Nicko Phillips' cheeky illustrations feel like a hell of a holiday

Phillips describes his work as "otherworldly, rich in colour and tries to evoke a feeling of optimistic anticipation", and we can't argue with that: it's all about bright palettes, the odd cheeky skinny dip and a hell of a lot of booze.

"I love drawing characters that are comfortable and confident in their skin, within lush environments inspired by late nights, long weekends, cocktails and music," says Phillips.

There's clearly a lot of references to '60s and '70s psychedelia at play: lysergic swirls abound, and spectacles are always around and obfuscated with patterns. His sweetly chubby characters often have half-lidded eyes that hint that they’ve had a very good night indeed.

His recent style is quite a departure from earlier works, which were more based around slick portraiture (like this homies project, for instance)). Check out his Instagram, too.