Jasper Goodall Illustrations

Jasper Goodall is a talented illustrator, a photographer and now fashion designer ( Bikini Business ). Born in England in 1973, Jasper worked as freelance illustrator, for The Face, ID mag, Dazed & Confused, Arena, Elle.. And Commercial output with Nike, Gucci, Mtv, Bmw…
His future project a swimwear line: JG4B… to be followed

Below is a brief Q&A and a list of influences that may be of help to students needing to complete essays/professional studies.

Q: How would you describe the work that you create?
A: Sexual, fantastical, dreamy. basically I would say it’s contemporary fantasy art.

Q: What tasks would you do on a typical day at work/ in your studio?
A: Lots of picture searches on the internet, collage, drawing, maybe photographing something I need, lots of emailing which kind of gets in the way, answering the phone, sometimes taking calls to clients.

Q: Can you talk about the processes and materials that you use in your work?
A: Photography usually forms the starting point. I have a huge library of body parts and typically lots of photos will go into making one figure. Once I’m happy with the way the figure is looking I’ll start drawing in Photoshop. Depending on what finish I’m after its either left in photoshop for or re-drawn on a light box with pencil or pen & ink. Finally I’ll then re-scan the result back and continue working in Photoshop.

Q: What kind of formal education do you have that applies to what you do or are you self taught?
A: I have regular school stuff and A levels then I did a foundation in Art and Design and then a BA hons in Illustration at The University of Brighton (where I am now a year 3 lecturer in Illustration)

Q: What is the first thing that you do when you are given a new brief from a client?
A: Think. and depending on the job sometimes then I forget about it for a while and get on with whatever I was doing – or panic and think ‘I can’t do it!’ but then get it together and realize that I have done it tons of times in the past so I must be able to do it again. then I think some more and maybe write down a list of possible ideas like a brainstorm, till I get one thats good enough.

Q: What do you enjoy most about the creative process?
A: Putting the finishing touches on a piece when the real work is over and you can chill out and enjoy the process then sit back in satisfaction and admire what you’ve done for a short while.

Q: And what do you enjoy least about the creative process?
A: Starting off – the blank sheet of paper moment, when all your fears of failure manifest and you wonder if you’ll ever feel confident in your work. Also the pressure that you put yourself under (and that deadlines bring)

Q: Is there a difference between the work that you do for yourself and the work that you do for a client? What is the relationship?
A: Of course – massive difference, most of the work I would do for a client I would never put on my website or in my folio, most of it a lot of people have seen and never knew it was me. I do lot’s of stuff like silhouettes and diagrams – generic stuff that requires good drawing and computer skills to do well.
The work I do for prints or very free editorial contributions is usually too far out for use to sell product in advertising etc. Any commissioned work is very likely to be somebody else’s idea VERY rarely your own interpretation, so of course it totally different. Often I’ll get a brief and think ‘This shouldn’t even be an illustration – it would be best done photographically’ but because its what the client wants – i’ll do it.

Q: Have you ever done a job that you did not agree with? Or have not been proud of?
A: I’m afraid to say I did a job for the army – it won a D&AD award as well!
I’ve done loads of stuff that I wouldn’t show most people, but none of it has ever been ‘knocked out’ I always feel that although it’s not always my kind of thing, I did an illustration that was good at it’s job.

Q: Do you have any particular weakness in graphic design, something you wish you were better at?
A: Unfortunately with deadlines getting ever shorter I do kind of rely on my computer to correct mistakes and give me a safety net, so traditional drawing and painting often becomes a composite work done in controlled parts so if you make a mistake it’s easily corrected. This isn’t good for traditional skills as you get used to being able to correct stuff all the time. So I think I should go back to basics and do life drawing classes.

Q:Is there a formula for creating good design?
A: Not that I know of. All I can say it too many people get fixated on getting a ‘style’ and think that a style is what you need to be a good designer/illustrator. what you need is good ideas and a personal language. Just aping somebody’s style and doing work that you think ‘looks good’ isn’t enough – it has no substance and ends up just being and looking vacuous and meaningless.

Q: What would be your ultimate dream project?
A: Maybe an illustrated erotic novel or anthology of short erotic stories, so its good sexual writing and good sexual imagery in one kind of coffee table type book.

Q: Do you have any advice for someone wanting to enter this field of work?
A: Stop looking at other peoples work too often so you dont become cliched and bandwagon jumping – the next big thing will be the thing that nobody has seen before – it’s very obvious but most people don’t seem to realize that and go down a pre defined style route. So be personal. Work VERY hard. Don’t be shy. Don’t rely on emails – phone people up. Understand that negative comments are not the way everybody sees you work – it’s just one persons opinion. but when 3 people say the same thing … have a think.

Q: If you were not a designer, what would you be doing?
A: I love the outdoors, so I’d either like to be a climbing or snowboard instructor or maybe work for the forestry commission or something, building fences and chopping trees and stuff!

Influences:
David Lachappelle, Helmut Newton, Tim Brett Day, Ellen von Unwerth, Aubrey Beardsley, Erte, Victor Moscoso, John Maeda, C18th & 19thJapanese Print, Tibetan art and sculpture, Push Pin Studio, 70’s logo design and packaging, Edmund Dulac.




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