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 42:36
But yeah, those are probably the best places to find me.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:40
Fantastic. Listen, this has been a really great chat, and we must do it again sometime and let’s catch up properly. In the meantime, I’m going to say thanks so much for coming along, and I’ll see you soon.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 42:49
Thanks for having me.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:50
No worries. Take care.
Cat Crinall – Wisp & Wonder Illustrations – Live Event Artist • 42:51
Bye-bye. Bye.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:56
And there you go, folks. What an absolutely fascinating discussion with Cat from Whisper and Wonder. Do you know what? It really is wonderful to see an artist who cares so much about what they do, and also produces just such wonderful end products. It really is fabulous. If you are planning a wedding and you want something that is Personal, artistic, and genuinely memorable, not only for your guests, but also for you. I wholeheartedly recommend you go and check out Cat at Wisp and Wonder Illustrations. You can find her on Instagram @WispandWonder. illustrations, and also online at whispandwonder. co. uk. It’s well worth a look to see the style and detail of her work. As always, thank you for watching and listening and just for being here. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please like it, subscribe, follow, and share. As always, it really will help people to make some great choices for their wedding. And until next time, folks, do remember to choose your suppliers wisely. And I’ll see you on another episode of the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. Take care.