ABOUT
I’m Fran (Marcellin, Née Cook), a British illustrator living in France and mummy to four kids (ages 4-13). I was born in South Africa, grew up in Kent, in the UK, moved to London - loved it - then after ten years swapped city life for the French countryside.
I create hand-drawn, story-led illustrations for editorial, reportage and live illustration commissions and surface design projects. I also create custom cartoons or portraits, which can make great personalised Christmas or birthday gifts.
​​After years working as a freelance journalist (in positions from reporter to news editor) for titles such as New Scientist, The Telegraph and The Standard, I found myself drawn back into sketching. What began as a quiet creative outlet is transforming into an illustration career.
Having worked in film and journalism for many years, I was lucky to be involved in incredible projects, including a documentary I development produced about a gulag survivor during the Holocaust, which was nominated for a BIFA award and won the Lancia Award, at Italy's Biografilm Festival. I was also shortlisted as a Travel Feature of the Year finalist at the Travel Media Awards in 2019.
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Over the years, I’ve also been fortunate to join several professional organisations that continue to inspire and connect me: BAFTA, the British Association of Journalists, the Association of Illustrators and the British Guild of Health Writers.
I still do write commissioned features, I just want to spent more time drawing than writing these days!
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I drew all the time as a child - somehow I'd figured out then that art was my way of understanding the world. My dad even made me a table with wheels so that I could have my desk and pens in every room (I was an only child so I guess I must've been following them around drawing while they were doing their stuff in our house).
For many reasons (traumatic tales for another day) I stopped drawing when I had to give up art A-level to concentrate on more 'academic' subjects like classics and literature. Although I left Loughborough Uni with a 2:1 degree in English, I didn't pick up my pens again until 2023 when I started creating little pictures for my four kids.
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Dogs, flamingoes, giraffes...I was drawing each of them an animal at night so they'd wake up to a little picture with a 'love you' message and the date. I loved it so much, not only was it mentally restorative and replenishing, it felt like 'coming home' and I wish so much that I'd never stopped drawing all those years ago. ​​​​​​​​
Once I had this realisation, I started a part-time degree course with the Open College of the Arts (OCA), a BA (Hons) in Illustration, but then took various other more commercial courses because I knew at this point I wanted to start making it into a career. I also knew I had to learn fast, get up to speed and find out which direction I wanted to go in. I felt as though I had to make up for the time I'd been away.
Discovering Procreate in September 2024 changed my life, I fell in love with its versatility and started hand drawing and creating patterns and cartoons in this application. I was so impressed by how close you could feel to your art - yet it was digital. I decided to dedicate 12 months to mastering Procreate, alongside developing my style and techniques.
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The courses I took (some still ongoing) include: Cat Coq's Art of Collections 12-month mentorship for surface design and pattern making, Mike Lowery's Getting Paid to Draw, Good Ship Illustration's Illustration Business Club, Peggy Dean's Procreate Pattern Studio, Stefan Kuntz's animation and typography courses and Nate Fakes Creating Gag Cartoons in Procreate and comic and editorial playbook courses with Inkygoodness.​
​Overall, I think I'm a good generalist illustrator, but my work leans towards editorial and reportage illustration, surface design (I surprised myself at how much I adore creating patterns) and graphic recording (this combines my journalism and illustration skills so well).
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Outside the studio, I love trail running, swimming (especially in our local lake) and I enjoy hopping on my road bike and strumming my guitar as well when I get the chance. ​​
I try to eat mostly vegan and vegetarian - not easy when you live in the South of France (our local shop stocks duck not Tofu) - because I love animals and support their protection wherever possible.
Dabbling in cake decorating for my kids' birthdays is another hobby while tramping over the fields with my rescue Lab Sunny is one of my favourite things to do - it's his too, his second is tummy rubs.
I care deeply about human rights and enjoy using my art to raise awareness, campaign and fundraise for marginalised communities. My cartoons, reportage and illustrations often explore these themes with empathy and humour.
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I’m open to new collaborations and am also seeking representation to help me grow my illustration career further.
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If you’re looking for an illustrator in France (bearing in mind I can pop over to the UK or somewhere in Europe with ease), a British editorial illustrator, a live illustrator for events, or a pattern designer, I’d love to hear from you so please do reach out so we can discuss your project and create it together.