Hi Jannie, tell us about yourself…
Hi, everyone. My name is Jannie Ho and I’ve been a full time illustrator for about 4 years. I mostly do work in the juvenile market such as children’s books and educational products. I’m also known as Chicken Girl. I have a BFA in Illustration from Parsons The New School of Design in New York.
How did you decide to become an Illustrator?
When I first went to art school, I didn’t even know the field of illustration existed. I originally wanted to be in fashion design, but was later introduced to illustration and it felt like a better fit. After graduating, however, I ended up working as a graphic designer to pay the bills, and illustration fell to the wayside. Many years passed before I decided that illustration was my true calling and that I should pursue it more seriously. I was taking classes again, building up my portfolio, and along the way I signed with a rep. Eventually doing illustration work along with the day job was starting to be too much and I was quickly burning out. Something had to give, and so I became an illustrator full time in December 2006 and haven’t looked back since.
What tools and materials do you use to produce your work?
My work is digital, using Adobe Illustrator.
Can you explain a little about your process when creating an illustration?
For client work, I usually like to do a quick composition/layout in Illustrator to the specs of the job-usually just blocks of gray color or lines. I print it out, and draw on top of that. I do this so it gets more of a hand-drawn/organic feel. I then scan in my sketch and place it back in Illustrator. Using the pen tool, I go over the lines of my sketch and fill in with color. Sometimes I create textures in Photoshop and bring it in to my Illustrator file. For personal work, more often than not, I work straight in Illustrator.
How long does it usually take you to create an illustration?
This is always tricky to answer, because it can take a few hours to a few days, depending on the illustration or the job. I find that I can quickly turnaround a job with a familiar subject matter. In children’s publishing, the same topics can come up again and again. For unfamiliar topics, it will take me longer- but I’m usually happy to take on the challenge and spend time on it.
Which other Illustrators influence or inspire you?
Too many to mention them all! A few on my mind at the moment: Marc Boutavant, Delphine Durand, Mo Willems, Meomi, Yuka Shimada, Lela Lee, David Horvath, James Jean. I admire many of these illustrators not only for their creativity and talent but their business savvy. I also can not go without mentioning Richard Scarry- who influenced me heavily as a child and reading his books. I remember being fascinated by his art and the world he created; I wanted to live in it.
What are your Illustration goals for the future?
A big one for me is to write and illustrate my own children’s books. I’d love to create a world with my own characters and stories which can go into many different directions. I also want to continue building my brand and explore how illustrators can create opportunities for themselves instead of waiting for opportunities to come to them. Branching out my work to apply to “grown ups” is also on my mind.
What advice would you give to aspiring Illustrators?
It might feel overwhelming and impossible in the beginning, but slow and steady does win the race. Looking back, there were times when I thought I was going nowhere but little did I know I was working on my illustration career bit by bit, and before I knew it, everything added up. I also highly recommend researching thoroughly the specific industry that one’s illustration fits in, or want to be in. Illustration is not just about coming up with pretty pictures but also to solve a visual problem or to sell a product. Every industry is different as to how they receive illustration; portfolios should be focused and well edited.
One last thing: Embrace rejections-we’ve all had them; it means you are in the game. It only takes one person to say “yes” to get you started!
Be sure to visit Jannie’s website and blog to see more of her beautiful and fun work.
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Jannie,
Thanks a lot for taking the time to tell us about yourself. How blessed you are for being able to do what you love and for such talent. Your illustrations are just wonderful.
Thanks Jonathan for this great interview! I love Jannie’s work.
Great info Jannie! Thanks for sharing