Childrens Illustrator Presents: Gorjuss!

Every month or so we talk with extremely talented illustrators with childish hearts full of imagination and whims.

This time we have the honour to present to you Suzanne Woolcott aka gorjuss! Suzanne is a very talented Scottish artist who enjoys fairytales and painting girls with striped socks, striped dresses, striped scarfs.. all things striped! If you never heard of her or you have but you'd love to know more this interview might be just what you need!

Childrens Illustrator Presents: Chitchatting with Gorjuss!

Hello and welcome to our interview room!
Can you tell us who you are in a nutshell ? Where do you come from, what's your work, and what's your shoe size ?

Hello thank you for inviting me ! .. I'm Suzanne, a 30-ish Scottish artist who paints girls, and loves stripes! Although I'm often seen as a children's illustrator, I often hear from people of all ages who love my work!

What mediums do you work with, and why those ?

I work both traditionally with ink and paint, and digitally with Photoshop and my trusty Wacom tablet! I love all mediums! Most of my digital pieces start life as traditional ink sketches, and I then scan them and use them as the linework in Photoshop!.. I exhibit originals in galleries across the world, and license the digital pieces to various companies!

Tell us about your creation process: what turns you on, what gets you mad, what brings you into the divine state of inspiration... We want to know everything!

Aaaaah everything inspired me, the clouds in the sky, the weather, the people I meet, little sayings people say, colours, you name it.. I'm like a big sponge who just soaks everything up, and for my own sanity I have to paint it to 'release' some of it !!! Of course when I paint it comes out with my own interpretation, I'm just trying to show everyone how I see the world in a way!

Do you ever get stuck in front of the famous "blank page/canvas" ? How do you move forward?

I'm at a fortunate stage in my career that I can now paint for myself, rather than for an agent, author or commissioner.. this makes it much easier as there's no interpretation of what someone else is trying to convey, this means the blank page is really exciting now, and I love it !!! I would always advise younger artists to not 'push' their creativity, when it's ready to flow it will flow! I'm very much painting on my own terms and for myself, and I'm (very!) fortunate that other people love what I produce!

We all have various inspirations that may come from music or sounds, art, food, whatever... What are yours?

Music is a huge part of my life, I used to play ( okay okay badly play!) .. in a rock band when I was younger ( drums!) .. I have a constant soundtrack in my life, wherever I go, whatever I'm doing there is music playing in the background.. I usually try to capture a mood rather than the lyrics.. I'm also addicted to art, I couldn't live without either.

Do you remember, as a child, what books or graphic style you liked most?

I've always been in love with fairytales! I collect vintage Mabel Lucie Attwell illustrated books, first editions of Grimm and Anderson fairytales, and collect obscure Scottish fairytale books too ( I told you I was addicted!) .. I can remember just being in awe of illustrations when I was little.. studying every little detail of books I owned..

Did you read much?

I read a lot, and I still do! .. I read more children's books than I do adult, and I've even been known to scour the bookshops for pre-school picture books much to the annoyance of my now-very-outgrown-picture-books teenage children! When I was little I was told by my parents that I couldn't be an artist when I grew up, so when I reached about 10/11I would read a WHOLE lot of biographies and info on any artists lives I could find.. as a result I now know a lot about other artists, which is a great knowledge to have!, I also read mostly about things, religion, philosophy, geography, history.. rather than fiction.

Why did you choose to illustrate for children ? And what advice would you give to beginners who are willing to go for it?

It just came from a love of art, I think it came quite naturally for me to draw girls, I didn't start drawing till later in life ( I always get envious of artists who say they drew since they could hold a crayon) .. but i knew i HAD to draw and wanted to draw.. I think it's really important not to preach naively at children with fluffy tales and 'happily ever afters' .. but really show something you'd be happy to look at yourself, to hang on your own wall.. to add a magical element to your work doesn't mean to add sparkles, it means to add depth, because children's imaginations are the biggest, and a little depth will become a HUGE imaginative place in their minds, to fill with everything they can think of.. and you couldn't! Also, children's art doesn't always equal Nursery wall art ! .. there's such a wide scope of age groups and interests, look around!

At the moment, are you working on a particular project?

I've just finished my pieces for the Swoon groups show at the Black Maria Gallery ( June 13th - July 11th) in LA .. more info can be found here: www.gorjuss.co.uk/blog/ And I have a few other projects that I'm working on.. all top secret though!

It's time for our pot-pourri questions ! Favourite color, favourite movie, favourite food, favourite word, favourite sound ?

Any as long as they striped , Howls Moving Castle, Bananas, 'Sold'.. , Music.

And that's it! Thank you so much, gorjuss for spending a little time with us! Take care of your child's dreams

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If you want to know and see more works by Suzanne just follow this links:
• The Art of Suzanne Woolcott, Webpage
• Little Gorjuss Things, Blog
• Gorjuss Art, Shop
• DeviantART Gallery}



If you'd like to know more about our little club you can go and read this journal.



Children's Illustrators Club Team
(Adelaida, germaine-en-tongs and cocinando-colores)