Jenni is a visual artist and illustrator who creates work influenced by all things Scottish. This includes local folklore and mythology, history, and her personal connection growing up and living here. She enjoys the story telling aspect of illustration, how she can encourage curiosity in her audience with the subjects she chooses to portray. She wishes to spark an excitement in others for folklore, history and knowledge that she herself holds. As an illustrator, she also creates a variety of design work including murals, package design, motifs, and characters to add visual interest to every project.

See Jenni’s work as part of our annual Autumn open call exhibition, We Fear Nae Evil. Six Foot Gallery is delighted to host thirty three artists exploring the strange and magical stories of Scottish Folklore. Our Sextet listening station is back with twenty-four new pieces for you to spend some quality time with.

How has your practice changed over time?
My practice has become more structured with time as I’ve grown. A lot of my art creation used to be explorative ideas in my sketchbook that didn’t lead to larger ‘finished’ pieces. After attending Art school and spending a few years doing freelance creative work, my practice has come to be more structured. Sketchbooks have become functional over a hobby. Whilst at first it was awkward to phase out of my sketchbooks being filled with pretty pictures and finished pieces. It now feels more natural to develop ideas quickly and note down ideas for development outside the sketchbook. I enjoy creating larger finished pieces on different nice papers and textures than what I have in my sketchbooks.

Can you walk us through your creative process?
My creative process usually begins with sketches and doodles of an idea in my sketchbook. I look at inspiration in art books, online and in life. My doodles adapt into thumbnails and drafts that consider things like the proportions and shape of my final work. My process often does not follow a linear path. I’ll go back and redraw the same thing over and over with slight adjustments or simply to gain a sense of familiarity with whatever it is I’m creating. Once I feel I have the idea drafted, I begin a series of explorations using colour, paints, pencils, whatever material I think I may use for the final piece. Once I have the idea and developments established, I move onto the final piece. 

Are there specific advantages or challenges associated with working in your chosen mediums? Have you experimented with other mediums or techniques?
I used acrylic gouache for my piece on display at Six Foot Gallery. Gouache is a great medium for a flat matte effect that I am very fond of. It can be watered down to appear like watercolour or applied thickly for a more opaque appearance. Regular gouache can be reactivated with water, which can be useful however it can also be a hinderance if you are trying to paint small details you want to keep neat. In this painting, I used acrylic gouache to maintain neat details.

What challenges did you experience during the creation of your work and how did you overcome them? / How do you overcome creative blocks?
I can fall into the trap of struggling to stay motivated and confident in my work. I think when I am faced with a blank page, I can feel overwhelmed by the limitless choices I can take to transform that blankness. I find that repetition helps to alleviate the stress of this scenario. I consider drawing and designing like an exercise for a mental muscle. You have to maintain the practice or otherwise it becomes awkward and unfamiliar with time. But even then, I still have times where its tough to bypass this block and come up with an idea. In times like this, I think its a good choice to take a short break, take a walk, look at a magazine, listen to some songs that you like. Refresh your mindset and try again. 

What advice would you give to artists who are just starting out?
To do freelance, you need to learn your niche and then have fun building a portfolio around it. What your niche is can vary a lot. Maybe you like to work with charcoal / B&W material. Or you just want to be a fine-artist who paints Scottish coasts. You only use recycled materials to create relief works. If you have a niche that can be easily summarised and displayed as a cohesive portfolio, then it really helps you to share your work with potential clients, agencies and the public who are viewing your work. It’s okay to take your time figuring out what it is you like to do. I am still figuring out what it is I like to create and how to present that body of work. But I’ve found from experience and talking to other artists and witnessing their work that its a very effective way to communicate your skills and services to people. That way, people know what they can expect of you and the people who want your work will know it when they see it. 

Will your next project be a continuation of your current style or are you experimenting with something different? Can you share a glimpse of your next project?
I am currently working on a series of intriguing illustrations that depict different Scottish mythological creatures and historical scenes.

Find out more about Jenni’s work on Instagram. We Fear Nae Evil runs at Six Foot Gallery until Friday 16th October.