Artist Interview: Jinjerup

Today we’re doing an interview with an illustrator who draws with the computer as opposed with her hands! Lynn of Jinjerup is a dear friend of mine who just opened up an Etsy shop that sells digital downloads of her work. Behind all that cutesy-ness is a mind with a razor-sharp wit!

Name: Lynn
Location: Malaysia
Website/Shop/Blog: Jinjerup, and the Jinjerup shop
Illustration media: Digital (Hurrah for computers!)

Tell us a little more about yourself!
I’m a natural sweet tooth for all things cute plus I love trying new things just to test my own limits.
A good example of this would be Jinjerup. I used to only post up new patterns once a month or so when I had a bit spare time on my hands. Now I run it regularly with heaps and heaps of new patterns and a brand new Jinjerup freebie every week (be it adorable gift boxes, note cards, tags, wallpapers & bookmarks). The response is extremely encouraging!

What is the best thing about living in Malaysia, and what is your daily schedule like?
The food, the land and of course its people! 🙂 Let’s liken my daily schedule to that of a recipe for cake. On normal weekdays, it would be 2 parts of working on Jinjerup pieces and 6 parts of my day job as a designer, with generous cinnamon sugar sprinklings of family, friends and love to taste. Sometimes this 2:6 ratio is reversed for weekends but usually weekends are more 100% Jinjerup.

How did you get your start in illustration?
grin* Ever since college when I began life as a graphic designer.
I was amazed at the millions of endless possibilities I could do with Illustrator and Photoshop.

Could you tell us more about your thought process when you start a piece?
Hmm..it depends actually. There are times I can spend hours or days just mulling over what would fit a certain theme or title whilst on other occasions, I can have my inspirations in a second! Best of all, are times when I wake in the mornings, happy for having dreamt of entire design pieces! 😛
Odd, yes but seriously, its happened on more than a couple of occasions in these past 2 years! chuckle* Next, would be a quick sketch or two, then its off to the computer drawing board for me.

Do you keep a journal/sketchbook, and would you mind if we had a sneak peek?
Try as hard as I might, I can’t seem to keep one. I’ve bought so many over the years and they either end up being misplaced (only to be found 2 years later) or not used at all as they look too pretty 🙁 Hence, I’ve taken up scribbling my drafty-sketches, notes and lists on scraps of paper & leaving them in miniature hills on my tables or as bundles in my bag. I’ve tried keeping them in one place like a dedicated box but they dont seem to like their new home very much. 😛

What or who inspires you?
Everything and anything, it could be something as fleeting as a moment in breezy, fresh air or how my bicycle makes tracks on sand. Of course looking at cute stuff works instant wonders too.

What’s your favourite tool?
A computer and its partners, mouse and keyboard! Not to forget, the occasional pencil or an unscratchy pen with loads of scrap paper.

Are you a full-time artist?
Currently, at this given time, I am not yet but I’m working hard toward being a full time one! 🙂 Wish me luck!

What advice would you like to give people who are interested in being an artist full-time? What keeps you motivated?
Since I’m in the interesting process of being one myself, I would say, give it your all and never give up!
Its still a bit of a struggle trying to find balance between my day job and my ever growing love for expanding Jinjerup but knowing that this dream of making it fully on my own some day keeps me going strong!

Where do you see yourself within the next few years?
A successful full time artist 😀 In the mean time, I’m in the ‘gathering ingredients’ stage of building up a Jinjerup shop do stick around to find out more! UPDATE: the Jinjerup shop is up!

What message do you want to send out to people about your work?
Jinjerup is actually my platform for fine tuning my own illustration style and I can clearly see 2 very distinct styles emerging. The first style would be clearly be an almost cavity-inducing cute style and the second, a more subtle yet still playful way of depicting the world around me in lines and engaging sets of colours. Adding a huge dollop of cuteness in my works comes naturally.

Tell us something random about yourself!
I alternated between wanting to be a naturalist, psychologist and an ornithologist at the age of 10 but decided on a major career change at the age of 18! 😛 & here’s where i am.