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Let's Talk, Jenny Mörtsell

Capturing the nuances of expression in the human face is no simple feat. However, Swedish illustrator Jenny Mörtsell does so with a skilled and delicate hand. Living and working in Stockholm, the political and economic heart of Sweden, the 31-year-old Mörtsell balances a busy roster of U.S. and European clients who have come to adore the style of her signature pencil drawings. She has also begun exhibiting her work in gallery shows. Currently, she has an exhibition of original illustrations on display at Eskilstuna Konstmuseum, a museum located in a small town outside of Stockholm. And while Mörtsell hopes to focus her attention in the future on more gallery work, at the moment she has her hands full with projects for magazines like Nylon, Flaunt, and Good, among others. We took some time to talk with Jenny recently, here's how our conversation played out.

What first attracted you to pursue illustration?

First I wanted to be an artist, but then realized I could make a living by doing posters and record sleeves. That sounded fun, so I decided I wanted to be a graphic designer instead. After high school, I studied printmaking for some years, then graphic design, then finally I went to Konstfack where I took a masters [degree] in Graphic Design & Illustration. But It wasn't until a year and a half after I graduated [that] I got tired of trying to be a designer and went back to doing pencil drawings instead—something I hadn't been doing for years. I got [such] good responses on the things I showed other people [that] I decided to give it a go. It kind of went better than I expected.

So after your initial pencil drawings received a good response, how did you go about taking that work to a wider audience?

I basically sent out emails with a link to my website to all the magazines and advertising companies I liked. Almost noone answered of course, but a few brave ones hired me and that led to the famous one thing leads to another-thing. Having an agent which I've had for the last two years also helped a lot, especially when it comes to getting paid and getting advertising assignments.

When would you say then that you began drawing?

Like a cliché, I've been drawing since the day I could grab a Crayola.

Let’s briefly talk about inspiration.

My inspiration comes from perfectly normal things like old and new movies, music videos, books, and magazines. And my beloved friends. I also spend a lot of time wandering about on the Internet. You know, when you look for one thing that leads to another thing and suddenly you're caught up in this whole new world of influences? I like that a lot. I mostly look at other illustrators to stress me out, like "Oh my god, this is so good I need to work harder and get better." But I don't know if that qualifies as inspiration.

Can you tell me about the art scene in Stockholm?

I'm not a big consumer of contemporary art. For some reason I tend to get very provoked by artist's egos, so I try to avoid the scene. I think this has to do with all the art schools I went to. If I go to a show it's either because it’s a friend of mine who is exhibiting or for the free beer.

So I take it you don't exhibit your work too often? Or just not in Stockholm?

I have an exhibition right now at Eskilstuna Konstmuseum—in a small town outside of Stockholm—but it's my first real [exhibition]. Because I always work on a commission or two or three I sadly never have time to draw something that isn't for something or someone, and I wouldn't want to hang that up on a wall. I wish to change all that though.

Are you working on more personal work to show at upcoming exhibitions then?

At the moment, sadly, I am only drawing for money.

Your illustrations are startlingly realistic. How do you capture that realism?

I always use a photo as a starting point. Some people ask me if I do sittings. I know it's considered more "art," but I would be too nervous to have someone sit still for so long. And I what I really really like to go into [are] those details and small defects that you only have in a photograph. Like a strand of hair that is messed up, or a half-blinking eye. Those sort of things that can only be captured in a moment. Technically, I use digital images and draw while looking at the screen. That way I can zoom into details, change the contrast to see the shadings, rotate the picture so my eyes don't get tired, and tricks like that. Kind of hi-tech, lo-tech.

You've said that you really like the small details and defects that get captured in a photograph. What else do you look for in a photo when deciding whether or not it's suitable for a pencil drawing?

I don't really enjoy drawing things or environments or animals and such. So I guess I just look a lot for interesting faces.

What is a normal day like for you?

I usually start work at nine. I have a studio space at Södermalm in Stockholm. I draw, scan, send sketches and stuff; answer emails; go to meetings; drink coffee in front of the computer; read dlisted.com on my microbreaks; procrastinate doing changes in drawings clients doesn't approve of; use the clone tool to remove dust from scans; use the lasso tool with 2 px feather to cut out things; eat bread rolls in front of the computer; think about art projects I'd like to do instead of working; Facebook; listen to radio documentaries; draw, draw, draw until very late at night. The downside of working with both European and U.S. clients is my workdays can be very long.

Can you tell me about the Bravehat Collective?

It consists of four of my former classmates at Konstfack: Hanna Wieslander, Kristoffer Busch, Anna Giertz, Magnus Hansson, and later we were also joined by textile artist Ingela Nilsson. We used to share a studio and worked on a couple of commissions, the biggest one probably a graphic profile for a restaurant called Landet. Eventually we had to give up the studio cause we never got paid, and everyone kind of got occupied with their own career. But we still have a clubnight at Landet every once in a while with live artists, visuals, nice costumes, and whatever we can think of.

What would you like to be doing 10 years from now?

I have so many plans and ideas—like have a bakery that opens at noon; start an illustrated fashion magazine; make and sell organic butter; open a gift wrapping store; make choreography for a dance group from the tools in Adobe’s creative suite; start an accessories brand with common objects in expensive materials; write poetry. I wish to have at least some of them realized by then.

Related links: www.jennysportfolio.com www.familymanagement.se www.eskilstuna.se

Iron Man Main Titles

People got mad at me for posting about Iron Man last year... said it was so "corporate" and all about war... blah blah blah. Can't we all at least agree that these closing titles by the incredible Danny Yount are insanely cool? Check it out .

Oh and by the way, the movie was awesome. And so is Starbucks, Apple and Bands that sell out.

Wyld Stallyons & Bob Staake

Moving image studio Wyld Stallyons and illustrator Bob Staake have been working on bringing Bob's 'Struwwelpeter: The Story of the Thumb Sucker' tale to life. The experimental mini-collaboration is now available for all to see on their site.

Otaku Magazine: Japanese Horror Issue

Otaku Magazine is a Romanian publication which aims to promote visual artists both national and international.

'Kaidan', is the subject of the latest 4th issue, which Wikipedia describes as follows: "In its broadest sense, kaidan refers to any ghost or horror story, but it has an old-fashioned ring to it that carries the connotation of Edo period Japanese folktales."

Only 100 copies are available for international orders, so if you're interested you'll need to get moving.

Cover by Aya Kato

MTV Australia

Umeric presents an insane and hardcore re-brand for MTV Australia.

Check it out at Behance

Let's Get Ephemeral

Sweet collection.

Biggest Drawing in the World

Extremely cool project by artist Erik Nordenankar. Check out the website for some more information including the travel instructions given to DHL, and a great little video documenting the piece. This strikes me as a brilliant ad campaign by DHL, which would explain why they'd go out of their way to do this; either way, very cool stuff.
via architechnophilia

BIGGEST DRAWING IN THE WORLD

UPDATE: This project may or may not be complete fiction. Either way, it's intriguing, albeit a waste of time and resources.

LogoLogos

Logologos - math and arithmetic behind well known logos brought to us by Argentinian bloggers La Luna and Javier, Nabbed from Brand New

Hansen VS Obama

Scott Hansen aka ISO50 has designed the new poster for Barack Obama's campaign. You can purchase the print for $70, all proceeds go to Barack's campaign.

Happy Birthday Mr. Frutiger

Born in 1928 near Interlaken (Switzerland) Adrian Frutiger is one of the predominant figures in 20th century European design. His career has taken him to many countries, and his work has touched designers around the world, inspiring generations of newcomers since the 1950s. On May 24, he will be 80 years old.

Adrian Frutiger’s career path is legendary. During the late 1940s, while he was still a student in Zürich, he created an extraordinary piece for his graduation project: a woodcut series of lettering styles illustrating the evolution of the Roman alphabet. After Charles Peignot at the Deberny & Peignot foundry in Paris received a copy of the prints, he quickly brought the young Adrian Frutiger to France.

Although he returned to Switzerland many years ago, Adrian Frutiger spent most of his professional career in Paris. For almost a decade, he was employed by Deberny & Peignot, until he set off on his own in 1961. Over the course of three decades, he designed numerous typefaces still used around the world today, including Avenir, Frutiger, Meridien, OCR B, Serifa, and Univers.

Help celebrate Adrian Frutiger’s 80th birthday ! Click here

Let's Talk, Leah Hayes

Boston-bred illustrator Leah Hayes, who's a phenom with a Bic-brand ballpoint pen, enjoys laughing. "I laughed forever the other night, watching these rare Andrew Lloyd Webber music videos," she says. "But actually I was laughing out of happiness, not making fun of them. I love musicals so much." Life isn't all shits and giggles for the 27-year-old, Parsons School of Design graduate though. Thumb through the pages of her graphic novels—2004's Holy Moly and the recently published Funeral of the Heart,—and you'll realize Ms. Hayes has her share of somber days too. But it's the less-than-sunny nature of her graphic novels that makes them so appealing. Hayes' multi-layered illustrations aptly compliment the tales of sadness and woe captured in her diary-meets-sketchbook approach to storytelling.

When she's not feverishly sketching ideas for graphic novels (or watching obscure Andrew Lloyd Weber music videos), Hayes stays busy doing editorial illustrations for publications like The New York Times, McSweeney's, and The Wall Street Journal. She also fronts a rock band called Scary Mansion and has a twin sister named Vanessa, who is, coincidentally, also a singer. We took a minute to chat with Ms. Hayes recently, here's how that conversation played out.

When did you first begin drawing in a serious, career-minded way?

I've always been drawing, and I've always wanted to be an illustrator—I used to read my father's Illustration Annuals obsessively when I was a kid. But I started trying to get jobs when I was 19. I was in college and knocking on the doors of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal between classes. It sounds ambitious, but it was at the expense of my schoolwork I'm afraid.

So were you eager to begin working as an illustrator, or just bored with school?

It was both.

What I enjoy about your ballpoint illustrations is the incredibly distinct feeling and tone they have. What prompted you to use a ballpoint, and can you talk about the advantages and limitations?

I started to use a Bic pen because it is so much like a pencil—the line quality varies greatly, and you can get a super soft fine line, good for cross-hatching. I suspect too that I enjoyed drawing with a tool that is un-erasable. I did it again later with scratchboard. I think I like the recklessness—and stupidity, maybe—of doing something once and not being able to change it.

This idea of permanence related to drawing in pen, would you say it’s helped you develop confidence in your work?

Yes. It’s made me take more risks, in a weird way. Because I always want to do the silly, dangerous thing; the foolish thing. Pen and scratchboard don’t really allow you to make mistakes, so the stakes are higher—I made a lot of mistakes anyway, though.

Your work has been collected in two books published by Fantagraphics, Holy Moly and the recent graphic novel Funeral of the Heart. Can you tell me how your relationship with Fantagraphics came about?

I sent them a cold submission when I had just graduated from college. They were nice enough to read it and give it a chance.

_Holy Moly_ was more of an abstract collection of illustrations threaded together by a loose narrative where Funeral of the Heart is a graphic novel with a defined plot. Can you talk about the difference between the experiences of putting these two books together?

Well, Holy Moly was literally a collection of doodles that I did both during class and at restaurants, and it was a bit like an illustrated diary of what I was going through at the time. It's a really sad book—I can't even look at it now. It makes me so sad. Funeral of the Heart is basically the same thing, but more organized. It's my feelings on certain things, but expressed through metaphor instead of crazy, ranting snails. I'm not sure if one can say that metaphor is a ‘clearer’ way to express an idea, but because of the short-story format it at least gives the illusion of structure.

For future publishing projects, would you be interested in pursuing a more structured approach?

Hmm… no. I look forward to doing another insanely frustrating, confusing, hard-to-read/swallow book.

Your editorial illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, McSweeney's, The Wall Street Journal, and so on. How does contributing artwork to these types of publications differ from say, creating artwork for a graphic novel or more art-minded publication?

Well, I get paid for them, which is helpful. They have also led to some interesting things, too. Every job leads you to something amazing eventually, no matter how small or underpaid.

It’s funny you say that. I’ve had this discussion with so many people, the idea that one opportunity can have this sort of spiderweb effect, leading to so many other opportunities. Can you give me one example of how this has worked in your career?

I drew Holy Moly and had it published, virtually no one bought it, and then one day I got a call from Steven Page from The BareNaked Ladies. He had seen my book in Canada, liked it, and asked me to do the album cover for his next record. That was by far the weirdest career connection that’s ever happened to me.

You also play in a band called Scary Mansion. Can you tell me little bit about the music and what you do in the band?

I started the band a couple of years ago as a solo project, but now I play with a drummer and a bassist. I don't know what to say about the music. I guess it's sort of a musical version of Holy Moly. I have other side projects, too. Lots of little bands.

As a musician too, I see so many similarities between pursuing music and art. I wonder what types of parallels, if any, your experiences have shown you?

I write songs about sadness, dark things, [and so on]. Similar themes to [the] books [and] art I’ve done. I cannot really say what the exact connection is, but I can’t do one without the other.

If you had the opportunity to completely change the trajectory of your life, would you still be an illustrator?

Yes. And also I would have thought to invent cuteoverload.com.

Related links www.leahhayes.com www.fantagraphics.com www.myspace.com/scarymansion www.myspace.com/vanessahayes

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