Further to graduating with a degree in illustration Alastair went on to spend the first ten years of his artistic career developing his skills as a professional portrait painter. Alastair regularly undertakes high profile commissions as a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and through his research at Loughborough University seeks to capitalise further upon the rapidly increasing potential and opportunities offered through portraiture. This alone is testimony to his belief in the transferable skills acquired as part of an education in illustration and reinforces his beliefs that the future of illustration is one that presents possibilities for practitioners to cross boundaries between many disciplines.