Without designers and creators, the world would be really dull. We wouldn’t have buildings, art, fashion… or anything, really! The same goes for the internet, small businesses, and blogs. Without designers to give things their own unique look, everything would look the same.
I’m going to be starting a new series called Creator Spotlight, where I feature some of my favourite artists and designers. I’ll shine a light on their work, and they’ll tell you a little bit about themselves and their businesses. I hope this will introduce you to some new great artists that you’ll love as much as I do!
Today, I’m going to be featuring Joely Dean Illustration. Not only is Joely my best friend (we’ve been friends for 20 years!), but she also did the artwork for my blog, as well as the Wonderfully Bookish podcast artwork. If you see a space-themed illustration somewhere on my blog or social media, it’s probably one of hers.
You can find Joely online at [list places with links here]. Let’s hand over to Joely herself so she can tell you more about what she does!
What do you do, and what is your business all about?
I am a freelance Illustrator taking commissions from all sorts of clients from all over the world, including zine-o-matic, bloggers, theatre companies and personal commissions. I create illustrations using traditional drawing techniques and mix this with digital painting in Photoshop to create unique imagery.
Tell us a bit about you, the person behind the business.
I am Joely, and I am 24 years old from South Wales! I have loved art my whole life, studied a foundation course in Caerleon and then went on to do a degree in Illustration at the University of South Wales in Cardiff, where I lived for a few years. I’m now living back at home working from a little room in my house. I am a vegetarian, I watch a lot of movies and I love the outdoors, animals, nature, architecture and travel, which gives me a lot of inspiration for my work.
What are your goals for the next year?
My main goal is to just keep creating. This seems obvious but sometimes it’s hard to just keep drawing and making new things. Eventually, all the hard work will get me sales and commissions and ultimately keep building my business. Getting the motivation to make things without having an official deadline to stick to is something that I struggle with.
Another big one for me is to concentrate on a big project about something I am passionate about, like a book. I’d love to get more into book illustration!
What other creators are you inspired by?
The first creator that comes to mind is Shaun Tan. A tutor showed me his book, ‘The Red Tree’ back when I was doing my Final Major Project based on Alzheimer’s Disease and the impact it has on people. In the book he uses surreal imagery to create dark, emotive imagery based on the experience of depression. I love this concept and the way you can explain how someone is feeling through illustration.
I also follow a lot of illustrators on Instagram that really inspire me to create better work every day. Richey Beckett being one of them. He came to talk to us at uni about his work and you realise the detail and the effort he puts into every piece. When someone cares about what they’re doing it makes such a difference. His patience to create something so detailed inspires me to have more patience!
What does your design process look like? Do you always start with the same thing, or just improvise and see what happens?
I’ve found a style and a way of working, so these days I usually start the same every time. I sketch ideas in my sketchbook using all sorts of materials like watercolours, pens and coloured pencils. I then draw my final illustration with pencil initially, and paint in Photoshop to finish it off. I also like to create mood boards, using images from Pinterest that give me ideas for colour palettes and compositions.
If you could sell your artwork in any shop or display it in any gallery in the world, which would you pick?
I visited the Tate Modern recently for the 2nd time and I absolutely love it there. I love modern and abstract art and it always gives me inspiration to go out of the box with my work and maybe try something different. It makes me think about what is aesthetically pleasing to me. So if I had to choose one gallery or shop, it would be this place. I’d also love to have my own little shop one day selling my art, with my own little studio.
Share ONE top tip that you’d give to other people who would love to set up their own creative business.
Apart from the obvious advice of ‘just keep going’, (which is actually very important and is why it is still on my goal list!), I think the one top tip for a creative person is to find your style. Find where you fit in the creative world and go for it. Find the thing you love doing, get yourself a unique selling point and you’re on the right track.
What’s been one highlight in your creative career so far?
As soon as I came out of uni I got a job with a scriptwriter called Catherine Dyson who had written a beautiful play called Transporter, which explores themes of identity, difference, conflict, and what it means to come or not come from somewhere. It’s full of really important issues that I believe are so important to talk about. My job was to create imagery for a graphic novel to accompany the play, based on her script. There was so much to draw and I loved it. It felt a little scary at the time, but I look back on it and it really was a dream job – collaborating with other creative people on passionate projects that have heart and bringing her words to life through images was amazing.
Where can people find you online?
- joelydean.com – my website and portfolio
- @joelydean on Instagram (that’s where I am most of the time!), Twitter and Tumblr (my blog)
- @joelydeanillustration on Facebook
Next week’s featured creator will be bookish pin maker, Felfira Moon Designs. If you have a creative business and want to be featured in this series, feel free to get in touch!
