“Hi!” I’d like to introduce myself to new social media and blog followers!

My name is Emma Jayne and I am an illustrator & pattern designer. I live in the UK, in beautiful, leafy Cheshire (which is about halfway up the country, if you’re looking at a map). I live with my beautiful daughter and my cool hubby (he asked me to write that bit!).

I have a degree (BA (Hons)) in Surface Pattern, an MA in Textile Illustration and a PGCE (yes, I am a qualified teacher, so please pay attention, as I might be asking questions later!).

I’ve always been practical and creative. When I was a teenager, I used to love making my own clothes. I learned to knit and embroider and also to bake. My real passions, however, are drawing and painting.

I describe my style as colourful, painterly and playful. I like to combine different colour combinations – a skill I worked hard at honing, whilst working for a large soft-furnishings company. When starting client briefs, I’m often asked to create an idea in sketch form, although I prefer to draw in colour right from the start, which is then colourised later. This is because I think in colour and when visualising my end goal, the colours are a primary part of my consideration. I do understand why many clients ask first for a line drawing sketch – it is quicker and gives an overview of the piece but for me, it lacks the depth and meaning that I want to give it.

“Hi!” New Followers!

 

Some more facts about me

I’m a Leo. Apparently, Leos are creative people. Some sources say they are born leaders. Of course, my teenage daughter might interpret that as my being a bit bossy. You can’t win them all, I suppose.

I’m from a large family (I’m the eldest of five children) and even though I love being around people, I’m as equally happy in my own company.

I have a sweet tooth. So much so, that I have to try very hard to curb my enthusiasm for sweet things!

I taught art, along with maths, for a while but realised that teaching was not my true calling, so I gave it up to freelance and also started blogging. Contrary to what some people might think or have experienced, I find that art and maths do go together quite well. After all, art is an application of maths, in many ways.

When starting my blog, at first, I used it purely as a scrapbook for keeping notes about trends and to show the inspiration for the pieces in my Master’s degree work. That encouraged me to start posting images and descriptions of my own work and the materials, and methods that I used for each piece. At the same time, I started to build up my portfolio and to hone my skills by taking some online courses. There are quite a few now which are very useful, especially when it comes to creating commercial work. To name a couple are Make Art That Sells by Lilla Rogers and Rise Design and Shine.

I love fashion, in particular from small, boutique shops and you can usually find me wearing patterns – colourful, geometric patterns, quirky and modern floral designs.

I prefer to draw from real life than from secondary sources. You can see the textures up close and all the little details.  After drawing (I like to use a wide range of media – gouache, ink and water colour ) I then polish off my artwork in Photoshop. Sometimes I bring in elements that I’ve drawn on my ipad too i.e. procreate.

I am inspired by women who have overcome stereotypes and prejudices to become successful in their fields.

I love artwork made with a touch of humour, although I do have a sensible side and am fascinated by documentaries about history and nature.

During my research for my 100 Days Project on the Ocean, I learned so much about sea-life and marine ecology, yet I know I have only just scratched the surface. Our oceans are full of awe-inspiring beauty and hold such a wonderful and vast diversity of life. My eyes were opened to the issues of climate change and pollution, especially with the discarding of day to day chemicals and single-use plastics. It is saddening to think of the damage which has been done and is being done by past and present generations. However, I am filled with hope and encouraged by knowing that even small changes in our lifestyles can lead to great reductions in the damage being done and nature being what it is, those reductions will help it heal itself.

Well that’s more or less me in a nutshell! 🙂

 

Emma Jayne x

Gosh, I can’t believe it’s been four months since I last wrote a blog post! Since April, I’ve had a few big design projects, as well as the 100 day challenge. So as you can imagine, I’ve had no free time to show you any of my drawings.

In this post, I want to share with you a snippet of the more popular pieces as well as a couple of my favourites.

Finished 100 day project

Popular and some of my favourite drawings

 

 

Last year I created mainly illustrations to build up my portfolio, whereas this time round, I’ve concentrated on ideas which can be used for patterns.

Because of the length of the challenge, I wanted to stay motivated and try out new techniques, so I wouldn’t loose interest. This year, I used a variety of media i.e. gouache, procreate, collage and baking (cakes and pies inspired by Kim-Joy).

 

Gouache drawings

 

Procreate

 

Collage

 

Baking

 

Final illustration

For my final illustration for the 100 day project, I decided to celebrate by demonstrating some of the beautiful creatures on our planet. I liked the idea of having the land and air animals walking around our planet Earth and assembling the sea creatures within the globe. I’ve also used this piece as the home page to my online portfolio. My husband, who is the more technical one in the family, made my illustration into an animation, which turns – how clever is he!!

I just want to finish off by saying that I’ve learned so much about the different creatures I’ve drawn. Each one is unique and I’ve only illustrated a very small percentage. Whether they swim in the ocean, travel on land or even fly in the air, it would be tough to imagine life without animals.

If you’d like to see more of the finished 100 days project drawings, you can see them on instagram, Facebook or twitter.

Please refrain from using my artwork. Thank you kindly! 

 

Emma Jayne x