Professional Illustrator Interview - Jo Parry

Jo Parry is a successful Bournemouth based artist and illustrator with a diverse style which keeps her very busy.  I was lucky enough to secure an interview with Jo, who told me all about her working practices, how she got started as an illustrator and her best advice to those of us just starting out.  You can read the transcript of the interview below, but to get an idea of Jo's versatile style, check out her work here.



Hi Jo. Thanks for talking to me about your illustration. First of all, I’m curious to know where your love of illustration comes from. Did you draw as a child? Who are your early influences. 

I did! In fact I did little else, and was never without my pencils and paper. I loved picture books as a kid, my favourite being a beautifully illustrated versions of RL Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verse. Still trying to track down the original copy today! 

You produce art in all kinds of formats; posters, prints, greetings cards, children’s book illustrations etc. Which is your favourite and how / why are you so versatile

I probably enjoy creating card designs the most because I can get hem done quickly. Fundamentally I'm an impatient artist so the things I like to create most are those I can see results from within hours, rather than days. I get bored easily so illustrating greetings cards allows me to get relatively immediate results. Versatility is key if you want to be busy, and it helps with the boredom aspect! If you can adapt your work to fit many fields, you have a far better chance of being successful. 

Where did you train?

I completed a total of five years at art school at the Arts Institute in Bournemouth , 2 years foundation then a further two years specialising in graphic design and illustration. I went back for a further year to study graphic communication because I wanted to enhance my digital skills. 

What sort of work did you do to start with? When do you consider you had your breakthrough to commercial success and being able to make a living?

I started off by doing magazine editorials, mainly illustrations to accompany articles in national magazines, as well as packaging design and posters for design companies. I worked enough to get by in the early days but found real success once I joined the Advocate team.

Do you work with agents? If so, how did you go about getting an agent? 

I was lucky enough to have an agent before leaving art college so was was working commercially as soon as I'd left. I moved on to a second, and then third, Advocate, who represent me now. The best way to gain an agent is just knocking on doors and persisting. You need to make yourself known on the circuit and I always feel face to face meetings work best. A lot of illustrators send off postcards or the odd email to agencies and make little progress, because you just get lost in the crowd. Decide what agencies you wish to contact, check to see who else they represent and what styles they champion, and tailor Your portfolio to that. Be proactive and find a way of making yourself stand out from the rest! I placed an ad in the back of Greetings Magazine, an industry publication, because I wanted to work in that area. My current agent picked up on it and after a 10 minute phone call I was signed up.  

Tell me about your daily routine and where you work. Can you send me a photograph of you in your studio? 

Jo's under-stair studio

I am very particular about how I work and my daily routine. I work from home so always start at 8.30am and then through to the evening most days. It's not unusual for me to do 14 hour days.  Unlike a lot of other artists I treat my working day like anyone else who goes out to work. I'm washed, dressed and fed before I start! I can't and never do sit around in my PJs ! If you work from home you have to be especially disciplined and not distracted. I feel it is important to be in 'work mode' before starting each day. I even have 'work clothes’! I work in my lounge, in a space under the stairs would you believe! It’s not as bad as it sounds, I’m next to the kitchen,handy for tea and biscuits !

Tell me about your processes. What's  are your favourite mediums and brands to work with

To start with, I pencil sketch out designs manually as apposed to digitally, then scan. I still like to do this part the old fashioned way! All my colour work is digital now so once sketches are approved move onto the digital painting.

How much of your work is produce digitally? How do you move between digital and traditionalism him mediums? 

As covered in the other question, all my work is digital now, except for my teaching work. I am an art tutor to children once a week, and adults one evening a week. The works I produce for these sessions is traditional. My favourite traditional medium is artists pastels.

What do you consider are the best and worst aspects of being a self employed illustrator? 

Good question!! The best aspect is being able to make a living from your passion, that's a huge honour. The worst part is probably the long hours and the fact you spend a huge amount of time on your own. Oh and chasing down payments!

Illustration can be a pretty solitary occupation. How do you keep yourself motivated and engaged professionally? 

In the end it comes down to discipline and reminding yourself how lucky you are to do this as an occupation. Motivation isn't too much of an issue for me, there's always something new I want to try or a new style I want to explore.

Do you collaborate with other artists or writers directly? 

Generally no, but I have occasionally worked on collaborations with other artists. I know a few illustrators who do this regularly but for me it's not the way I work generally. 

What are you working on currently? What’s in the pipeline? 

I've just finished work on my first self written children's book, a long standing ambition of mine! I'm currently writing 6 more so my job now is to get publishing deals for these in 2016. Hopefully ! Other than that I'm working on greetings cards for high street retailers, a series of colouring book covers, my own range of vintage style giftware, a couple of pop up books for a regular client, two christmas books, oh and I teach art on saturdays to a great bunch of 20 school children. I also do personal tutoring sessions for children from home. 

I notice you used Instagram and Facebook. What other social media do you use to engage with your audience, and how do you use it? What has been most successful

I use those plus twitter, to update my followers on what I’m currently working on. Hard to say which has been the most useful, probably twitter. I think the probably has the best reach. Luckily my agent does the majority of publicity for me.

Finally, what advice would you give to new illustrators wanting to enter the profession? 



First and most important point, NEVER undersell yourself. Seek advice from other illustrators if you need advice on commission prices etc. Your time and skills are extremely valuable, never forget that. Know your market! I think that is probably the very best bit of advice I can give. To know your market firstly you have to know what area or areas you wish to work in, and then spend lots of time studying that field. Illustrators can often be guilty of being vanity artists, by that I mean just producing work they like to do. To be honest that’s more the discipline of a tradition artist. Artists paint for themselves, illustrators paint for others! Know what is on trend, what styles and treatments are popular, what themes, you have to know this stuff back to front if you want to be commercially viable. Become an expert in illustration fashions and trends, and see which discipline suits your skill base. Apart from that I’d encourage all illustrators to be as technically proficient as possible, particularly if they will be working digitally. That way you can develop more than one style. So many illustrators pigeonhole themselves by working tightly to one illustrative style, this will limit your chances of scoring regular commissions, be flexible and adapt to market forces! Finally I would say grow a thick skin (you will experience many setbacks and rejections!) and invest in the most comfortable chair you can for your work station. With any luck you’ll be sat in it an awful lot! 

Thanks to Jo for her time and wisdom. I love Jo's discipline - the very reason that I chose to take on a studio, rather than simply working from home - working from home would be achievable for me as we are lucky enough to have space, but there are too many distractions for a 'day job' and I value the feeling of professionalism that 'going to work' gives me.  Now I just have to practice, practice, practice so that I can become as skilled and prolific as some of the excellent professionals who have been kind enough to share their knowledge with me during this module.  

There is more to come on this, with more interviews to upload for your enjoyment, but before this, I think it's time to reflect again on my own ambitions.  Watch this space...

H. x