#LiveFearless: Hattie Stewart tells us how fear informs and inspires her unique way of working

Hattie Stewart is an illustrator who has always followed her own path. She was an obvious choice for the next in our #LiveFearless profiles, during which we are exploring how four different creatives address and overcome fear in their day-to-day practices. It’s part of a campaign around the launch of the new Jaguar F-TYPE Coupé, a car which embodies design fearlessnes, and we have also commissioned each creative to produce a new piece of work that reflects the triumph of fearless design.

But we want you to get involved too. Share the best examples of fearless art or design on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #LiveFearless and you’ll be in with a chance to win a week-long loan of the F-TYPE Coupé and a money-can’t-buy fearless experience. Visit the dedicated LiveFearless site for more information.

So over to Hattie, whose terrific piece evokes the mental dramas and emotional energy creatives must learn to harness.

What role does fear play in your creative process?

When I am afraid of something I always try to remind myself that I’m afraid because I care, so for me it depends on how it’s used, understood and conquered. Everyone is afraid of the unknown and after leaving university for a few years the fear of failure was palpable and at times overwhelming. I knew what I wanted to do, but no idea how I would find the platform to do it. Ultimately it’s about channelling that negative energy into something positive and simply getting on with it, taking it one step at a time.

Tell us about a particular project where you had to overcome doubts or uncertainty. How did you do this?

There are so many as every project introduces new fears and concerns. I think the most recent for me was the Old Navy Fall14 campaign I took on last year. It was the biggest project I had ever undertaken with my work being the main visual component of a campaign – a huge jump from what I’d been doing previously. It saw me in NYC for a month working with the team at Chandelier Creative and in LA for two weeks working with the incredible Roman Coppola for the TV spots, which was daunting but incredibly exciting.

The campaign had so many different layers including animation, storyboarding and design that I began working and thinking in ways I hadn’t before, especially on such a grand scale. The fear of not doing the best you can or your work being ill-received is definitely the most intense concern for me. When I relayed these fears to a friend before I left she said: ‘You know how to draw don’t you? Well then get on with it.’

That was it, that was all I needed to hear. If you’re afraid of something, get on with it, I know my work so I know what to do and I can simply build around that. As long as you have a core understanding of your work everything else is relative. It turned out to be one of the richest experiences of my life both in the people that I met (who are now great friends) and what I learnt.


What’s the most tense you’ve been around a project nearing completion? 

This varies depending on client, deadline and scale. I usually plan well and I hate being unprepared so I always make sure I am mentally ready for any eventuality or timeframe. I think the most tense recently was when I had one day to paint a 16×16ft canvas that, ultimately, became a part of Pepsi’s Art Of Futbol campaign. I’d never worked on that scale before and was surrounded by five other brilliant graffiti artists also working on their pieces.

At first it was intimidating but then the passion for what you do and the camaraderie that was in the room that day overcame any fears I originally had. It was definitely out of my comfort zone as I’m very much used to working in my own space but it was actually an incredibly rewarding experience as being surrounded by so much creative energy fuelled my own.

David Luiz (one of the footballers involved in the campaign) gave me the thumbs-up when he saw it at the opening event which was great and validating!

In design is fear something you should try and ignore or try and meet head on?

Head on. If you shy away from it, you’re no longer in control of yourself or your work. How can you ever hope to overcome something if you don’t even try to understand it?

Which designers do you admire for being fearless?

Aries Moross – they know what they can do and the skills they have and they understand that opportunities are limitless, you find them yourself and you build. I also love the work of Quentin Jones; she has such a unique and commanding style and seems to me to have a very direct vision and understanding of her work which I greatly admire.

Complete this sentence

Creatively speaking, fear is…inspiration.


Do you agree with the idea that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself…

Yes. But also paying rent on time.