Mother Nature, Jess Ebsworth
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m 26, from East London, and I have been illustrating bits and bobs for the last 3 (ish) years. If I’m not in the studio you’ll probably find me cooking/eating/looking at food on instagram.
What, or who, influence your creative style and/or ethos?
I like a load of different stuff- anything that has an interesting use of shape or colour. Recently I’ve been looking at a lot of Japanese poster artists like Tadanori Yokoo- the gradients are amazing. I’m trying to be more adventurous with text in posters as it’s never been a strong point for me so any designers that are using it in a cool way is what I’m currently into!
What is something that we wouldn’t know about you?
I was a pretty decent figure skater as a kid. I had the outfit and everything.
Talk us through your design process, from the initial idea to the finished piece.
A lot of the time it is pretty spontaneous- I usually start with creating a few initial concepts which will be loose and probably subject to change a little! Once I’m happy with the idea, I’ll begin the making of the image by roughly mapping out into illustrator to get an idea of layout and how the composition looks on the page. If I have more time for a project or I want there to be more detailed elements I draw everything out on paper first until I’m happy with the composition and then recreate that on screen in illustrator. Generally I will have an idea of colour straight away so I can then work into the shapes and add depth using the gradient mesh tool. I will always end up tweaking the layout and things always look different once they’re on screen so that last bit will often take just as long as figuring out the initial concept.
What is your biggest art pet peeve, and why?
I guess when stuff isn’t accessible. Some conceptual art leaves me feeling a little out of my depth so if it doesn’t evoke any kind of emotion or create a visual impact it will probably annoy me.
What are you most excited about at the moment?
I have some really cool things in the works that I probably can’t mention but if it all works out then it will mean getting my work off the screen and onto a totally new medium... Watch this space!
Let’s talk more about A Decade of Change. What drew you to collaborate with us on this project?
I was instantly really drawn to the brief- being naturally cynical it was a challenge not to focus on all the doom and gloom that’s about at the moment and the fact it was so open meant I was able to create something quite personal.
What’s the message behind your piece in the collection, and what does it mean to you? What would you like to change over the new decade?
I think there’s a whole lot that needs to change! This piece is about the connection between ourselves and our planet and the hope that we can learn to reconnect and rediscover the importance and power of the world around us.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation!
