TAYLOR Donnelly received a phone call three weeks ago that, at first, seemed like a hoax.
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On the other end of the line was a man claiming to be from Sony representing the girl group Little Mix.
He had seen Taylor’s art work, which is created in a graphics program via a tablet, and wanted to acquire her talents for the cover of an upcoming single.
The British group formed in 2011 during the eighth series of the UK version of The X Factor. They are the first and, so far, only group to win the competition.
They have had enormous success on a global scale, and now the little-known 17 year old Port Macquarie artist forever has a personal link to her favourite band.
“I’ve had people approach me for work in the past that hasn’t sounded legitimate so I wasn’t sure,” she said.
“But when he said they were genuinely interested I thought wow, I was definitely keen to get involved.”
A roller coaster ride followed, with the record company deciding to go with a photo and not a drawing.
“I was devastated,” she said. “But then they called me again and told me the band saw my work personally and wanted that on the cover instead.
“I had a couple of deadlines to meet, and surprisingly they were really happy with my first submission. They only wanted one small change made and that was it.”
Her illustration will be the first thing everyone around the world sees when they purchase the CD single, called Power, when it is released on Friday, May 26.
The band have re-tweeted and reposted some of her drawings, even liking and commented on them which has helped Taylor gain a big social media following.
“It’s a great feeling. My Instagram has 31,200 followers which has grown since Little Mix started sharing some of my work,” she said.
She started drawing at age 10, but had an interest in illustration before then.
“I’ve built up from there. I’m self taught and haven’t done any art training,” she explained.
“I was inspired by a mermaid art book in primary school. Since 2012 I have been a huge One Direction fan, and found out about Little Mix through that.
“I love girl bands so I combined my love for that with my passion for fashion and went from there. I’ve been drawing them for a while.”
Sony Music representative Barney Leigh said Little Mix have a special relationship with their fans, and were personally eager to collaborate with one of them on this project.
“We were already aware of Taylor's fan artwork after seeing her posts online, and so this felt like a natural collaboration,” he said.
“Taylor's done a fantastic job, and we're thrilled with the positive feedback the artwork has been receiving online.”
Currently an employee at a local bakery, a full time art career is not something she has aspired to in the past.
“I haven’t thought about making it a full time job. I know with art careers you need to draw what other people want you to draw, and I don’t really like doing that,” she said.
“If it becomes a regular thing, a side job, then I’d be all for it. I’m not too fussed about art school or anything.
“I’ve already found my style of drawing and I’m just really excited for what I’ve done so far.”