Football is often described as a work of art, but there’s plenty of people taking that idea to greater lengths this summer as the England team prepare for South Africa. We’ve unearthed two great exhibitions inspired by football that are taking place in London whilst this summer’s big tournament is taking place.

Although they’re both inspired by the beautiful game, they’ve certainly taken two very different artistic approaches. First of all there’s illustrator Elliott Quince, who has taken inspiration from the world of sticker collecting to create an individual caricature-style portrait of a player from each of the 32 teams travelling to South Africa. We spoke to Elliott recently about his exhibition Got Got Got Need! which is raising money for the Luton and Dunstable Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Here’s what he had to say, plus a sneak peak at some more of his terrific drawings…

We’re guessing you were an avid sticker collector in the past (and still might be!). Which books in particular can you remember collecting, and did you ever complete any?

“Definitely, it was a big part of my life when I was at junior school. I remember completing the 1985/86 Panini album, it was a shared effort with my older brother. I seem to remember it being a very beard-heavy album with players like Peter Withe, Garry Birtles, Tony Grealish and Danny McGrain.”

What do you think it is about sticker books that appeals so much to young football fans?

“I think it’s got a lot to do with the (mostly) male compulsion to memorise stats and to collect and compile, the majority of boys at our school could name players just by their sticker numbers. Of course the social aspect of making friends in the playground was a big attraction, rifling through stacks of swaps to find that elusive Dumbarton foil badge.”

How did the idea for Got Got Got Need come about?

“Well I love drawing, and I love football, and as a lot of my work is character based I thought turning stickers into art was the perfect way to combine both.”

Which team do you follow then? Were you tempted to include any of your own team?

“I am but I’m a Luton Town fan so we’ve not had huge amounts to cheer about for a while. Getting behind England is my best chance of seeing a cup win bigger than the Johnstones Paint Trophy (which Luton weren’t allowed to defend after winning last season)!”

How did you decide which player for each nation to draw? Some nations must’ve been harder than others to choose from.

“There were no hard and fast rules – sometimes I’d pick the player most well known from a UK perspective like Wilson Palacios of Honduras. With the lesser known nations I did a bit of research and went with young stars of the future like Marek Hamsik or Karim Zianni. When it came to England it had to be Rooney as he’s arguably our most important player plus his face works well in my style.”

A lot of your work can be quite satirical, was it difficult to do these paintings quite ‘straight’?

“There were a few things I’d thought about doing such as making Ronaldo wink but in the end I kept them relatively straight (although a few people have said I’ve been quite cruel to a couple of players, Messi and Ribery particularly).”

Can you tell us a little about your background – how did you get into illustration? Which other illustrators do you admire?

“I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, I used to get The Beano delivered and I guess it taught me how to draw. There are loads of great artists out there at the moment, one I’ve admired for a long time is Pete Fowler (the guy who created most of the Super Furry Animal’s album artwork).”

You’ve got quite a distinctive style, is this something you’ve tried to develop or did it come naturally?

“My style’s evolved quite naturally over the years but I think the starting point can be traced back to those Beano comics.”

If England are successful in the World Cup, would you be tempted to do any more of your sticker-style paintings – the winning team for instance?

“I wouldn’t rule it out – I think i could have a lot of fun with some of the faces in the England squad. I think the likes of Crouchy, Rio, David James and James Milner would make good subjects.”

It’s great that your pictures are being exhibited, and it’s for a good cause as well. Can you explain a little bit about who you’re raising money for?

“I’m using the exhibition to raise money for the Neonatal unit at the Luton & Dunstable Hospital. We had serious complications with the birth of our daughter Tuesday and I just want to give them something back and to say thank you for everything they did for us.”

You can check out all of Elliott’s portraits over at the Got Got Got Need! website. His paintings will be displayed at The Offside Gallery in Islington throughout the tournament. We’ll be taking our second look at the world of art later today.