Friday Finds - Rebecca Jones - Illustrator

Morning! Today's Friday Finds is fabulous English illustrator Rebecca Jones who now lives in Australia. I first saw Rebecca's stunning work on Facebook; she has just been named as one of the six finalists for the Global Talent Search (the Lilla Rogers competition) so no doubt is working hard on the last stage of the competition now. The badger piece below was the work that saw Rebecca through to the final round.

 © Rebecca Jones

When did you start your business and why? Did you plan how you started
meticulously or was it almost accidental?

I have been a textile designer for my whole career, about 15 years now. I have mostly
worked as an in-house designer, and in recent years I began to feel that I wanted to
design in my own style and under my own name. I also felt that I wanted to expand what I
designed for, and move a little more towards illustration. I didn’t really have a set plan of
how to do this. I decided to take Lilla Roger’s Make Art That Sells e-course, as a way to
experiment with my own style. After completing that course in October 2013 and starting
my own blog and website, I began to get freelance illustration work almost immediately.

Do you do your business part time or full time?

At the moment I work part time on my illustration. I have a young son and a part time
in-house design job. I am able to spend lots of time with my son, and still fit my
illustration work into the evenings and my days off.

Do you intend to grow your business into something much bigger or are you
happy with it as it is and why?

I would love to turn it into something bigger! I have a list of dream companies that I
would love to work with. I would love to have a range of my own products. And I would
absolutely love the opportunity to illustrate a children’s book.

Where do you sell your work?

I have some projects in the pipelines that I can’t yet talk about, but hopefully in the
new year some of my designs will be available for people to buy in stores.
I also have a Society6 shop and an Etsy shop.

Which aspect of your work do you enjoy most?

I love being able to work on different projects all the time, and having the flexibility
that being freelance gives you. I love mostly just being able to spend so much time
drawing. I also love researching trends. As a textile designer, I have always been used to
working within current trends. I think the key to being a successful illustrator is finding
the balance of staying true to yourself whilst making sure your work has an element of
trend in it too.

Are you someone who sets goals regularly or more instinctive?

I wish I could be a bit more of a planner, and write down goals for myself and carry them
out. But I think I am naturally just a bit more instinctive, I just like to go with the flow
and see where things will take me.

Could you describe where you work? Are you alone most of the day or with
others? Do you feel that they way it is now is the best fit for you? Do you see
that changing?

I am very lucky to have my own studio at home. I live in a townhouse in Melbourne, and
my studio is on the top floor overlooking our roof top garden, and is filled with light.
There is plenty of room to paint, sew, make a bit of a mess and to work on the
computer. I do work on my own at home. I think I would go a bit mad if it wasn’t for a
group of fellow artists and designers I keep in touch with that I meet during my online
course. We chat daily through Facebook about work, business and a whole lot of other
stuff. They really make me feel that I am not alone, and most importantly they make me
laugh!

Finally please tell us where we can buy your work! Links please . . .

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DrawnByRebeccaJones

http://society6.com/drawnbyrebeccjones

Also see Rebecca's portfolio site here http://drawnbyrebeccajones.com

Thank you so much Rebecca - glad I am not the only one who is more instinctive with my career plan! It looks to me as though you have done exactly what you are best suited to naturally.