Parisha Malik is a UK-based illustrator whose path into creative practice began far from a traditional art school route. Trained as a doctor and having worked in medicine for several years, Parisha’s shift into illustration emerged through curiosity, recovery, and reconnection with a long-held creative instinct. Entirely self-taught, her work today centres on detailed, story-driven fantasy worlds — from book and tabletop game illustration to hand-lettered compositions. In this interview, Parisha reflects on changing careers, learning through discipline and experimentation, and why human-made storytelling matters more than ever.
Can you tell us a little about your first few steps in your career. Was there a moment or experience when you realised this was what you'd do as a career?
My path into illustration was a bit unexpected, because I actually trained as a doctor. I did my MBBS in India, moved to the UK, and worked as a junior doctor for about six years. I was even preparing to apply for plastic surgery training at the time.
I’d always been creative, especially as my mum is incredibly artistic, and I grew up with that energy around me. In 2019 I got the chance to illustrate for a plastic surgery app. That was my first step into digital art, and it opened something up in me.
The real shift happened later, after a bad ankle injury and surgery. The long, painful recovery forced me to slow down, which is not something a medicine career ever really allows. I picked up my iPad to distract myself from the stress and the pain, and then something just "clicked". I felt so much joy and calmness creating art again, in a way I hadn’t experienced for ages. Like I’d finally reconnected with a part of myself I’d ignored for years.
And when the thought, “maybe this is what I actually want to do”, crossed my mind, everything inside me sort of settled. Not because I didn’t value my career in medicine, but because art made me feel alive in a completely different way.
That’s when I knew I wanted to build a career in illustration.
What lessons from your career have most shaped your style and approach?
I’m a completely self-taught artist, so a lot of my style and approach came from figuring things out the long way. I didn’t go to art school because of my medicine career, but I invested heavily in online courses and tutorials and just hours and hours of self-study.
One of the biggest lessons for me was realising that you can’t stop at following the tutorial. I always wanted to understand why or how something worked—why lighting behaved a certain way, how perspective worked, or how textures differed across subjects. So I’d take a technique, break it apart, and then try it in my own original work. That kind of troubleshooting shaped my style more than anything.
And because I wasn’t tied to a formal path, I had the freedom to explore. I could try different genres and see what actually felt like me. Over time, I realised I’m happiest when I’m rendering detailed, atmospheric, story-driven illustrations, especially in the fantasy space.
So the most important lesson really has been this: keep experimenting, keep questioning, and let the things you genuinely love pull you toward your style.
Tell us about the core values or philosophies that guide your creative practice.
For me, curiosity is the thing that really drives my creative practice. I love learning and trying new things, and that constant sense of discovery keeps my work from feeling stale. If I’m curious about something, I’ll naturally keep exploring it.
An eye for detail and discipline are a big part of my process too. My illustrations take time because of the high level of rendering in them, and I’ve learned that consistency is what actually gets you through a piece. You show up, you build on what you did yesterday, and slowly it becomes a habit. That’s where the real growth comes from.
Because I’m self-taught, integrity matters a lot too. No one checks whether you understand the basics, so you have to hold yourself accountable. I avoided shortcuts early on because I didn’t want to rely on brushes and tools to do things I couldn’t manually do myself. Once you know the foundations, you can bend the rules, but skipping that basic step does catch up with you eventually.
What needs to change, so emerging and under-represented creative professionals have more opportunity, are seen and heard?
I feel visibility is a real struggle for emerging creatives. So many platforms are algorithm-driven now, and it’s easy for new artists to get drowned out. Most artists end up feeling like they have to become content creators first and artists second, just to be seen. And that can really pull them away from the work they actually want to be doing.
Entry-level opportunities are tough too, because so many of them still require proof of experience. But everyone’s first client has to come from somewhere. I completely understand it from the client’s side—they should rightly want to feel confident in who they’re hiring—but there needs to be a gentler way in. More open calls, more small collaborative briefs, more chances to work with real clients without an intimidating barrier to entry—all of that would help massively.
Even simple things like clearer expectations, transparent processes, or mentorship programs can make a huge difference to those artists who genuinely want to put in the work, because there’s a lot of incredible talent out there. Sometimes people just need that first door to open.
How important is it that creative professionals find their unique voice?
I think finding your own voice is incredibly important, especially nowadays when there’s so much artwork out there, and that’s part of why visibility is such a challenge too. Sooner than later, you’d end up asking yourself what would actually make someone pause their scroll on your work? What makes it feel different from everything else in their feed?
It all comes down to your unique way of seeing things—your genre choices, your colours, your subjects, your brushstrokes, your lineart... the list is endless! But your style only develops through time, exploration and repetition. Tutorials are great for learning techniques, but if you only repeat what someone else has shown you, your work will just end up looking like theirs. You have to take what you’ve learned, play with it, and let it evolve into something that feels like you, so that it actually stands out as your own work.
Especially with AI now being able to create artwork too, your own style has an even deeper importance that shows we need something that only us humans can create.
Looking ahead, what do you think are the key factors that will influence change for creative professionals?
I feel the biggest changes ahead for creative professionals are going to come from a growing emphasis on the human side of the work. Clients want real connection now with authenticity and transparency from the creator’s side—they want to know who they’re working with, how you think, and what your process looks like.
There’s also a lot more attention on ethics and authorship, especially with AI now in the balance. People care about how art is made and who made it. Also, being able to emphasise more on certain skills like narrative themes or story-telling through your art will help communicate the humanity behind your artistic decisions, which AI simply can’t replicate.
Tell us some of your favourite, creative professionals and inspiring places in your city!
Some of my favourite places to go for inspiration are honestly just bookshops. I could spend hours in Waterstones, surrounded by endless shelves of books and seeing all the different cover designs in one place. As someone who illustrates books, it’s like getting hit by a creative recharge wave every time I walk through those aisles.
I’m also a big fan of game art, so I love popping into places like Forbidden Planet or Fan Boy Three in Manchester. There’s so much visual energy in those stores with tabletop and roleplaying games, graphic novels and merch, and it’s a great way to see what’s happening in those worlds.
What should emerging creative professionals keep in mind as they begin their design career?
I think the most important thing for emerging creatives is to build a strong foundation. When your basics are solid, you have something reliable to grow from, and it becomes much easier to develop your own voice over time. Alongside that, invest time and effort in creating a portfolio that reflects the kind of work you actually want to get hired for. It doesn’t have to be perfect straight away, but it should evolve with you.
It also helps to get comfortable with the practical side of the career—things like organising your work, presenting it clearly, and understanding the business essentials of freelancing, if that’s a route you want to take. These aren’t always the most exciting parts, but they make a real difference in how confident and prepared you feel.
Seeking feedback is valuable too. It’s hard to see your own work clearly when you’re so close to it, and an outside perspective, especially from senior professionals in the industry, can highlight things you might have missed.
And finally, try not to lose yourself in what everyone else is doing. Trends come and go, and it’s easy to get swept along with them. Pay attention to what genuinely interests you. Following that instinct is usually what leads to work that feels authentic and keeps you going in the long run too.